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The Stanford Jazz Festival has always been a wide-ranging event, blending a summer of educational experiences for young people with six weeks of performances for the public, in which top jazz artists serve as both instructors and performers.
The 2025 festival celebrates, now more than ever, the many facets of jazz and the numerous genres it complements and influences — as the festival website puts it,” jazz’s rich roots and its global connections.”
“In our curation, we want to feature artists that are internationally known but that are also in the jazz tradition … we have that luxury of really staying close to jazz at the core of what we do. We have a lot of artists that are very much of the genre, that speak right to it. And then we also really want to honor what is new, what is up-and-coming and that also the belief that jazz is, at its core, inclusive of a global tradition,” said Stanford Jazz Workshop Executive Director Cory Combs in an interview with this publication.
The festival had an early kickoff on June 22 with a sold-out “Indian Jazz Journey,” an annual show that has become a festival fixture featuring saxophonist George Brooks and vocalist Mahesh Kale.
The official opening weekend features the return of pianist Fred Hersch (June 27) with a blend of lyrical, improvisational styles and more; post-bop trumpeter Jeremy Pelt (June 28) and vocalist Tiffany Austin paying tribute to legendary singer Sarah Vaughan (June 29).
“We want to bring in artists that are bringing a respect and a reverence to jazz, but also merging it with other styles, like Cuban music, Brazilian, blues, and so we have a number of artists that are coming at it from that direction: John Santos and Yilian Cañizares, for example, are two wonderful fusion artists. Anat Cohen, who’s a clarinetist, is playing a wonderful set of Brazilian influenced music, but she could also be considered a traditional jazz artist in a lot of ways too,” Combs said.
The schedule includes national name headliner shows, including, in addition to Hersch and Pelt, guitarist John Pizzarelli, vocalist Lizz Wright and pianist Taylor Eigsti.
Two-time Grammy Award winner Eigsti has particularly close ties to the Peninsula, where he grew up, and to the festival. He began as a camper and now returns each year to teach and perform.
Combs noted that the schedule boasts a wide range of talented artists.
“The area is so rich and deep that we can bring in artists that are developing that kind of national/international reputation. That’s Tiffany Austin, for example. We have Caili O’Doherty, who is doing this beautiful suite in memory of her mother, so she wrote this whole suite of music that’s quite personal. This is going to be one of the first times where that music is going to be heard. We have this great show with Kenneth Peplowski, who’s a saxophonist who’s doing a tribute to the music of Charlie Parker … For anybody that’s that loving that mid-era jazz, bebop sound to hear Ken do these arrangements of Charlie Parker’s music, that’s going to be awesome.
“We have some unique shows like with Sam Reider, who is performing with an ensemble called Spaghetti. He brings this unique mix of original music and Americana and folk music, and he plays accordion,” Combs said.
Audiences can also take in signature festival events such as Early Bird Jazz for Kids with Dr. Dave Hart and the Zookeepers, while blues guitarist Chris Cain will make his first appearance at Ruth Davies Blues Night.
There’s also a show that, while not on the schedule every year, neatly showcases the festival’s unique educational and performance elements. The June 21 Rising Stars concert features the Stanford Jazz Workshop Mentor Fellows. This is an auditioned group of rising professional musicians who teach but also work together as an ensemble.
“They’re on-site with us for three weeks as educators, and then they can rehearse, develop music and perform as a band. So they get this kind of dual opportunity to develop as educators and develop as performing artists. This will be their second (summer) of being together as a group,” Combs said.
“They’re incredible performers, so it’s an exciting ensemble and because this is a two-year program, they get the chance to develop as a core group, and get to know each other musically. It really develops over time.”
Combs said that the nature of the festival spurs everyone to be at their best. Young students get a chance to be front and center at concerts to watch their teachers perform, and then the musicians themselves also know that in addition to their students, their fellow artists are also in the crowd.
“Every night is going to bring something unique, exciting. They’re all virtuosic level,” Combs said of the festival.
The Stanford Jazz Festival takes place through Aug. 1 at various venues on the Stanford University campus. stanfordjazz.org.
