Atlanta anticipates annual Jazz Festival’s free Memorial Day Weekend shows at Piedmont Park | EarRelevant

Mike Shaw | 17 May 2025

ATLANTA, Georgia— Billed as 31 days of jazz, from local clubs and restaurants to jam sessions and eventually the festival grounds in Piedmont Park, the Atlanta Jazz Festival is in full swing and nearing its traditional weekend extravaganza in Piedmont Park from Saturday, May 24 through Monday, May 26. Now in its 48th year, Atlanta’s is recognized as one of the nation’s largest free jazz festivals, including five acts each of the three days in Piedmont Park, with performances beginning at 1:00pm and continuing every two hours to each day’s final 9:00pm starting time.

The festival schedule is rich and broadly diverse. Each night’s closing performance is indicative, from bassist Derrick Hodge and his breadth of musicality and multiplicity on Saturday, to the “heart, soul and fire” of trumpeter Russell Gunn and his Blackhawk Quartet Sunday—two years ago, Gunn and 26-piece Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra performed his composition, The Blues and Its People, as the pre-festival concert at Atlanta Symphony Hall—to Joe Gransden and his ever-popular Big Band for the Festival’s grand finale performance Monday night. Among the other—all notable—performers, local resident pianist Kenny Banks Jr. will bring his unique mix of jazz and gospel to the stage on Sunday at 1:00pm. Later that day, at 5:00pm, jazz aficionados will crowd into Piedmont to hear Ravi Coltrane, who is extending the legacy of his father, jazz giant John, as well as his mother Alice, an influential jazz figure in her own right.

This year’s pre-festival main event at Symphony Hall features pianist Robert Gasper with vocalist Baby Rose. Glasper is something of a genre-breaker or new genre-setter. His album Black Radio won a Grammy for best R&B album, one of his five Grammys and 12 nominations across 11 categories. Baby Rose, meanwhile, is noted for her “smoke-filled ballads” and a style characterized by vulnerability. “I make music to help myself get through things,” she says. Between her and Glasper, we’re certain that we’ll all very much enjoy getting through that evening. ■

For more information, visit atljazzfest.com

SCHEDULE OF FREE ATLANTA JAZZ FESTIVAL CONCERTS, MAY 24 – 26

Saturday, May 24
1pm: Khari Cabral & JIVA
3pm: Aneesa Strings
5pm: Takuya Kuroda
7pm: Marsha Ambrosius
9pm: Derrick Hodge
Sunday, May 25
1pm:Kenny Banks Jr.
3pm: Jarrod Lawson
5pm: Ravi Coltrane
7pm: Andromeda Turre
9pm: Russell Gunn & Blackhawk Quartet
Monday, May 26
1pm: Brandon Woody
3pm: Tyreek McDole
5pm: Charles McPherson
7pm: Dianne Reeves
9pm: Joe Gransden and his Big Band

For more information, visit atljazzfest.com

EXTERNAL LINKS:

Atlanta Jazz Festival: atljazzfest.com

About the author:

Mike Shaw is a singer-pianist who has performed for decades in New Orleans and Atlanta. He is the author of the novel The Musician and partners with pianist Kevin Bales on the podcast MusicLifeandTimes. He is the founder of Shade Communications, a marketing company. He can be found at mikeshawnow.com.

Read more by Mike Shaw.