For almost half a century, the Atlanta Jazz Festival has gathered crowds in Piedmont Park over Memorial Day weekend to groove to the sounds of snapping snares, brassy trumpets and sultry singers at the festival’s open-air stage.
Since its founding in 1978 by then-Mayor Maynard Jackson, the Atlanta Jazz Festival has been one of the largest free public jazz festivals in the country, gathering roughly 200,000 people over the three-day weekend. It has boasted legends like Miles Davis, Nina Simone and Esperanza Spalding, while also nurturing the next generation of jazz musicians.
Fifteen artists are slotted to perform for this year’s 48th annual festival, running May 24-26. The artists are a wide range of old and new, classic and modern. Many subgenres of jazz are represented including bebop, big band, classical, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, voodoo jazz and vocalists.
Atlanta Jazz Festival 2024 brings a world of talent to Piedmont Park
Some headliners include: Marsha Ambrosius and Derrick Hodge on Saturday night; Ravi Coltrane, Andromeda Turre and Russell Gunn and Blackhawk Quartet on Sunday night; and Dianne Reeves and The Joe Gransden Big Band on Monday night…