2015 Chicago Jazz Festival

Get an early start to your Labor Day weekend at the 2015 Chicago Jazz Festival. Admission is free! The event gets started Thursday, September 3, with afternoon performances at the Chicago Cultural Center. Thursday evening, the festival heads across Michigan Avenue to Millennium Park, where the festivities will continue through Sunday, September 6.

There is an exciting lineup planned each day (see the schedules below). If you haven't seen the Marquis Hill Blacktet, you'll want to head to the fest Thursday for the 6:30 p.m. performance. My husband and I saw the group (trumpeter Marquis Hill, alto saxophonist Christopher McBride, vibraphonist Justin Thomas, bassist Joshua Ramos, and drummer Makaya McCraven) at the Chicago Cultural Center's Sidney R. Yates Gallery, surrounded by Archibald Motley's vibrant Jazz Age paintings. I look forward to seeing the band at Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

Stop by The Chicago Community Trust Young Jazz Lions Stage and support Chicago-area high school and university jazz groups as they take the stage on Saturday and Sunday. You never know, some of these young musicians may go on to become future Chicago Jazz Festival headliners.

Closing out the festival on Sunday evening will be Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Wallace McMillan, Wadada Leo Smith, Amina Claudine Myers, George Lewis, Leonard Jones, Thurman Barker, and Reggie Nicholson. This is a wonderful opportunity to see world-class jazz musicians playing together, right here in Chicago!