Emerging from the cultural fusion of European and African music in the late 19th century, jazz is widely considered the first uniquely American art form. A synthesis of cultures and sounds, the genre took the country by storm in the 1920s and ’30s before easing into an ever-changing niche over the years — simultaneously becoming both out of fashion and avant-garde at once.
“The best part of playing this kind of music is that you’re just rare,” composer and pianist Jason Moran said. “It’s a rare bunch, but you can see how much this music can shift culture — not just in the past but still today.”
Moran should know. He’s a MacArthur Fellow and was the artistic director of jazz at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., from 2011 until last year. He got his start playing with saxophonist Greg Osby and later formed the Bandwagon. NPR’s “All Songs Considered” named the trio’s 2001 album, Black Stars, one of “The 50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade.”
Moran is the curator of the 43rd Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, which runs this Wednesday to Sunday, June 3 to 7, on stages all across the city. Vermont’s biggest music festival features five days of world-class jazz, including ticketed concerts at the Flynn, free shows at Burlington’s Waterfront Park, the best of the local jazz scene at downtown nightclubs and restaurants, and dozens of school bands playing on the Church Street Marketplace.
“I’ve watched this art form change so much, and people just keep coming back to it,” Moran said. “Anyone who comes to hear jazz, they’re not looking for an answer, you know? You go see pop music if you want to hear the thing that you already know. But this? It’s like, Can I show you something? Can you hear it? You’ll hear it when you get home. It’s a shared conversation that keeps going.”
If jazz is a conversation, Burlington will be a chatterbox this week. With the likes of soul legend Mavis Staples, an all-star tribute to Latin-jazz luminary Eddie Palmieri, and dancer and choreographer Savion Glover topping the marquee, the only question is: Where to begin? Read on for a guide.
The Steve Bredice Quartet
Wednesday, June 3, 12:30 p.m., at City Hall Park. Free.
The main event on opening night is “The Beat Beneath Us,” a ticketed performance featuring dance legend Savion Glover at the Flynn Main Stage. But great shows abound all over town that day, too, including Burlington City Arts’ Downtown Jazz Summer Concert Series with the Steve Bredice Quartet. Composed of some of the area’s best players and teachers, the Vermont band often pulls from the Great American Songbook, performing jazz standards with equal parts mastery and passion.
Breathwork
Thursday, June 4, 11 p.m., at Radio Bean. $10.
For all the big-time touring talent that swings through town for the jazz fest, the 802 jazz scene always comes correct. Burlington boasts some killer players, from established pillars Ray Vega, Paul Asbell and Marty Fogel to up-and-coming talent such as Janéa Hudson and Connor Young. One of the leading lights in the Queen City is the fusion trio Breathwork, featuring guitarist Xander Naylor, bassist Pat Markley and drummer Ethan Snyder. Jazz is just the launching point for Breathwork, whose jams soar from genre to genre.
Tank and the Bangas
Friday, June 5, 9:20 p.m., at Waterfront Park. Free.
From winning the NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2017 to taking home a Grammy last year, it’s been a whirlwind for New Orleans’ Tank and the Bangas. The group delivers a thrilling fusion of funk, hip-hop, soul and poetry, centered on front woman Tarriona “Tank” Ball. Her love of poetry helped drive their 2025 album The Heart, The Mind, The Soul, which won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. The record also featured musician Robert Glasper, who helped the band delve into free-form jazz terrain.
Tank and the Bangas are joined by blues artist Ruthie Foster and local acts Soul Porpoise and the Lara Cwass Band at the waterfront on Friday night.
Skate Jam! Presented by Jason Moran and the Bandwagon, featuring Ron Allen and Chuck Treece
Saturday, June 6, 1 p.m., at Andy A_Dog Williams Skatepark. Free.
In what must surely be a jazz fest first, fans are encouraged to bring their skateboards to a jazz jam at the Andy A_Dog Williams Skatepark on Saturday. Curator Moran and the Bandwagon provide a live soundtrack to any and all who want to shred. They’re joined by Ron Allen, the first Black professional skateboarder, and Chuck Treece, who will both skate and play guitar. One assumes not at the same time, but it’s jazz fest, so who knows?
Chris Potter & Julian Lage: ‘A Nation Listens’
Sunday, June 7, 7 p.m., at the Flynn Main Stage. $38.36-101.28.
The jazz fest closes with a world-premiere performance from avant-garde saxophonist Chris Potter and guitarist Julian Lage. The musicians have composed a new piece in tribute to the abolitionist John Brown, who was executed by the Commonwealth of Virgina in 1859 for leading a raid on Harpers Ferry intended to start a slave revolt. Potter and Lage are joined by Newport Jazz Festival artistic director and drummer Nate Smith, “Saturday Night Live” bassist James Genus and Grammy-nominated vocalist Sara Caswell, among others.
The show opens with saxophonist Mark Turner presenting Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, a piece he composed based on the 1912 James Weldon Johnson novel.
Big Joe’s
Wednesday to Saturday, June 3 to 6, 10 p.m., at the Flynn Space. Free.
As has been true for the past several years, the late-night pop-up jazz venue Big Joe’s is the place to be for after-hours jazz fest jams. A tribute to the late, great Burlington saxophonist “Big Joe” Burrell, the club is located at the Flynn Space this year, after holding court at Vermont Comedy Club in festivals past.
Each night, Big Joe’s hosts the Domo Branch Quartet. Branch, a native of Portland, Ore., is both a bandleader and a talented drummer who has played with Wynton Marsalis. After a set with his quartet, he oversees another recent festival feature: the open jam, where the best of the Burlington jazz scene mingles with out-of-town counterparts. ➆
The original print version of this article was headlined “A Rare Bunch: A guide to navigating all that jazz at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival”
This article appears in Animal Issue • 2026.
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