Tucson Jazz Festival lineup kicks off with local artists

Khris Dodge and the folks at the HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival had a couple of goals in mind when they mapped out the 2026 festival.

First and foremost, “to make sure our festival feels like it is in Tucson and belongs to Tucson,” Dodge said on the eve of releasing the lineup Friday.

“We have a unique space that we present in and a unique community, and some of the choices and what we do in presenting are purposely put there to reflect our community,” Dodge said, including opening the nine-day festival with local musicians and presenting concerts in uniquely Tucson spaces like the historic Rialto and Fox Tucson theaters and Hotel Congress’s Century Room.

“The Rialto, the Century Room, the Fox Theatre, the new space La Rosa … all of them are uniquely Tucson and uniquely cool,” said Dodge, the festival’s executive director since 2020.

The festival from Jan. 16-24 will hold the first jazz event at La Rosa, a 450-seat venue in the historic Benedictine Monastery on North Country Club Road, on Jan. 18 when legendary Cuban pianist Chuchita Valdés and Grammy-nominated Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo team up for “Cuba Meets Brazil.”

“It’s a great size; it’s intimate, but yet we can have a lot of people in this beautiful space,” said David Slutes, who, with partner Steve Levy, has been working on the midtown venue since Slutes left his job as Hotel Congress entertainment director in spring 2024. “And the jazz festival, with these wonderful international artists, in a space that’s not a black box — it gives these artists and the guests an elevated experience.”

Tucson’s own Sergio Mendoza and the Tucson Latin Jazz Orchestra open the nine-day festival on Jan. 16, followed by Tucson’s Latin dance band Zona Libre playing a CD release show on Jan. 17.

Internationally acclaimed jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt will share the stage with the University of Arizona Studio Jazz Ensemble on Jan. 24.

The festival will feature dozens of performances in venues throughout downtown, including The Grand Tucson, a wedding and event space on South Sixth Avenue, where the festival will host its Jazz Brunch on Jan. 18 with Grammy-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner. Fortner and his namesake trio will perform a concert Jan. 17 at the Century Room.

Tickets are on sale now through tucsonjazzfestival.org.

Dodge said more artists will be added in the coming months. The lineup so far:

• Sergio Mendoza & Friends and Tucson Latin Jazz Orchestra with Justo Almario, conductor/arranger Luis Torres and special guest vocalist Katherine Byrnes, Jan. 16, Rialto Theatre.
• Zona Libre EP release, Jan. 17, Hotel Congress Plaza stage.
• Sullivan Fortner Trio, Jan. 17, The Century Room

“He’s one of the best piano players in the world,” Dodge said of the New Orleans-born Grammy-winning pianist, band leader and arranger. “He’s played with everybody, and his résumé is crazy long. He brings his spirit of New Orleans, but he just approaches the music so wonderfully.”

• Kurt Whalum “Songs of Change,” which blends jazz, gospel and R&B to honor anthems of justice, unity and resilience, Jan. 17, Rialto.

Dodge said the legendary saxophonist will perform his own interpretation of iconic 1960s civil rights songs, which is why Dodge scheduled the show around Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 19).

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

• “Cuba Meets Brazil” featuring Chuchito Valdés & Diego Figueiredo Jan. 18 at La Rosa. The pair perform a dynamic program connecting the musical dots between Chuchito’s fiery Afro-Cuban piano tradition and Grammy-nominated Figueiredo’s samba, bossa nova and jazz.
• Tucson Jazz Festival is collaborating with Tucson Symphony Orchestra to bring back festival faves Pink Martini with vocalist Storm Large and pianist Thomas Lauderdale Jan. 18-19 at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall. TSO last hosted the Oregon ensemble for a 2023 jazz festival show.
• Drummer Jonathan Pinson is performing two sets to celebrate his new album on Jan. 18 at The Century Room.
• Six-time Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and composer Gerald Clayton and his namesake quartet are at Rialto Theatre Jan. 18.
• Trumpet great Terell Stafford plays two shows at The Century Room Jan. 20.

“Terrell is one of those guys that shows up when you look on album credits,” Dodge said. “He’s a wonderful player, very melodic, and on top of it, just a super nice person.”

• The Emmy-winning jazz saxophonist and vocalist Braxton Cook and his namesake quartet play two shows at The Century Room on Jan. 21.
• Four-time Latin Grammy winner Hamilton de Holanda and his trio play the inaugural concert at the Paul and Alice Baker Center for Public Media, the new south-side home of the University of Arizona’s AZPM.

“(Holanda) might be easily the best mandolin player in the world,” Dodge said. “He’s a virtuoso and he plays all over the world. He’s constantly on tour, and we’re lucky that he happens to be on this part of the country during our festival so we were able to get him here.”

• Acclaimed violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman and her All Species Parade plays two shows at The Century Room on Jan. 22.
• “Emmet Cohen Presents: Miles and Coltrane at 100” celebrates the 100th birthdays of jazz greats Miles Davis and John Coltrane on Jan. 22 at Rialto Theatre.

“That’s super cool, right? You have two of the people who define modern jazz, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, easily two names that even if you’re not a jazz lover, people recognize, and they both would have turned 100 this year,” Dodge said. “They’re doing a tribute to their music that should be a stunning show.”

• “ELEW Plays Sting” Jan. 21 at The Century room features ELEW, the stage name for former Jazz at Lincoln Center pianist Eric Lewis, reimagining some of the Brit rocker’s songs in his electrifying “rockjazz” style.

“His approach to music is otherworldly,” Dodge said. “I’ve listened to a lot of really great music and I’ve never heard anybody approach the instrument like he does. It blows my mind.”

• Three-time Grammy-winning and Tony Award-winning jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater shares the Fox Tucson Theatre stage with Grammy-winning pianist Bill Charlap on Jan. 23.

“Dee Dee Bridgewater easily for my money, my favorite jazz singer, and she’s legendary,” Dodge said of the concert, a collaboration with the 2026 Tucson Desert Song Festival. “And matched with Bill Charlap, who interprets the Great American Songbook like no other person in the world. For them to have a conversation and an intimate concert, that will be a special evening.”

• Acclaimed trumpeter Jeremy Pelt teams up with the UA Studio Jazz Ensemble on the Hotel Congress Plaza on Jan. 24.
• Grammy-nominated guitarist Cory Wong on Jan. 24 at Centennial Hall.

Wong “puts on an energetic show,” Dodge said of the founding member of the funk/soul/jazz band Vulfpeck. “He comes with his own solo show with a big horn band, and it’s just full of energy. You buy a seat, you’re not going to sit down. It’s a dance. It’s a fun party.”

• Joe Farnsworth Big Room Quartet featuring Sarah Hannahan, Luther Allison and Yasushi Nakamura, Jan 24 (two shows) at The Century Room.