Chaka Khan, Lakecia Benjamin, Marcus Miller and more: this year’s Indy Jazz Fest is one you won’t want to miss.
Presented by Citizens Energy Group, Indy Jazz Fest 2024 takes place Sept. 17-28 at various venues throughout the city, including the Everwise Amphitheatre at White River State Park, The Jazz Kitchen and The Cabaret. The annual festival aims to celebrate the history and legacy of jazz music in Indianapolis by bringing together local, national and international artists to local stages, according to artistic director Rob Dixon.
“There’s fellowship that happens around this music, and so it’s a music that is really celebratory of community,” Dixon said. “It’s a time when all people are able to celebrate and appreciate music.”
Dixon, a jazz musician himself, has been helping put on Indy Jazz Fest for the last 15 years. This year will follow a similar format to previous year’s festivals, Dixon said, with well-known and well-loved musicians flooding the city for nearly two weeks of nonstop concerts, leading up to the grand finale in Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park on Sept. 28.
The Grand Finale line up will include Michael Franks, Steve Allee & the Magic Hour Band, bassist Marcus Miller and Chaka Khan — who is the biggest artist to headline the festival since 2009, Dixon said.
“What I’m excited about (with) that aspect of the festival — that we have somebody like Chaka Khan — is because she’s an iconic, 10-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist,” Dixon said. “But then it’s generational, too. People that are older appreciate her, but I think younger people kind of appreciate her too.”
Beginning Sept. 17, jazz lovers can catch intimate, nighttime sets from Kandace Springs, Bria Skonberg, Aymée Nuviola, Naptown Sound, Marquis Hill and more at The Jazz Kitchen and The Cabaret with the Sunset Series.
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The Sunset Series includes two performances from three-time Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, who will perform music parts of her latest album, “Phoenix Reimagined” and “Phoenix” at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Sept. 20 at The Jazz Kitchen.
This will be Benjamin’s first year playing Indy Jazz Fest, but the saxophonist told the Recorder she has always wanted to check out the jazz scene here due to the numerous legends who have come out of Indiana.
“I got started playing music when I was in the fifth grade,” Benjamin said. “I am from a predominately Latin neighborhood, so the first music I ever played was merengue and salsa and later in high school was exposed to Duke Ellington and Kenny Garrett and was hooked on jazz ever since.”
Indy Jazz Fest is also the premier event for the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation and has been bringing Hoosiers together through jazz music since 1998. Jazz music and festivals, in particular, have a way of bringing out the spirit of the community, Dixon said, “because it’s American music. It comes from the Black community.”
“It feels amazing to have an opportunity to perform for the people there and be amongst such high-level talent chosen,” Benjamin said in an email to the Recorder. “I’m always looking forward to getting to interact (with) and meet the audience. I hope they will walk away feeling excited and full of energy and joy after the show — that’s always the goal of mine.”
Indy Jazz Fest takes place Sept. 17-28 at various venues around the city. Tickets start at $25-$122 and up depending on venue and show and can be purchased on the website. For more information about the festival, venues or lineup, visit indyjazzfest.net
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @chloe_mcgowanxx.
