When they built their lineups in the early days of the HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival, conversations with jazz artists usually started with an introduction and explanation.
Questions from artists big and small included where was the festival and how it came to be and why on earth should they make the trip from New Orleans or Harlem to play jazz in Tucson.
Sometimes, they mispronounced Tucson “Tucksun.”
But 11 years in, “we’re beyond that,” said Khris Dodge, the festival’s executive director since 2020.
“I’m so happy that Tucson has made its mark,” Dodge said late last week as he was counting down to the 2025 festival kickoff on Friday, Jan. 17, with pianist Armen Donelian and vocalist Dominique Eade.
“People recognize like, ‘Oh, you guys have a cool festival. You guys are doing something special.’ … And that’s a nod to not only what we’ve been able to do at our end, but for the community being able to support what we do and be there for these things, and then for the crowds that we draw from around the country to come here specifically as a destination.”
As many as 7,000 people attended the 2024 Downtown Jazz Fiesta, a free event held outdoors. This year's fiesta at Corbett's on Jan. 20 features the New Breed Brass Band.
You need only to look at the 2025 festival lineup of legendary jazz artists including octogenarian saxophonist/flutist Charles Lloyd, snagging 2024 honors for artist of the year, best album, best group and best tenor saxophonist from the critics at the prestigious Downbeat magazine; and the multiple Grammy-winning — 16 total including 11 Latin Grammys — Paquito D’Rivera, the prolific and indefatigable Afro-Cuban jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.
“Charles Lloyd … is an NEA jazz master,” Dodge said; it’s the highest honor the U.S. bestows on jazz artists. “He’s somebody that you need to hear in person; an album doesn’t do it justice.”
Dodge said that D’Rivera “helped define Latin jazz.” He’s also an artist that Dodge has been following since he was introduced to jazz as a teen. To be able to call D’Rivera on the phone and invite him to be part of the Tucson Jazz Festival was one of those surreal moments for Dodge, who curates the annual festival.
Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist/clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera plays the Rialto Theatre on Day 2 of the HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival.
Dodge said he focused this year on artists who could bring the joy through diverse and energetic performances that explore all shades of jazz. Hence artists like piano phenom Matthew Whitaker, bringing his organ trio for a sold-out show at Hotel Congress’s Century Room, 311 E. Congress St., on Saturday, Jan. 18; Juno Award-winning bebop and swing vocalist Caity Gyorgy (pronounced George), whose two shows at The Century Room on Jan. 24 are sold out; and New Orleans jazz trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, who are playing a show with New Breed Brass Band on Sunday, Jan. 19, at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress.
“I wanted to find artists that explicitly bring joy to the stage,” Dodge said. “One of the biggest things for me was making sure that I had an artist that when I listened to them, or I’ve watched them perform, they just make me smile.”
“You want to have a good time,” said Marsalis, the third of four brothers — Branford, Wynton and Jason — in the legendary jazz family. “Folks are, you know, they’ve been at work all day. They coming out to check us out. They want to have good time, and that’s primary on our list of things to do, to make sure folks have a good time.”
Jazz bassist Endea Owens is bringing The Cookout with her for her Rialto Theatre Show Saturday, Jan. 18, with Tucson chef Janos Wilder.
This year’s festival also is building on an adjacent foodie theme that the festival dabbled in a bit in the past couple of years. Tucson Jazz Festival is teaming up with the Tucson City of Gastronomy to present several food-themed events:
- Endea Owens & The Cookout will be accompanied on stage by Tucson’s James Beard Award-winning chef Janos Wilder at Rialto Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 18. Owens, who joined the “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” house band Stay Human shortly after graduating from Juilliard in 2018, founded the nonprofit Community Cookout during the pandemic in 2020. The program provides music and meals to underserved neighborhoods in New York City.
While she and her band perform on Saturday night, Wilder will be making his signature J Dawg, a borderlands version of the quintessential Sonoran hot dog that incorporates poblano crema, a cholla bud relish and black beans.
As of last week, Wilder had still not nailed down how his cooking and her playing simultaneously on the Rialto stage will look.
“The idea is that I’m making my version of the Sonoran hot dog … and then I will be serving them to her and the band,” he said, joking that he was flirting with the idea of tossing hot dogs to the audience the way they toss T-shirts to fans at the UA’s McKale Center. Note: The public can purchase J Dawgs in the Rialto lobby with proceeds going to the University of Arizona’s School Gardens program.
Wilder and Owens and the band also will collaborate for a special cookout for students at Utterback Middle School on Sunday, Jan. 19, featuring Tucson City of Gastronomy chef ambassadors.
- The French Quarter meets the Sunday tent revival at “TJF Sunday Brunch with Matthew Whitaker” on Jan. 19. The jazz piano phenom will perform Gospel-inspired jazz music during the festival’s inaugural brunch, with a menu that includes jambalaya with andouille sausage, shrimp gumbo, homemade grits and red beans and rice, served with a special cocktail, the Highwire Hurricane, and Bayou bananas foster for dessert. It’s from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday at The Grand event center, 33 S. Sixth Ave.
- Several Tucson restaurants are offering jazz-themed dishes and beverages throughout the nine-day festival. Tucson Foodie is sponsoring the campaign; find information and a list of participants at tucsonfoodie.com.
The festival this year is launching an app available at the App Store for iPhone users and Google Play for Android (search TJF2025) that will give you all you need to know about the 2025 festival from the lineup to concert venues and performance times.
Jazz piano phenom Matthew Whitaker, shown at his 2023 Fox Tucson Theatre show, returns to this year’s Tucson Jazz Festival two years after making his Tucson debut.
Also new this year: “TJF Talks” with host Ashley Kahn, a series of intimate conversations with several artists talking about their craft, the music and their lives. The talks are held at the AC Hotel Tucson Downtown, 151 E. Broadway.
It opens with Emmet Cohen and Paquito D’Rivera at 4 p.m. Saturday followed by Matthew Whitaker and His Band at 2 p.m. Sunday. Marsalis joins Kahn, a noted music historian, author, journalist and producer, at 4 p.m. Sunday and Gunhild Carling and Caity Gyorgy close out the series at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 24.
Thousands turned out for the 2022 Downtown Jazz Fiesta. Organizers expect as many as 7,000 will attend the 11th annual free event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 20, at Corbett’s.
Tucson Jazz Fiesta
One of the most treasured events of the nine-day HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival is the open-air Downtown Jazz Fiesta, taking place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
This year’s fiesta moves to Corbett’s, 340 N. Sixth Ave., the restaurant and venue that opened in August 2023.
There will be two stages set up in and around Corbett’s, with East Seventh Street between North Fifth and Sixth avenues closed. There is plenty of nearby parking.
The energetic New Orleans-born New Breed Brass Band opens for Delfeayo Marsalis at Rialto Theatre on Jan. 19 before headlining the Downtown Jazz Fiesta on Jan. 20.
New Breed Brass Band, which mixes a little R&B and Caribbean flavor into its high-energy New Orleans-style jazz, headlines the fiesta with a main-stage set at 4:30 p.m. Other main-stage performances: Tucson Jazz Institute’s Ellington Big Band, 11:30 a.m.; Heather Hardy and Taste of Jazz, 1 p.m.; Zona Libre, 2.
Tucson Modern Jazz Quartet opens the Corbett’s Stage with an 11 a.m. set, followed by Sarah Tolar at 12:15 p.m., UA Jazz Ambassadors at 1:45, West by Northwest at 3:30 and Ada Redd Austin at 5:30.
Admission to the fiesta is free.
As part of the fiesta, French-born longtime Tucson singer-songwriter Naïm Amor will perform two special speakeasy concerts at 1:45 and 3 p.m.; admission is $10. Jazz vocalist and arranger Gracie Jay performs at the speakeasy at 7 p.m.; admission is $30. For those tickets, visit tucsonjazzfestival.org.
Two of his three brothers have played a number of Tucson shows, but on Sunday, Jan. 19, jazz trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis will finally make his debut as part of the 2025 Tucson Jazz Festival.
Tickets, lineup, schedule and all things jazz fest
The 2025 HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival runs Jan. 17-25 at several downtown venues. Ticket prices vary by show and tickets are available through tucsonjazzfestival.org, where you also will find the complete lineup.
Tucson Desert Song Festival is co-sponsoring Armen Donelian and Dominque Eade’s sold-out festival opening concert Jan. 17 and Caity Gyorgy’s sold-out show on Jan. 24, both at The Century Room. The song festival runs through the end of February and for two weeks in April.
Arizona Arts Live is collaborating with the jazz festival to present Paquito D’Rivera Jan. 17 at The Rialto.
By the numbers
- 35 live performances over 9 days
- 8,000-10,000 tickets sold for last year’s festival; 2,500 were to people from outside of Tucson
- 7,000 people attended last year’s Downtown Jazz Fiesta
- 8 downtown Tucson venues will host concerts
