Madison Jazz Calendar

Your Guide to the Local Jazz Scene

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Welcome to the Madison Jazz Calendar, a complete, accurate, and up-to-date list of live jazz events in Madison, Wisconsin. Go directly to the calendar, or see below for notices and news about jazz in Madison. 

Madison Jazz Fest 2022

The Madison Jazz scene continues to grow and flourish and this year’s Festival is no exception. From an event that began years ago as two evenings at the old civic center it has grown to a 10 day celebration of jazz all around town. The Festival is bookended by the popular Strollin Capitol East evening on June 10, and by 2 days and evenings of concerts at UW Memorial Union Terrace on June 18th and 19th, including Grammy-winning artists Brian Blade, and Christian McBride.

For more in-depth information, this week’s Cap Times has a nice feature on the Fest. To see the schedule all in one place see this Arts and Literature Lab page. And of course, all announced events are listed on the Madison Jazz Calendar.

WORT Jazz host opening

(update: The position has been filled)

After many years of co-hosting WORT’s Strictly Jazz Sounds, Jane Reynolds and Steve Braunginn are retiring in June. Successors are sought. The time slot is 2-5pm every Thursday and it can be shared, or alternated. No previous experience is necessary; WORT will provide training. The full ad and a form to complete are on the WORT website.

Thank you Jane and Steve for your years of dedicated community service. Your knowledge and passion for jazz, and your warm radio presence made for a winning combination!

Jazz on State is back

Jazz on State has a new website that lists dates, artists, and other event info for their downtown concert series this June. Musicians scheduled to perform are: Mr Chair, and New Orleans Tribute Band on June 8th; Charlie Painter Jazz Guitar Trio, and Betsy Ezell on June 15th; and Mike Cammilleri Organ Trio, and The Donna Woodall Group on June 22nd.

Cathy Sullivan, co-founder of Jazz at Five and its executive director for 15 years, is the main force behind Jazz on State. She put together Jazz on State to fill the gap left when Jazz at Five moved its series to Fitchburg last year.

This summer Jazz at Five is back downtown for three concerts in August, and Jazz on State hosts three concerts in June. These concerts bookend the six Concerts On The Square in mid-summer so virtually every Wednesday evening in downtown Madison will be filled with music. Nice!

2022 Madison Jazz Festival dates set

Mark your calendars: this year’s Madison Jazz Festival (formerly the Isthmus Jazz Fest) is set to run from Friday, June 10th through Sunday, June 19th.

The year 2022 marks 50 years since the week-long residency by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra on the UW campus, and a 50th anniversary celebration is planned, including a concert of Ellington’s music at UW-Madison’s Hamel Music Center on Friday, June 17th. There will also be headline concerts by high profile artists at the Wisconsin Union Theater on June 18th and 19th, as well as events at venues all over town. More details to come.

Cafe Coda reopens

Good news, one of Madison’s premier jazz venues, Cafe Coda, is reopening tomorrow! Closed since the end of December to avoid the latest covid surge, they return with a full schedule.

This week’s highlights include a Fat Tuesday celebration with Panchromatic Steel and the Saideira Pagode Crew; Chicago’s Dee Alexander on Friday; and Tim Whalen and his Nonet on Saturday. To see a schedule of all the Cafe Coda offerings go to the Calendar and type Coda into the search box.

Tone Madison

Part of what helps the Madison arts scene flourish are the many nonprofits, DIY’ers, and others promoting, creating, and covering the arts. Tone Madison is one of these. If you aren’t familiar with it, Tone Madison is an independent online magazine covering music, culture, and local politics.

A good starting point for digging into Tone Madison’s many music reviews, roundups, and profiles is, “Keeping Madison’s Music Writing Vital,” a look back at articles published in 2021. For jazz fans the two articles of interest are, “The Elusive Discography of Joan Wildman,” a deep dive into Joan Wildman recordings; and “One Vibrating Box Inside Another,” a profile of multi-genre guitarist Louka Patenaude. Both of these are lengthy, satisfying pieces to read when you have time.

Cassette liner notes from one of Joan’s Trio recordings
Fake Candle Chandelier from Louka’s debut album, Testing Your Patience

Jazz at Five performer application

Jazz at Five is recruiting performers for their 2022 Series and wants to present a diverse program that represents the Dane County jazz community.

The series will be six performance dates – split between McKee Park in Fitchburg and the top of State St. in Madison. The dates are July 27th, August 3rd, and August 10th at McKee Park; and August 17th, 24th, and 31st at the top of State Street.

Applications can be submitted directly by filling out the form on the Jazz at Five website, or by sending in an email with this pdf application. The deadline for submission is March 11th.

Tim Whalen’s arrangement of “Time Stand Still”

Tim Whalen sent out an email today about the band, “Rush,” the death of Neil Pert, and his response which included arranging this tune. It’s worth reading his email before listening to the video. As a reminder, here is the original.

By the way, Tim will be here with his Nonet on March 5th. The sound will be entirely different but no less spectacular.

Tim Whalen’s arrangement of Neil Pert’s “Time Stand Still.” Tim is usually on piano but here he is the 2nd vocalist.