The 11th annual BRIC JazzFest is nearly here, and this year’s lineup is one organizers say will go down in the festival’s history.
This year, BRIC’s programming theme was “Brooklyn, To The World!” and JazzFest aims to reflect the borough’s identity as a multicultural crossroads. Across two nights, Oct. 17 and 18, JazzFest will host a dozen artists from across the globe, with headliners Dee Dee Bridgewater and Chief Adjuah taking center stage.
This year’s festival is special, according to BRIC, as more than half of the performing artists are women — and some, like Bridgewater, have helped shape the genre.
“BRIC JazzFest continues to reflect the world we live in — expansive, rooted, and ever-evolving,” said BRIC Chief Program Officer Deron Johnston, in a statement. “This year’s lineup celebrates the global communities and cultural movements shaping jazz today.”
Bridgewater, a Grammy-winner and “living legend,” was awarded the prestigious Doris Duke Artist award in 2018 and was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame the following year. In 2024, she co-hosted the inaugural Jazz Music Awards. She’s set to take the stage on Saturday, Oct. 18, followed by performances by bassist Endea Owens and saxophonist Nubya Garcia.
Garcia’s style combines elements of jazz, R&B, dubstep, and classical music, and her work has been featured on FX’s series “Atlanta” as well as in “Ted Lasso” and the online videogame “Fortnite.”
Her sophomore album, “Odyssey,” released last fall, offers a modern take on what jazz can be.
Owens, an emerging jazz artist who has performed alongside legends like Diana Ross, Solange and Jon Batiste will make her first appearance on the BRIC stage on Oct. 18. The up-and-comer has appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” alongside the band Stay Human, and joined H.E.R.’s acclaimed Super Bowl performance.
She released her debut album, “Feel Good Music,” in 2023, and put out her second album, “Caught Up In This Illusion,” in August.
Afro-Cuban duo OKAN is also slated to take the Stoop Stage on Oct. 18, performing multi-lingual jazz with Spanish, Yoruba, and Spanglish vocals that fuse the pair’s Afro-Cuban roots with folk and global rhythms. Their music also contains current messages in today’s climate, such as themes of love, immigration, and resistance.
OKAN’s latest album “Okantomi” received the 2024 Juno Award, their second such recognition.
The first night of JazzFest is not to be overlooked: performers on Oct. 17 include six-time Grammy nominee and two-time Edison Award winner Chief Adjuah, who has also received the Doris Duke Award in the Arts.
With 13 albums and one greatest hits collection, Adjuah was hailed by JazzTimes magazine as “Jazz’s young style God” and has been recognized as the creator of “Stretch Music,” which embraces the fluidity and fusions of genres across the world.
Also performing on the first night is Meklit Hadero, an Ethiopian-American singer known for her vocals, vibrant stage presence, and innovative Ethio-Jazz fusions. She’s also a cohost, co-producer, and co-founder of a podcast that discusses music and migration with over 2.5 million listeners, “Movement.”
As the evening continues, South African vocalist Vuyo Satashe will team up with American pianist and composer Chris Pattishall. Both well-known in the New York City music scene, the duo will show the healing power that can come through not just jazz, but music as a whole.
Additional performers include Moroccan trance musician Saha Gnawa, Israeli guitarist Dida Pelled, and the American trio New Jazz Underground. Throughout JazzFest, BRIC guest curator Adrian Younge – who crafted the festival’s lineup — will perform his own tunes alone and alongside other musicians.
JazzFest will take place on Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 at BRIC House, 647 Fulton St. between Rockwell Place and Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn. Two-night passes begin at $100, and individual night tickets are available for $55.
