The full lineup of the 2026 edition of Hamptons JazzFest has been announced. Now in its sixth year, this year’s edition of the festival, which happens at multiple venues across the South Fork, features a wealth and diversity of performers and subgenres under the jazz umbrella.
A highlight will be on Aug. 24, when the Harlem Gospel Choir performs a tribute to and celebration of the music of Tina Turner and Whitney Houston. The concert will take place at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor.
The festivities launch with a kick-off party on June 14 at 5 p.m. at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, where the Bill O’Connell Latin Jazz Express and a special guest, the trumpeter Randy Brecker, who lives in East Hampton, will give a free performance. O’Connell, a pianist who lives in Montauk and serves as the festival’s artistic director, and Peter Martin Weiss, a bassist who lives in Springs, perform most Sunday evenings in the summer at the Mavericks Montauk restaurant.
Other highlights of this year’s JazzFest include the Edmar Castaneda Quartet on July 10 at 6 p.m. at LTV Studios in Wainscott, and Cyrus Chestnut on July 12 at 6 p.m., also at LTV Studios, part of the McIver Piano Series.
This year marks the centennial of the birth of the trumpeter Miles Davis and the saxophonist John Coltrane, and on Aug. 8 the Conrad Herwig Quintet will perform “The Latin Side of Miles and Coltrane — 100th Anniversary Celebration” at the Montauk Playhouse. The start time is to be announced. This will be the first major concert at the Playhouse, where Gov. Kathy Hochul led a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the new aquatic center and 11,663-square-foot, second-story cultural center in August.
A trombonist, Herwig’s “Latin Side of Miles and ’Trane” was recently performed over four nights at Dizzy’s Club at the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex in Manhattan, with O’Connell on piano. “We have a record coming out, ‘The Latin Side of Chick Corea,’ ” O’Connell said, “so we will be playing some of that, too.”
The Immanuel Wilkins Quartet will be at LTV Studios on Aug. 28 at 6 p.m., and the following night at 6:30 Sammy Figueroa will give “A Tribute to Cal Tjader” at the Southampton Arts Center. Also in Southampton, O’Connell and Richie Flores will perform as a duo at the Rogers Memorial Library on Sept. 2 at 3 p.m. “Just piano and congas,” O’Connell said. “That will be exciting.”
The full schedule and tickets for performances are at hamptonsjazzfest.org. Through partnerships with cultural institutions and community venues, many concerts are offered at no or low cost to ensure broad public access and to connect diverse audiences with leading artists whose work reflects the global traditions of jazz and creative music, according to the festival’s organizers.
“Hamptons JazzFest 2026 marks our sixth season, which honestly feels a little hard to believe already,” said Claes Brondal, executive director of Hamptons JazzFest. “It’s been exciting seeing the festival continue to grow across the East End with concerts in museums, theaters, libraries, community spaces, and outdoor venues from Southampton to Montauk.”
This year’s lineup, he said, “really shows the wide scope and roots of jazz, from straight-ahead jazz and Latin jazz to gospel, contemporary groups, and even the addition of a string quintet program. There’s a mix of legendary artists, newer voices, and free community events throughout the season. More than anything, it’s about bringing people together around live music and keeping this music active and accessible out here in the Hamptons.”
“It’s a wonderful thing that this is our sixth year,” O’Connell said. “We’ve managed to create something that’s becoming part of the fabric of the Hamptons in the summer. To have a jazz presence in the Hamptons in the summer is a beautiful thing.”
