NJPAC Announces Lineup For This Year’s TD James Moody Jazz Fest

Written By Mike Greenblatt
James Moody Jazz Festival

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark (NJPAC) has announced this year’s lineup for the 15th annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival Nov. 6-22. Highlights include tributes to Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Zakir Hussain and James Moody [1925-2010}, the bebop sax man who was raised in Newark. Anticipation is also running high for a rare appearance by Tony Award winner Ben Vereen.

Fest Advisor Christian McBride, the 11-time Grammy winning bassist-composer-educator from Montclair, put out a statement that reads, “this year at the TD James Moody Jazz Festival, we'll be remembering and celebrating some of the world's best musicians. Legendary sitar player Niladri Kumaar will pay tribute to one of the Arts Center's much-loved regular visitors, tabla superstar Zakir Hussain, who passed in 2024. The Moody All-Star Band will salute our festival's namesake, James Moody. We'll all help blow out the candles when Ben Vereen celebrates his 80th birthday the best way he knows how -- on stage! And Jon Faddis will lead 'Miles at 100,' a concert in honor of the great Miles Davis's centennial year. So many of your favorite jazz musicians will be on hand at the festival, from Gregory Porter to Charles Lloyd. I'll be there too, playing with my good friend Bruce Hornsby as well as with the New Jersey Symphony. This is a lineup of one-of-a-kind performances…”

The concerts—some free—will take place at various Newark venues including NJPAC at One Center St., Clement’s Place at 15 Washington St. and Bethany’s Baptist Church at 275 Market St. For the lineup and further information, visit https://www.njpac.org/series/td-jazz-series/.

Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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