Burlington Discover Jazz Festival is back for it's 42nd year. This year's festival, produced by the Flynn and presented by Vermont Tire And Service Inc. with Nokian Tyres, takes place across Downtown Burlington The Flynn is also thrilled to announce that Anthony Tidd, an international jazz artist, multi-instrumentalist and Guggenheim Fellow, will serve as the curator for the 2025 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. Tidd will present an exclusive World Premiere of Origins: Sounds and Stories of the African Diaspora, a collaborative performance showcasing seven jazz musicians and seven special guests.

Schedule of Events:

Waterfront Park

9:15 PM - A Celebration of The Meters: Dumpstaphunk featuring George Porter Jr.

Free

Don't miss this special performance by New Orleans modern funk ensemble, Dumpstaphunk, featuring original member of The Meters' George Porter Jr. on bass for an unforgettable evening.

New Orleans' funk outfit, The Meters (George Porter Jr., Leo Nocentelli, Zigaboo Modeliste, Art Neville and produced by Alan Toussaint), produced some of the most vibrant funk this universe has ever known. The band's deep pocket was utilized by music icons Dr. John, Paul McCartney, Patti Labelle, Robert Palmer, and many others (and their samples included in hip hop classics by Public Enemy and more); however, The Meters' catalogue is most celebrated through the slew of songs covered by the likes of Widespread Panic, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Grateful Dead and countless others in their performances.  Concertgoers rejoice at the familiar opening riffs of The Meters classics Hey Pocky Way, Cissy Strut, and Just Kissed My Baby.

Dumpstaphunk with their rooted pedigree, alongside original groove creator George Porter Jr. will lead this party, funking out all the revelers.

Location: Waterfront Park 20 Lake St, Burlington, VT 05401

7:00 PM - Kat Wright

Kat Wright, whose voice is both sultry and dynamic, delicate yet powerful; gritty but highly emotive and nuanced, has been described as "a young Bonnie Raitt meets Amy Winehouse". Add to that voice enough stage presence to tame lions, and the combination of feline femininity proves immediately enchanting. There's soul flowing in and out of her rock ‘n' roll with a serpentine seduction. Some of soul music's sweet, grand dames belt, shout, seethe, and succumb, while Wright sings gently like a heartache's apology. It's funky in spots and beautiful all over. And it hurts a little … like it should.

After touring for the last decade as a 7–9-piece soul band with horns And keys a-blazing, this new era finds Kat Wright being born anew - more herself than ever - revealed in a startlingly honest And glimmering light. With the initial restrictions imposed by the pandemic, Wright And her cohorts have recently come to enjoy writing And touring in a stripped down formation, mostly trio or quartet, in contrast to the big band she fronted for the better part of the last decade. Fans of Wright's singing And style have been thrilled to discover this paired down line up which puts the groups raw talents front And center to shine, instead of drenching them in horns and fanfare. You'll still hear the Raitt And Winehouse influences, but now also likenesses with Gillian Welch, Brandi Carlisle And Norah Jones. The resulting music is more intentional, more distilled, more potent - a direct balm for the trying times we face today. It's truly a scenario of "less is more" - allowing Wright's voice to really take center stage, to shine and ache and yearn and howl - unburied, out in the open, beaming.

A quote from the folk publication Red Line Roots from November '21 sums it up best: "The first time I saw Kat Wright live was a festival gig where the band's horn section alone was comprised of 3 people. Wright has that special balance of power and grace in her voice that can shimmer and float to the top of a big band setting, I don't think anyone who has witnessed her perform could deny that. But the intimacy and vulnerability that she and collaborators Bob Wagner and Josh Weinstein has crafted with their newly (and COVID necessary) formed (trio) outfit is something truly magnificent."

Location: Waterfront Park 20 Lake St, Burlington, VT 05401

8:00 PM - OKAN

Free

Fusing Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, resistance and love, OKAN takes their name from the word for heart in their Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria. With vocals in Spanish, Yoruba and Spanglish, OKAN is led by the Cuban-born violinist and vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne, both Grammy and Latin-Grammy nominees.

Having performed and recorded with Bomba Estereo, Lido Pimienta, The Halifax Symphony Orchestra, Hilario Duran and Dayme Arocena, OKAN's recent release Okantomi was awarded the 2024 Juno Award (the band's second Juno recognition) and included in NPR Alt Latino, Le Monde, and CBC Music's "Best of 2023" lists, garnering critical praise from Songlines UK, Billboard, Pop Matters and JAZZIZ.

Charged with the profound power of their Afro-Cuban ancestry, OKAN alchemizes Lacumi chants and rhythms from their Santeria religious practice with virtuosic jazz and classical performances and indie-pop hooks.

Exploring themes of immigration, justice and love, OKAN takes its name from the word for ‘heart' in Santeria. With vocals in Spanish, Yoruba and Spanglish, OKAN is led by the Cuban-born violinist and vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne, both Grammy and Latin-Grammy nominees.

Having performed and recorded with Bomba Estereo, Lido Pimienta, Symphony Nova Scotia, Hilario Duran and Dayme Arocena, OKAN's recent release Okantomi was awarded the 2024 Juno for Best Global Music Album, earning mentions in NPR Alt Latino, Le Monde, and CBC Music's "Best of 2023" lists and garnering critical praise from Songlines UK, Billboard, Pop Matters and JAZZIZ. (The album also charted on the transglobal music and WMEC charts, reaching number one on !Earshot international and NACC Latin charts as well top rank on at least 8 North American community stations.)

Building on their Juno-winning sophomore Espiral (2020) and the Juno-nominated debut Sombras (2019), Okantomi, passionately advocates for freedom of expression, queer rights and gender equality through what CBC Music calls "joy as a form of resistance."

Magdelys and Elizabeth's mesmerizing harmonies, virtuosic musicianship and potent lyrics, as well as an unfailing ability to connect with audiences on a deep emotional level, are earning the duo a dedicated audience worldwide.

Part of the next wave of Cuban women composers and multi-instrumentalists who embrace genres that have not historically fostered women artists outside of the role of singer, OKAN co-leaders have faced many challenges. Magdelys talks about the obstacles she faced in pursuing percussion in her native Cuba and how "coming out as a percussionist" to her family. was as significant as revealing her sexual orientation in a culture that was very homophobic.  

Born in Havana, Cuba, Elizabeth Rodriguez is a classically trained violinist who served as concertmaster for Havana's Youth Orchestra. Magdelys Savigne hails from Santiago de Cuba and graduated with honors in orchestral percussion from Havana's University of the Arts.  

Official showcases at SXSW, Folk Alliance International, Mundial Montreal, Contact East, Folk Music Ontario, Pacific Contact, Ontario Contact and Global Toronto have led to invitations to perform across Canada and the U.S. with stops at The Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Winter Jazzfest in NYC and Cal Performances in Berkeley, CA, as well a The Calgary, Canmore and Mission Folk Festivals. Recent highlights include opening for Snarky Puppy at the Toronto Jazz Festival, and featured performances at Montreal, Rochester and Atlanta  Jazz Festivals.

Location: Waterfront Park 20 Lake St, Burlington, VT 05401

5:30 PM - Roy Hargrove Big Band
At Waterfront Park

Free

"There's nothing like the feeling you get when you're hearing your compositions and
arrangements played by a wall of sound."
Roy Hargrove

Originally started in the rehearsal space that would later become the Jazz Gallery, the Roy Hargrove Big Band had its inaugural performance at the Panasonic Village Jazz Festival in 1995. Since then, the band has toured domestically and internationally and has played everywhere from the Blue Note Tokyo to the Hollywood Bowl. As with everything Roy, his broad musical range is evident in his big band. You can expect to hear everything from his quintet compositions, bebop and lush ballads to soulful funk, hip-hop, and Latin songs. The arrangements are comprised of Roy's original works, timeless standards and new music by band members and other contemporaries whom he respected.

In 2022 Roy Hargrove Legacy LLC, the company founded by his wife and daughter re-launched The Roy Hargrove Big Band to continue Roy's music, spirit and the big band sound that he loved. A true all-star cast consisting of mostly original band members with the addition of a few bright, young talents, this powerhouse ensemble continues to electrify audiences and bring down the house at every performance. Bruce Williams, lead alto and big band member from 1997 until Mr. Hargrove's death in 2018, leads the band on stage. Jason Marshall, baritone saxophonist and also long-time member of the big band, serves as second conductor. Roy's wife Aida Brandes- Hargrove is the band's executive director.

In addition to performing at venues and festivals across the country the big band is now in its fourth year of its successful monthly residency at The Jazz Gallery, the iconic NYC venue co-founded by Roy. This year marks the 30th anniversary for both The Jazz Gallery and The Roy Hargrove Big Band, a testament to the enduring legacy of one of jazz's most influential trumpeters. This anniversary celebrates not only the history of jazz but also its thriving future, as the band continues to honor Roy's visionary spirit while pushing the boundaries of the big band sound.

Location: Waterfront Park 20 Lake St, Burlington, VT 05401

6:00 PM - Tad Cautious
At Waterfront Park

Free

An omnivorous musical enthusiast, Tad Cautious is a radio disc jockey and DJ from Burlington, VT. He is host of All Ears, a new music-discovery show launching this spring on Vermont Public, and The Bunny on SiriusXM, based on the on-site station he has helmed at Phish festivals since 1996. A genre-agnostic selector, his live sets featuring international funk, psychedelic jazz and classic afrobeat have improved the lives of audiences from Hollywood to Montgomery Center.

Location: Waterfront Park 20 Lake St, Burlington, VT 05401

Flynn space

5:30 PM - Nicole Mitchell

Free

Location: Flynn Space 153 Main Street, Burlington, VT 05401.

7:30 PM - Immanuel Wilkins

Free

You don't appreciate growing up until you look in the mirror and notice something's different. Though maturing in itself is the act of physical and hormonal evolution, it's not until you're in a foreign city, eating something an elder used to cook to see how it compares, that you long for yesteryear. You start to miss that rickety screen door and the couch that no one could sit on. You try to make your grandma's biscuits and realize they're not quite hers. This nostalgia anchors Immanuel Wilkins' third studio album, Blues Blood, a meditative offering partially inspired by his childhood in the Philadelphia area. Co-produced by Meshell Ndegeocello, and featuring Micah Thomas on piano, Rick Rosato on bass, Kweku Sumbry on drums, and vocalists Ganavya, June McDoom and Yaw Agyeman—as well as special guest appearances by vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, guitarist Marvin Sewell, and drummer Chris Dave—it's Wilkins' most ambitious LP to date, a multimedia performance about the legacies of our ancestors and the bloodlines connecting us.

One can hear dedication to the past right away. Where 2020's Omega and 2022's The 7th Hand began with quick, vigorous arrangements that dropped listeners right into the proceedings, Blues Blood begins peacefully, emphasizing tranquility. The opening track "MATTE GLAZE" centers wistful vocals and piano chords that place us in a carpeted living room somewhere in the past. Close your eyes and you can almost see the steam billowing from the kitchen.

On purpose, Blues Blood feels airy and celestial, almost voyeuristic. "It's like you're listening in on an activity," like your mother taking you into the kitchen to share family recipes, Wilkins says. "I wanted the record to feel like people getting together, making music and feeding the pot. Imagine there's a ball of energy in the middle of the room, and we're all focused on it." To that end, Blues Blood floats along, from this space to that space, calmly gathering momentum as it unfolds — like a simmering Crock-Pot slowly coming to a boil. While it has pronounced flourishes, like the hypnotic centerpiece "AFTERLIFE RESIDENCE TIME" and the expansive title track, the music on Blues Blood is mostly serene and atmospheric.

For "AFTERLIFE RESIDENCE TIME," Wilkins says he was inspired by the idea of generational memory and the teachings of the author Christina Sharpe, who also wrote the liner notes for Blues Blood. "In her book, In The Wake, she talks about how long an element lasts in water," he says. "She was thinking about the Transatlantic Slave Trade, how blood contains a lot of sodium, and how it has a residence time in water of 260 million years. I started thinking about our ancestors existing in the water, kind of carrying that memory for a long period of time. So that song is about the water and thinking about the Atlantic as this house for memory and for all of our ancestors."

Blues Blood marks the first time Wilkins has included vocalists on an album. "I was really influenced by Theaster Gates and the Black Monks," Wilkins says about the blues and gospel ensemble he's played with recently. "I've grown pretty close with Theaster, and he showed me a lot of recordings that were early references for me. The voice is really close to the saxophone in that it's an air instrument, something you breathe life into." That influenced the music he wrote for Blues Blood: "I wanted to write music that felt like community. It was about creating this tapestry of vocals, almost like a congregation of voices during their own thing."

To that end, the voices on this album all tap into different aspects of heritage. On "MATTE GLAZE," McDoom longs for some form of solace beyond the gaze of bypassing strangers. "Lawd build me a home dwelling," she sings. "I will not refuse." On "DARK EYES SMILE," Salvant sings about a paternal figure in his habitat. It's a sweet, yet mournful tune about loved ones becoming ancestors, and how grieving tears become comforting ones. "I remember you now your starlight, yesterday, sitting in your best chair," she reflects. "In my best and worst times, my reflection will resemble you."

The album title culls inspiration from a quote by Daniel Hamm, a member of the Harlem Six, a group of young boys who were falsely accused of murder in 1964 and severely beaten by prison guards while awaiting trial: "I had to, like, open the bruise up and let some of the blues [bruise] blood come out to show them." He said this while attempting to seek medical attention for his wounds. The police refused to address Hamm's injuries because, although they had beaten him themselves, he had no visible blood running across his skin.

Within Hamm's quote, the mistaken placement of the word ‘blues' in place of ‘bruise' when read aloud or silently, lends subtly to a new interpretation of the sentence. "The blues as a feeling has served as a symbol of pleasure in pain for Black folk dating back to work on the plantation," Wilkins says. "There is a dichotomy of Black people singing songs about how bad their conditions were, yet the blues is something that feels so good.

"Blood is often a symbol of things ancestral and generational," he continues. "The history and preparation of most foods across the African Diaspora have been passed down through oral tradition. Mothers teach their children recipes that they learned from their mother, and their mother's mother, so on and so forth, generating a sensorial and ancestral memory through taste and smell." Meals are cooked onstage during the live performance of Blues Blood. The pan and table are set up with mics, allowing the composition to fill up with the sounds of knives chopping, water boiling, and oil frying in a pan.

While Blues Blood is rooted in the experiences of Wilkins and his collaborators, it's meant to be a soothing balm for anyone searching for peace, and for Black people trying to reconcile history in a country that tries to erase it. "I don't even know how to put it in words," Wilkins says of the album's sheer potency. "What I do know is that there are alchemical properties in the music. It's powerful. It's our calling to take care of this music properly and make sure that it does something to people."

Location: Flynn Space 153 Main Street, Burlington, VT 05401.

Big Joe's
at Vermont Comedy Club

8:30 PM - Janéa Hudson Quintet

Free

Janéa Hudson, a Vermont raised jazz vocalist and graduate of Northern Vermont University is passionate about all things music. Janéa loves performing in Vermont communities and says "Being known in an intimate jazz community and just being a part of a small and friendly jazz community is so rewarding." At Northern Vermont University Janéa enjoyed performing in a funk-fusion ensemble, in musicals, and even performed with a dance ensemble. She currently performs as lead vocalist with several bands around the state and beyond, and is always excited to meet other passionate musicians. As a biracial woman, it's important to her to bring diversity to the Vermont world of jazz.

She is accompanied by Bruno John on bass, Randal Pierce on piano, Gehrig Loughran on drums, and Jake Whitesell on Saxophone.

Location: Vermont Comedy Club 101 Main St Burlington, VT 05401

10:00 PM - Sara Serpa And André Matos

Free

The combination of the voice and guitar of Sara Serpa and André Matos is magic, dazzling and calm. The Portuguese native and New York based artists have been working together since 2005. They achieved a unique sonic world, drawing upon pure and contemplative sounds through a personal approach to melody and poetry. Their musical identity reveals both their Portuguese culture as well as a certain allure inspired by the creative artistic environment of New York. Serpa and Matos have been performing their music in countries like Portugal, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.

They have been, individually and collectively, performing with prominent musicians such as in the Jazz and Improvisation world such as Ran Blake, John Zorn, Danilo Perez, Leo Genovese, Dan Weiss, Billy Mintz, Thomas Morgan, Pete Rende, Kris Davis, Tony Malaby, and Guillermo Klein, among others.

Location: Vermont Comedy Club 101 Main St Burlington, VT 05401

Students Bands

Free

Church Street

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