Madison Jazz Festival returns with emphasis

Isaiah Collier is one of many highlights in a sprawling, generous program.

Madison’s relationship to jazz is often confounding. It’s clear there is consistent support for the genre: it’s hard to go a week without having multiple extremely worthwhile jazz shows on Madison’s proverbial books. Where the frustration lies is how insular that programming can often feel to outsiders. If you’re not actively seeking out an artist, it can be hard to know where to look, where to start, or what to prioritize. (That’s not a slight on the genre, this is how nearly every dedicated industry operates.) Madison Jazz Festival—an annual, 10-day event that showcases the genre across shows at a network of Madison venues—continues to work towards demolishing those blocks by providing a deluge of worthwhile options for seasoned, casual, and first-time jazz showgoers. This year, the festival takes place from June 5 to 15.

By expanding the genre’s reach and accessibility to a broader audience, Madison’s jazz venues have a better shot at sustaining high-performing longevity. Madison’s independently-owned and operated venues, especially, are locked into an uphill battle when it comes to receiving outside funding. It has been all too common to see those venues turn to crowdfunding campaigns to stabilize their programming. Often, it seems as if these venues are balancing on an unwieldy, unpredictable precipice. Madison Jazz Festival creates an opportunity to bring more eyes, ears, and business their way, and to keep those venues in a position where they can continue to consistently book world-renowned headliners.

To get a taste of what that dynamic looks like, there’s often no better place to start than Madison Jazz Festival, which has showcased a number of true heavy-hitters in the past. One of this year’s most high-profile acts is Isaiah Collier, whose main project—Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few—will be co-headlining the festival. The Brooklyn-bred, Chicago-based musician’s most recent album with that group, The World Is On Fire, is a staggering run of fiery-eyed jazz that leans into cultural commentary. (Multiple tracks on the album incorporate audio pulled from newscasts detailing police brutality, with “Ahmaud Arbery” feeling especially pointed). On The World Is On Fire, Collier takes a number of cues from free structure while still conveying a sense of ordered urgency, delivering expert playing alongside a killer cast of bandmates. The World Is On Fire arrived in October 2024, only a half-year after the group’s previous effort, The Almighty. Collier’s collaborative sole 2025 release (thus far), The Ancients, caps off a two-year, three-album span of compositional mastery that’s as compelling in theory as it is in execution.

Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few will headline Memorial Union Terrace on Saturday, June 14, concluding a day of free performances taking place on the stage from 1:00 to 10:30 p.m.

On the festival’s closing day, the festivities will continue on the Memorial Union Terrace stage. Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble headline that day’s slate of performers, with music going from 1 to 8:30 p.m. Admission will remain free—an unbeatable price point, especially for O’Farrill, who DownBeat once reverently referred to as “one of our greatest living pianists.” A figurehead of modern Afro-Cuban jazz, O’Farrill has capably carried the legacy of his father, the great Chico O’Farrill, who is partially responsible for the genre’s existence and popularity. Arturo O’Farrill has carved out his own spot in the annals of jazz history at this point, both as a player and as a composer. Listeners looking for a strong entry point would be wise to dig out O’Farrill’s emphatic 2020 track “Four Questions,” which features an impassioned spoken-word performance from Dr. Cornel West.

But Madison Jazz Festival isn’t just about the headliners or their stature within the genre. It is a collective, communal event that directs attention to regional, local, and emerging acts—as well as acts with historical significance. The Original Pinettes Brass Band fit squarely into the latter category as part of a fascinating history of all-female brass bands, though their tagline touts them as “the ONLY female brass band in the universe.” While that tagline can probably be contested from a few different angles, ignoring their impact and importance would be an error. The band’s performances are electric, and their free June 8 appearance at Olin Park—which includes a Q&A—is worth prioritizing. Their Q&A session will begin at 5 p.m., followed by a performance at 7.

Bassist Emma Dayhuff‘s performance at High Noon Saloon is another worth circling. She’ll have an extremely impressive quartet in tow—one that features Collier—and celebrate the release of a new album, Inventions Through Lineage. The 18+ show, which begins at 8 p.m., is one of a small handful of paid shows that are a part of Madison Jazz Festival. (Admission for Dayhuff’s show is $25.) Other individual events worth exploring include the $50 AACM 60th Anniversary Series triple-header at Café Coda on June 7 (starts at 5:00 p.m.), a free KASE and Rob Dz collaboration on June 9 at Warner Park (starts 6:00 p.m.), and a free screening of Johan Grimonprez’s 2024 historical documentary, Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (starts 7:00 p.m.).

On June 10, Arts + Literature Laboratory will host Remember Me: Celebrating Mary Lou Williams In Poetry And Music. The event begins at 7:00 p.m., and will serve as a poignant reminder of Madison’s relationship to jazz. It’s also a tribute to the memory of Williams, whose impact on both Madison and the genre can still be felt today.

A full list of participating venues, performing artists, showings, and appearance details can be found at Arts + Literature Laboratory’s website. 

Madison Jazz Fest will, once more, be the longest-running unified music event that happens in the city this year. It has its own distinct flavor. And, speaking from past personal experience: it’s a flavor worth savoring. This year’s iteration of the 10-day festival is set to be particularly strong, and its programming gives attendees a generous selection of options. Set aside some time and make an honest effort to get out to at least one of these; chances are good that the impression will be strong enough to motivate just about anyone to come back for more.