Hey Jazz Lovers, Music is Coming Your Way
Vail Jazz Festival features the best in hot jazz, bebop, bossa nova, gypsy jazz, big band sounds and more
Live jazz returns to Vail this summer with the 27th annual Vail Jazz Festival!
The festival will run from July 8 – September 6, 2021 with a robust series of world class jazz performances in the heart of Vail, featuring the very best in hot jazz, bebop, bossa nova, gypsy jazz, big band sounds and more.
The festival will include eight Thursday evening headliner concerts under the tent in Lionshead Village, and eight free Sunday evening shows on the Solaris Plaza in Vail Village. Several of the Sunday evening performances will feature Colorado student jazz bands as the opening act.
The culmination of the festival is the popular five-day Vail Jazz Party over Labor Day weekend, which features a jam-packed lineup with numerous headlining artists that join together to play in group performances, multi-artist jam sessions, and inspiring multimedia tributes to jazz legends.
The mainstay of the party is the ‘Vail Jazz House Band’ featuring John Clayton, Dick Oatts, Terell Stafford, Wycliffe Gordon, Bill Cunliffe, and Lewis Nash, who are joined each year by at least two dozen other great jazz musicians to create a one-of-a-kind event that has cemented the party’s reputation as the premier Labor Day weekend jazz event in our nation.
Passes are the best way to experience the party, offering early entry to all sessions throughout the weekend. Tickets gain entry into a session of music, which typically lasts 4 – 5 hours and consists of multiple sets.
In addition, the Vail Jazz Workshop, which immerses pre-college musicians in intensive jazz training, will be held in-person, after being held online last summer. The workshop, among the longest-running programs of its type, enables 12 student musicians to study and be coached in an environment that emphasizes intense interaction with instructors and fellow students, while providing them with the unique opportunity to perform alongside legendary professional musicians at the Vail Jazz Party over Labor Day Weekend.
Learn more about supporting educational programs like this at VailJazz.org/support.
All events will follow state and local health guidelines and therefore may be subject to change. Tickets and more information can be found at VailJazz.org or 970.479.6146.
