Full Lineup Released for the 2025 Chicago Jazz Festival!

The Chicago Jazz Festival, a Labor Day weekend tradition, returns to Millennium Park and the Chicago Cultural Center to celebrate all forms of jazz through free, high-quality music programming. Over the course of four days, the festival continues its legacy of showcasing Chicago’s vibrant jazz community alongside national and international artists to raise awareness and appreciation for one of the city’s most beloved art forms - all completely free to the public.

Produced by DCASE and programmed by the Jazz Institute of Chicago (JIC), the world’s largest free jazz festival returns with a powerhouse lineup of global icons and rising stars - honoring Chicago’s legacy as one of the top jazz capitals in the world. This year’s festival presents an extraordinary gathering of genre-defining artists. Headliners include the boundary-pushing bassist and vocalist esperanza spalding, piano legend Monty Alexander, charismatic trumpeter and vocalist Kermit Ruffins, Afro-Cuban guitar virtuoso Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club, and the visionary saxophonist Gary Bartz with his revolutionary ensemble NTU Troop. WDCB is again a major media sponsor for the festival.

The Jay Pritzker Pavillion will also spotlight an impressive roster of Chicago’s finest jazz treasures and talents, including Patricia Barber, Ari Brown, Ernest Dawkins, Sarah Marie Young, Ava Logan, G. Thomas Allen, the Natalie Scharf Quintet featuring Paul Asaro, and Silvia Manrique & Marcel Bonfim.

The festival will also include daytime programming at the Chicago Cultural Center on August 28, with additional concerts at the Von Freeman Pavilion, and the Harris Theater Rooftop Terrace. For the fourth straight year, WDCB will also add to the official fest lineup by offering multiple daily sets featuring top-shelf Chicago jazz musicians at the “WDCB Jazz Lounge” in Millennium Park.

All performances are free and open to the public. Schedule subject to change.

Thursday, August 28
(schedule subject to change)

Chicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater

11:15am-12:15pm: STOMACHS presented by Elastic Arts Foundation
12:45-1:45pm: The Young Masters directed by Ernest Dawkins presented by Live the Spirit Residency
2:15-3:15pm: Greg Fundis Quintet - Performing Herbie Hancock's THRUST presented by Fulton Street Collective
3:45-4:45pm: Charles Heath Quartet presented by Hyde Park Jazz Society

Chicago Cultural Center, Preston Bradley Hall

11am-12pm: Hana Fujisaki Trio presented by Asian Improv
12:15-1:15pm: John Skillman's New Normal Jazz Band presented by Illiana Club
1:45-2:45pm: Big Bari Band presented by South Side Jazz Coalition
3:15-5:00pm: “What is this thing called Jazz?” presented by the Jazz Institute of Chicago

Millennium Park, Jay Pritzker Pavilion

6:15-6:30pm - Emcee Intro Remarks + National Anthem + Lift Every Voice
6:30-7:30pm - Henry Johnson
7:45-9:00pm - esperanza spalding 

Friday, August 29
(schedule subject to change)

WDCB Jazz Lounge (South Promenade of Millennium Park)

12:00-1:45pm - Alyssa Allgood Quintet
2:15-4pm - Jo Ann Daugherty
4:30-6:15pm - Dakarai Barclay Sextet
6:45-7:45pm - Isaiah Spencer Quintet

Von Freeman Pavilion (North Promenade of Millennium Park)

11:30am-12:25pm - Elaine Dame
12:40-1:35pm - The Regulators
1:50-2:45pm - La Cantera featuring Daniel Díaz and Alexander López
3:00-4:00pm - Marques Carroll Trumpet Summit

Jay Pritzker Pavilion (Millennium Park)

*3:15-3:45pm - Windy City Ramblers 
3:45-4:00pm - Emcee Intro Remarks + National Anthem + Lift Every Voice
4:00-4:45pm - Sarah Marie Young
5:05-5:50pm - Silvia Manrique & Marcel Bonfim
6:10-7:25pm - Patricia Barber
7:45-9:00pm - Monty Alexander
*Second Line Band performance in Jay Pritzker Pavilion + Great Lawn.

Saturday, August 30
(schedule subject to change)

WDCB Jazz Lounge (South Promenade of Millennium Park)

12:00-1:45pm - Maddie Vogler Sextet
2:15-4pm - Ben Paterson Organ Trio
4:30-6:15pm - Jeremy Kahn Trio with special guest Isabella Isherwood
6:45-7:45pm - Quentin Coaxum's "Satellite”

Von Freeman Pavilion (North Promenade of Millennium Park)

11:30am-12:25pm - Josie Falbo Quintet
12:40-1:35pm - Twin Talk
1:50-2:45pm - Reggie Thomas and Trio Nexus
3:00-4:00pm - Victor Garcia Septet

Young Lions Jazz (Harris Theater Rooftop, Enter on Randolph St.)

11:00am-12:00pm - The Chicago Academy for the Arts Jazz Combo
12:00-12:45pm - MYAC Jazz Combo
1:00-1:45pm - JCP Big Band
2:00-2:45pm - Whitney Young Jazz Ensemble
3:00-4:00pm - Kenwood Academy High School Jazz Band

Jay Pritzker Pavilion (Millennium Park)

*3:15-3:45pm - Windy City Ramblers
3:45-4:00pm - Emcee Intro Remarks + National Anthem + Lift Every Voice
4:00-4:45pm - Ava Logan Quintet
5:05-6:05pm - Ernest Dawkins Ensemble New Horizons Redux
6:25-7:25pm - Gary Bartz & NTU Troop
7:45-9:00pm - Kermit Ruffins
*Second Line Band performance in Jay Pritzker Pavilion + Great Lawn.

Sunday, August 31
(schedule subject to change)

WDCB Jazz Lounge (South Promenade of Millennium Park)

12:00-1:45pm - Joel Paterson’s Green Mill All-Stars
2:15-4pm - Neal Alger's Here and Now
4:30-6:15pm - Kyle Swan Quartet
6:45-7:45pm - Denise Thimes Quintet

Von Freeman Pavilion (North Promenade of Millennium Park)

11:30am-12:25pm - Ben Waltzer Quartet
12:40-1:35pm - Abigail Riccards Trio
1:50-2:45pm - Maison Électronique
3:00-4:00pm - Thadeus Tukes Sextet

Young Lions Jazz (Harris Theater Rooftop, Enter on Randolph St.)

11:00am-12:00pm - Jack Nelson Ciavash
12:00-12:45pm - Kevin King Regime
1:00-1:45pm - Aaron Kaufman-Levine Quartet
2:00-2:45pm - .VOM
3:00-4:00pm - FM Trio

Jay Pritzker Pavilion (Millennium Park)

*3:15-3:45pm - Windy City Ramblers
3:45-4:00pm - Emcee Intro Remarks + National Anthem + Lift Every Voice
4:00-4:45pm - Natalie Scharf Quintet featuring Paul Asaro
5:05-6:05pm - G. Thomas Allen
6:25-7:25pm - Ari Brown Quintet
7:45-9:00pm - Eliades Ochoa
*Second Line Band performance in Jay Pritzker Pavilion + Great Lawn.

The Chicago Jazz Festival programming is generously supported by the following sponsors: 90.9fm WDCB, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Jazz Magazine, DownBeat Magazine, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Millennium Garages, and Millennium Park Foundation.