SARATOGA SPRINGS — The 45th Annual Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival returns this summer for a full two-day, two-stage festival experience at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26.
This season’s line-up features a roster of twenty-four musical groups headlined by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis — returning to the festival for the first time since 1998. Headliners also include soul music legend Booker T. Presents: A Stax Revue; powerhouse vocalist Ledisi for her festival debut; jazz/hip-hop crossover great Robert Glasper; and New Orleans funk and jazz collective Galactic featuring Anjelika Jelly Joseph for its festival debut.
“The 2022 Festival promises to be a memorable one in so many ways,” President and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center Elizabeth Sobol said through a statement. “While a number of other jazz festivals are changing and downsizing, Freihofer’s support is allowing us to go back to the full Saratoga Jazz Fest experience its long-time fans have come to love and expect,”
Highlighting the 15 festival debuts, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Booker T. Jones. The famed frontman of Booker T. & the M.G.s will showcase his 10-piece band with three lead vocalists performing his smash hits with the M.G.s, “Green Onions,” “Hang ‘Em High” and “Time is Tight.” The acclaimed producer of the legendary Memphis-based Stax Records will also showcase classic Stax songs “Try a Little Tenderness,” “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” (Otis Redding), “Hold On I’m Coming” (Sam and Dave), and “Gee Whiz” (Carla Thomas), among others.
2021 Grammy winner and fourteen-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Ledisi will also make her festival debut before returning to SPAC in August. She will take part in The Philadelphia Orchestra’s program dedicated to the music of Nina Simone.
Returning for the first time since 2019 is the popular Charles R. Wood “Jazz Discovery” Stage with rhythmic, global and funk grooves by groups from Red Baraat to Cha Wa to Tiempo Libre and some of the most exciting contemporary artists in jazz: Matt Wilson, Craig Handy, Connie Han, Ryan Keberle, Emmaline and Dan Wilson. In addition, the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars will celebrate George Wein, the founder of the festival who passed away at the age of 95 in September 2021. Following stunning Jazz Fest debuts in 2021, Hot Club of Saratoga and Garland Nelson leading Joyful Noise will return to kick-off the amphitheater line-up on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Various amenities will include fine arts and crafts fair, artist CD signings, Southern-style barbeque and other food vendors hosted at SPAC’s newly renovated concession area.
Guests will be allowed to bring in their own food and beverages, as well as blankets, tents and lawn umbrellas.
