If you’re a jazz devotee eager for more of “America’s classical music” in your concert diet, you’re probably familiar with the so-called “jazz festival” with little to no jazz. For the past couple of decades, festivals once laser-focused on this distinct, challenging and improvised music have drifted toward more commercial programming that bears little resemblance to the genre in their names.
Here in Florida, top acts at the 47th Clearwater Jazz Holiday last year included the funk ensemble Tower of Power, Americana duo the War and Treaty and southern soul purveyors St. Paul and the Broken Bones. Jazz in the Gardens returns to Miami Gardens next month with another jazz-bereft lineup of rap, R&B and soul stars including Ludacris, Jhene Aiko and the Isley Brothers.
Even the vaunted New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival earns its revenue on the pop acts at the top of the bill—Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Kings of Leon, Lorde, David Byrne—rather than on its legit jazz regulars, many of whom require a magnifying glass to spot their names on the festival poster. This is not a knock on any these other artists, many of whom I enjoy and, in some cases, admire deeply. But they are indicative of the continued sidelining of jazz in popular culture, even in places that nominally aim to celebrate it.
Which brings us to a delightful exception (for the most part) to this rule, the Montreux Jazz Festival Miami, a five-night event returning to North Beach and Coconut Grove next week for its third year. Granted, not all of the festival’s programming will satisfy jazz purists; Saturday’s lineup of R&B dance act Nile Rodgers & Chic and yacht-rock staples Toto feels like a concession. But, especially on its first three nights, Montreux is endeavoring to reach a real jazz audience by booking real jazz musicians—artists rooted in the tradition but continuing to move the music forward in new directions.
The festival opens on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Miami Beach Bandshell with a tribute to the most innovative of all jazz trumpeters, Miles Davis, and is one many such celebrations of the legend’s 100th birthday. The evening straddles both ends of Davis’ daring career: The Kind of Blue Acoustic Band will perform acoustic jazz in the modal tradition that Davis all but invented on his landmark 1959 LP “Kind of Blue.” It will be followed by the Miles Electric Band, led by Davis’ nephew Vince Wilburn Jr., which showcases Davis’ peerless, improv-heavy integration of electric rock instruments on seminal, cosmic releases such as “Jack Johnson” and “Bitches’ Brew.”
On Thursday, Feb. 26, the Bandshell welcomes Makaya McCraven, its most exciting booking, whose sound oscillates between the hard bop jazz tradition, drum-and-bass grooves and excursions into the outer regions of instrumental post-rock. The Paris-born son of a jazz drummer and a Hungarian singer, McCraven has followed his father behind the kit, drumming and composing albums for prestige labels Blue Note, Nonesuch and International Anthem, readily integrating influences from hip-hop without straying from jazz rigor. His releases feature a cornucopia of ideas and like-minded collaborators—including the four EPs, each with their own flavor and tenor, that he released in 2025—and I have no doubt that his live show will push these compositions even farther, complete with dexterous interplay and surprising deviations.
The festival switches to the larger Hangar venue in Coconut Grove On Friday, Feb. 27 for a journey into jazz’s New Orleans roots. Juilliard-trained Jon Batiste, who is perhaps singular in popularizing jazz for mainstream audiences over the past decade, has experimented with other styles as well, winning Best Americana Album at the recent Grammys for his acclaimed new release “Big Money.” But I expect his Montreux show, a collab with Crescent City ambassador Trombone Shorty, will stick to his jazz roots. A number of guest stars, including PJ Morton, Tank and La Reezy, will keep the positive vibes flowing.
The final two notes of the festival are its least jazzy, from the aforementioned pairing of Nile Rodgers & Chic with Toto on Saturday, Feb. 28, and a Latin night of dance and pop with Bombe Estereo and Elena Rose on Sunday, March 1. But I can’t complain. This is a jazz festival that, all acts considered, has booked more real jazz artists than many of the longtime gatherings that use the genre’s name with impunity. The best way to ensure programming like this continues is to support it.
Five-day tickets run $611, and three-day (Fri.-Sun.) tickets cost $549. Individual tickets for the Wednesday and Thursday concerts at Miami Beach Bandshell are available as well, and run $37.44 to $115. Visit montreuxjazzfestivalmiami.com.
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