For the 2026/27 season, SCP Jazz to carry on with its global yet local focus

Symphony Center Presents has always planned globally and locally for its jazz series and these principles will be highlighted throughout the SCP Jazz 2026/2027 season. Headliners range from a Cuban legend to brilliant younger artists who have called, or still call, Chicago home. The diverse series also will honor the music’s heroes, while showing how this music remains focused on the future.

“The 2026/27 Symphony Center Presents Jazz series highlights the deep legacies and the future direction of jazz, featuring artists who continue to bring a fresh perspective to the music,” said James Fahey, senior director of programming for Symphony Center Presents. "This season reflects the incredible breadth of the jazz tradition, bridging generations and styles to offer a truly compelling musical experience at Symphony Center.”

Oct. 8, Freedom Riders with Special Guests Kurt Elling & Lizz Wright

The season begins on Oct. 8 with Freedom Riders, an octet that will feature guest appearances from Chicago singers Kurt Elling and Lizz Wright (at left). The Freedom Riders group has continued to develop after its debut at New York’s Winter JazzFest in January 2025, where it delivered a message of how music and activism intertwine.

The ensemble brings together young improvisers with veteran artists to highlight a repertoire connected to America’s civil rights movement, alongside calls for social justice today. For this performance, the group will include the widely acclaimed Chicago drummer Makaya McCraven.

Oct. 16, Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane

A pair of National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters will come together to honor one of music’s biggest heroes when saxophonist Branford Marsalis and singer Dianne Reeves commemorate John Coltrane’s centennial on Oct. 16. Expect to hear selections from the classic 1963 album that Coltrane’s quartet recorded with singer Johnny Hartman (titled “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman”); Reeves joined Marsalis’ group for a recording of this tribute, which Blue Note will release in September.

Feb. 5, Jeff Parker & The New Breed/Isaiah Collier & The Defiance

Guitarist Jeff Parker (at left) combined minimalism with a deep groove as a key player in jazz and rock groups in Chicago during the 1990s and early 2000s. Now based in Los Angeles, he returns to this city with his quartet, The New Breed, on Feb. 5, 2027. Featuring saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Paul Bryan and drummer Makaya McCraven, Parker’s quiet explorations have an international following, and May 15 brings the release of a new album, “Happy Today” (on International Anthem/Nonesuch Records) with his his long-running ETA IVtet.

Versatile Chicago saxophonist Isaiah Collier also will be on the program with his new band, The Defiance. Collier was named Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz for 2024 by the Chicago Tribune; his works have evoked such epic themes as the 400-year history of Black America.

Feb. 19, John Scofield & Dave Holland

Two hugely influential string players, guitarist John Scofield and bassist Dave Holland, will duet at Symphony Center on Feb. 19. Their lifelong experiences and onstage affinity was captured in the live recording “Memories of Home,” which was released last year. The album showcases their sparse new arrangements of compositions that Scofield and Holland wrote for their own celebrated bands over the decades.

Scofield, who has been a major part of leading jazz, funk and rock bands, has collaborated with such artists as Gary Burton and Charles Mingus, as well as Mavis Staples and Phil Lesh. Emerging in the fertile 1960s British jazz scene, Holland has played alongside myriad jazz stars, including Joe Henderson and Anthony Braxton, and has led numerous all-star groups, ranging from trios to big bands. Both Scofield and Holland also worked with Miles Davis.

March 19, Stanley Clarke & Hiromi along with PUBLIQuartet Celebrate the Music of Chick Corea & Beyond

The legacy of the multifaceted pianist Chick Corea (1941-2021) will be celebrated on the March 19 concert featuring bassist Stanley Clarke and keyboardist Hiromi (at left with Clarke) with PUBLIQuartet. Clarke performed in Corea’s bands for several years, including in his influential electric fusion group Return to Forever (which initially performed from 1972 to 1978). A favorite on electric and acoustic bass, Clarke also is an NEA Jazz Master.

Corea started working with Hiromi when she was 17, and he also advised Clarke to hire her for his own group — with the results including a 2011 Grammy Award for the bassist’s “The Stanley Clarke Band” album. The New York City-based string ensemble PUBLIQuartet has investigated new avenues of chamber music, jazz and international sounds.

April 20 and April 23, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Residency, including The Ever Fonky Lowdown

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis has been a regular on the Symphony Center Presents Jazz series, but the ensemble’s two events on April 20 and April 23 will be especially notable. Marsalis has announced that this will be his final season as the organization’s artistic director and his last as the orchestra’s music director. The first performance will showcase the large ensemble’s extensive take on jazz history, a vision that the trumpeter started developing for it nearly 40 years ago.

The second performance will present The Ever Fonky Lowdown, a jazz oratorio that the orchestra released in 2020. The extensive work addresses the impacts of racism and capitalism in America. Along with guest vocalists, actor and Tony Award-winning producer Wendell Pierce serves as its narrator.

May 14, Joel Ross: Good Vibes/The Vibraphone Summit

Next season also marks the centennial of the vibraphone, a mallet percussion instrument with a distinctive pulsating tone. It was invented in Chicago by the J.C. Deagan Co. Symphony Center will celebrate this occasion on May 14 with the return of one of the instrument’s great young players and a special quartet, The Vibraphone Summit. Former Chicagoan Joel Ross (at left) grew up learning his instrument through Jazz Institute of Chicago programs and the Chicago High School for the Arts. Now based in New York City, he revisited his hometown’s deep cultural traditions on his 2026 album “Gospel Music.”

Along with his regular touring and recordings for the Blue Note label, Ross is also on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. For this performance, he will lead his quartet, Good Vibes. One of Ross’ mentors, Stefon Harris, will be part of a group of vibraphonists that also will perform as part of the summit, and its lineup includes veterans Warren Wolf and Joe Locke, along with Chien Chien Lu, who has been named a “rising star” on the instrument in the DownBeat Critics Poll.

June 4, Chucho Valdés: 85th Birthday Celebration

Legendary Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés closes the Symphony Center Presents Jazz series on June 4 with an 85th birthday celebration that will feature saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Etienne Charles. Since his days co-leading Irakere in the 1970s, Valdés has drawn on Cuban folklore, classical music training and a deep immersion in jazz improvisation to create spellbinding music. In a 2022 Symphony Center appearance, he performed his epic La Creación, a story of the world’s creation from the perspective of the Afro-Cuban santería faith.

Lovano, a multiple DownBeat Critics Poll winner, continues to redefine the sound of his instrument. Like Valdés, Trinidad-born Charles has explored different African retentions in jazz through his Gullah Roots project, which looks at the unique African American culture of South Carolina and Georgia.

Subscriptions are now on sale online (cso.org), by phone (312-294-3000), by mail or in person (at the box office, 220 S. Michigan) for the 2026/27 Season of SCP Jazz, in four- and eight-concert curated subscriptions or a create-your-own-subscription option of three or more concerts. Tickets for individual concerts will become available in August.