The 23rd edition of the NYC Winter Jazzfest is coming to stages in Manhattan and Brooklyn from Jan. 12 through 19, 2027. This edition’s theme of Collective Radiance highlights the community nurtured by musicians and listeners as a collective experience.

The Winter Jazzfest began in 2005 at the Knitting Factory. Beyond the overarching goal of introducing new people to jazz, the festival has a mission of focusing on artists with meaningful messages surrounding issues like racial and gender justice, climate action, immigration and other urgent subjects in the nation.

Over eight days of shows, the Winter Jazzfest will feature performances from artists based across the country. The first two shows will be hosted at the Roulette in Brooklyn. The Jan. 12 will feature performances from the Chicago-based Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble, Los Angeles-native Jimetta Rose, New Orleans-based vocalist Victor Campell and Brooklyn-born “surrealist blues poet” Aja Monet.

The Jan. 13 concert will celebrate Bronx-native William Parker’s 75th birthday. Parker has recorded over 150 albums, published six books and mentored hundreds of young artists in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Parker will perform in a trio with longtime friend and drummer Hamid Drake and multi-instrumentalist Shabaka Hutchings, known as Shabaka. Parker and Drake will also perform their song “Black Cherry,” off their 1997 album Piercing the Veil, featuring dancer and poet Patricia Nicholson Parker, Haitian electronic music composer Val Jeanty and Shahzad Ismaily. Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier will also perform.

Artwork Records Night at LPR, showcasing the independent label Artwork Records, will take place Jan. 14. Featured artists include multi-Grammy nominee saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, Grammy-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner, Haitian-American baritone Tyreek McDole, New Orleans “piano prince” Davell Crawford and South Carolina-born vocalist Georgia Heers.

The Manhattan and Brooklyn Marathon days come next. On Jan. 15, eight venues across Manhattan will host performances from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. The Brooklyn Marathon follows on Jan. 16 at seven Williamsburg venues. The lineup for both events has yet to be announced.

Jan. 17 brings Jazzfest to the Good Room for a night of Collective Resonance. The venue is split in two rooms: the Bad Room will host saxophonist and vocalist Caroline Davis followed by a joint performance from guitarist Dave Harrington and trombonist Kalia Vendever while the Good Room will feature the Blacks’ Myths, with a surprise guest, before a performance from collective Irreversible Entanglements. DJ Tara will open the event with Toribio & Bring Dat Jazz Orchestra capping off the night.

Jan. 18 brings two simultaneous shows at 8 p.m. From the Mountain Top at LPR will center around Parker’s album Flower in the Stained Glass Window inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parker has brought together fourteen diverse performers, from operatic singers Alicia Hall Moran and AnnMarie Sandy to Argentinian drummer Juan Pablo Carletti to Cuban trumpeter Diego Hedez, to bring a mixed program with works inspired by Dr. King to life.

Public Records will host a part of the Take Two series with a reimagining of influential drummer Elvin Jones’ 1968 album Puttin’ It Together by Kweku Sumbry. The night will begin with a playback of the album followed by Sumbry’s reimagined version. Bassist Henry Fraser and saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins will help bring that version to life.

The fest closes out on Jan. 19 with Spirits of Coltrane, a centennial tribute to saxophonist John Coltrane. John’s second son, Ravi, will lead a set of improvisations from John’s three final albums before his death in 1967: Interstellar Space, Stellar Regions and Expression. The night will also feature a live performance of multi-instrumentalist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s ANANTA project, honoring a lifelong influence from John in the year of his 100th birthday.

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