The 24th annual Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival is returning to Jennings Landing September 5. The free day-long event will feature five live performances with a firework finale.

The Riverfront Jazz Festival has brought artists from all over the country to Albany since 2002. The festival highlights all levels of jazz artistry, from all-time great musicians to up-and-coming artists and locals.

The festival kicks off at 12 p.m. with a performance from the mesmerizing Shiri Zorn Trio. The lead vocalist, Zorn, is innovative in her eclectic approach to jazz. She layers pieces from the American Songbook with Middle Eastern influences and elevates Latin and Samba classics with new harmonies.

Partnered with composer George Muscatello and inspired by singers like Cleo Laine, Zorn has two albums under belt; Into Another Land released 2022 and Looking for the Light released 2025.

The Harlem Gospel Travelers take the stage next at 2 p.m., composed of vocalists Ifedayo Gatling, Dennis Bailey and George Marage. The Brooklyn-based group began after Gatling and Marage met in high school and released their debut LP, He’s On Time, which received rave reviews and got them invites to festivals like Pilgrimage, Telluride Jazz and an appearance on Elton John’s “Rocket Hour” radio show on Apple Music.

HGT originally focused on reinterpreting gospel-soul-funk fusions of the mid-1960s before releasing two original albums, Look Up! in 2022 and Rhapsody in 2024, exploring their own identities in connection with music and religion with the hopes of establishing a sense of belonging with listerners.

The Glen David Andrews Band follows at 3:30 p.m. Originally from the Treme neighborhood in New Orleans, considered the oldest Black community in the U.S., band frontman Andrews comes from a long line of musicians and has been touring from the age of 14. The Glen Andrews Band fuses jazz, gospel, rock, blues and funk for thrilling, invigorating music.

The band has earned prestigious recognition with the headliner slot in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and appearances at the Voodoo Music Experience, Chicago Folk and now, the Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival.

At 5:00 p.m., the New Breed Brass Band takes the stage. The group’s sound is impossible not to dance to with vivacious horns and contagious rhythms. Rooted in New Orleans, the group’s most recent album, Second Line Sunday, made in collaboration with Troy Andrews, known as Trombone Shorty, was released twenty years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Shorty’s incredible career started at four-years-old with an impromptu performance with Bo Diddley. Two years later, he was heading up his own brass band, receiving critical acclaim by his early twenties. He has collaborated with a wide variety of artists from Bruno Mars to Zac Brown. Although Shorty is not an official member of the New Breed Brass Band, he does have a familial tie with nephew Jenard Andrews as the front man.

Last but not least, headliner Ghost-Note is on at 6:30 p.m. Led by Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth, Snarky Puppy’s Grammy-winning percussion duo, Ghost-Note formed in 2015 as an innovative fusion band. The group features an elite roster of musicians who have worked with the likes of Prince, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and more.

The band has taken a forward-thinking approach to jazz, building upon foundations set by artists like James Brown and Sly & The Family Stone with flavors of afrobeat, hip-hop, psychedelia and more. Their two studio albums, 2018’s Swagism and 2015’s Fortified, both hit the top spot on the iTunes jazz charts.

The festival will be rounded out with fireworks at 8 p.m. In case of rain, it will be held at the Corning Preserve Boat Launch. Check this link for updates.

The lineup for 2026 Jazz Festival will feature:

12:30pm – SHIRI ZORN TRIO

2:00pm – THE HARLEM GOSPEL TRAVELERS

3:30pm – GLEN DAVID ANDREWS BAND

5:00pm – NEW BREED BRASS BAND

6:30pm – GHOST-NOTE

8:00pm – FIREWORKS SHOW (PRESENTED BY NYSTEC)