2026/27 Symphony Center Presents Jazz Lineup has been announced!

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA) has announced the 2026/27 Symphony Center Presents Jazz (SCP Jazz) season, continuing its tradition of showcasing world-class improvisers and visionary ensembles. The season opens with a program by the Freedom Riders collective, joined by Kurt Elling and Lizz Wright, and concludes with a celebration of Chucho Valdés featuring Joe Lovano and Etienne Charles.

WDCB will again support the Symphony Center Presents Jazz season by continuing in its role as Media Sponsor.

The schedule is anchored by a centennial celebration of John Coltrane featuring Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves, the duo of John Scofield and Dave Holland, and a tribute to Chick Corea led by Stanley Clarke and Hiromi with PUBLIQuartet. Additional highlights include the modern Chicago sound with Jeff Parker and Isaiah Collier, a centennial celebration of the vibraphone and a residency with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra that includes the satirical oratorio The Ever Fonky Lowdown and a special evening marking the final season for Wynton Marsalis as music director, concluding his transformative 40-year tenure.

Explore program listings and ticketing information for the 2026/27 SCP Jazz at: CSO.org/jazz.

“The 2026/27 Season of Symphony Center Presents Jazz highlights the deep legacies and the future direction of jazz, featuring artists who continue to bring a fresh perspective to the music,” stated James Fahey, Senior Director of Programming for Symphony Center Presents. “From our centennial celebrations of John Coltrane and the vibraphone’s Chicago origins to a tribute to the visionary Chick Corea, this season honors the pioneers while embracing the modern innovations of artists including Jeff Parker and Joel Ross. We are also particularly honored to host the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for two programs celebrating the final season with Wynton Marsalis as music director. His transformative leadership has been a cornerstone of the jazz world and our jazz programming for decades, and these performances offer a meaningful opportunity for Chicago audiences to celebrate his remarkable legacy. This season reflects the incredible breadth of the jazz tradition, bridging generations and styles to offer a truly compelling musical experience at Symphony Center.”

Freedom Riders with special guests Kurt Elling & Lizz Wright
On Friday, October 2, at 8:00 p.m., the 2026/27 Season of SCP Jazz programming opens with the Freedom Riders collective, featuring Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Alfredo Colón, Tomoki Sanders, Milena Casado, Carmen Staaf, Ben Williams, Makaya McCraven and Sasha Berliner. In the 1960s, Freedom Rider activists challenged racial segregation in the Southern United States. With reverence for their courage and struggle, this groundbreaking international jazz collective features a new generation of artists and composers who continue in the tradition of providing a soundtrack to the global civil rights movement. Joined by esteemed vocalists Kurt Elling and Lizz Wright, the Freedom Riders band offers vital inspiration through music that unites audiences with the energy and spirit of shared humanity.

Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane
On Friday, October 16, at 8:00 p.m., the Branford Marsalis Quartet and vocalist Dianne Reeves celebrate the centennial of John Coltrane, an artist known for dissolving the boundaries of jazz who could “pull listeners right out of their chairs.” This one-of-a-kind program highlights Marsalis and Reeves’ own improvisational brilliance and selections from their upcoming album revisiting Coltrane’s seminal 1963 collaboration with Johnny Hartman.

Jeff Parker & The New Breed / Isaiah Collier & The Defiance
On Friday, February 5, 2027, at 8:00 p.m., Jazz programming continues with a double bill featuring guitarist Jeff Parker and saxophonist Isaiah Collier—two distinct performances from artists who embody the modern Chicago sound through rhythm, risk, and a fearless tradition of innovation. With The New Breed, Parker experiments in sample-based improvisation, combining jazz, lo-fi and instrumental hip-hop into his unmistakable sonic palette, developed over 40 years. With his group The Defiance, Collier—an alumnus of ChiArts and Jazz Institute of Chicago programs and one of today’s fresh voices—builds on the lineage of saxophone greats like John Coltrane and Ari Brown, crafting music charged with a fierce immediacy.

John Scofield & Dave Holland
Guitarist John Scofield and bassist Dave Holland join forces to present a new conversation on Friday, February 19, 2027, at 8:00 p.m. Performing as a duo, the longtime colleagues bring their diverse musical backgrounds and infinite talent to a program featuring original compositions and their take on a selection of jazz standards. Expect nothing less than a distinctive and compelling meeting of their musical minds.

Stanley Clarke & Hiromi along with PUBLIQuartet Celebrate the Music of Chick Corea & Beyond
On Friday, March 19, 2027, at 8:00 p.m., NEA Jazz Master and Grammy Award-winning bassist Stanley Clarke teams up with frequent collaborator Hiromi — described as “one of jazz piano’s most brazenly virtuosic players” — to pay tribute to their friend, the visionary pianist and composer Chick Corea. From straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop to fusion, Corea helped shape the sound of modern jazz. Joined by the innovative string ensemble PUBLIQuartet, Clarke and Hiromi perform Corea’s works alongside original pieces inspired by his boundless creativity.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis returns to Symphony Center for its annual residency starting on Tuesday, April 20, 2027, at 8:00 p.m. Nearly 40 years after founding the orchestra, Marsalis leads his final season as music director, concluding a transformative tenure that elevated jazz to a true art of American culture. In Chicago, where it has been an honor to have Marsalis and the orchestra call Symphony Center their second home, this performance promises to swing as hard as ever as we celebrate a legend.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: The Ever Fonky Lowdown
On Friday, April 23, 2027, at 8:00 p.m., the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis present The Ever Fonky Lowdown with guest narrator Wendell Pierce along with vocalists and dancers. Wynton Marsalis combines the rhythmic language of New Orleans funk, the melodic influence of unsung Crescent City genius James Black and a trio of soulful sirens to satirize the public’s descent into supporting a sectarian, con-man leader called Mr. Game (Wendell Pierce). Set in contemporary America, Marsalis’ 2018 oratorio seems to be prophetic in light of today’s national climate. At times humorous, infuriating, pathetic and sobering, this non-partisan examination of the cost of apathy and the loss of empathy may provoke deeper thoughts and feelings to inspire meaningful action.

Joel Ross: Good Vibes / The Vibraphone Summit
On Friday, May 14, 2027, at 8:00 p.m., the jazz season continues with Joel Ross: Good Vibes and The Vibraphone Summit with Warren Wolf, Joe Locke, Stefon Harris & Chien Chien Lu. The modern vibraphone was born in Chicago, when J.C. Deagan, Inc., unveiled the vibraharp in 1927. A century later, that history reverberates at Symphony Center. Chicagoan Joel Ross and his band Good Vibes “treat rhythm as both fundamental and unfixed” (The New York Times), balancing complexity, lyricism and emotional clarity. Led by vibes master Warren Wolf and featuring today’s top vibraphonists — Joe Locke, Stefon Harris and Chien Chien Lu — The Vibraphone Summit lets the instrument’s past and present ring side by side, honoring pioneers from Lionel Hampton to Milt Jackson.

Chucho Valdés 85th Birthday Celebration with special guests Joe Lovano and Etienne Charles
The final SCP Jazz program of the season is Friday, June 4, 2027, at 8:00 p.m., with the Chucho Valdés 85th Birthday Celebration. Cuban pianist, composer, arranger and NEA Jazz Master Chucho Valdés — winner of seven Grammy and seven Latin Grammy Awards — is described by Billboard as “one of the most influential figures in modern Afro-Cuban jazz.”
Across a remarkable 60-year career, he has redefined Afro-Cuban music, “seamlessly weaving aspects of folk, jazz and classical into a singular musical vision” (DownBeat). This program features Valdés alongside saxophonist and longtime collaborator Joe Lovano and Trinidad-born trumpeter Etienne Charles.