DC JazzFest’s Explosive Opening Night!

DC Jazz Festival
Jul 15, 2025
3 min read

WASHINGTON, DC – July 15, 2025 – The DC Jazz Festival^® (DCJF) announces its Opening Night celebration of the 21st annual DC JazzFest on Wednesday, August 27 at The Hamilton DC (600 14th St. NW) in the heart of downtown DC. DC JazzFest Opening Night will feature the stellar JazzDC All-Star Orchestra®, under the direction of pianist-composer-educator Allyn Johnson, dubbed “the Dean of DC Jazz” by Washington City Paper, with special 2025 Grammy-nominated vocalist Christie Dashiell and harpist Brandee Younger, a 2025 Doris Duke Award recipient, and saxophonist Paul Carr.

“DC JazzFest’s global reach and broad stylistic range represent our extraordinary international celebration of jazz at its highest level,” says Sunny Sumter, President and CEO of the DC Jazz Festival. “We are excited to once again kick off the festival in the heart of downtown Washington, DC at one of our signature venues, Hamilton DC.”

DC JazzFest’s Opening Night at Hamilton DC, exemplifies the festival’s continuing commitment to enliven the DC community with first-class artistry and intriguing artistic pairings. Under the direction of the soulful and facile pianist-composer Allyn Johnson, who directs the University of the District of Columbia’s jazz studies program, the JazzDC All-Stars Orchestra features some of the DMV’s finest musicians. Johnson personally selected these musicians for the ensemble’s big band manifestation. For Opening Night, DC JazzFest welcomes three brilliant special guest soloists from the world stage.

Vocalist Christie Dashiell was born in Washington, DC and studied jazz voice at Howard University, where she was a standout member of HU’s famed jazz vocal ensemble Afro Blue. She attended graduate school at the Manhattan School of Music, was an artist-in-residence at the Music Center at Strathmore and currently teaches jazz voice at HU. Dashiell’s debut solo album, Time All Mine, soared on the Billboard Jazz Album and Contemporary Jazz Album Charts and in the Critic’s Polls. Her second album, Journey in Black, was nominated for the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Harpist Brandee Younger excels at an instrument thought to be unusual for improvising and jazz expression. On harp, she is the next step in an exclusive evolution of contributors to the jazz lineage, including Alice Coltrane, whose instrument was bequeathed to her by the Coltrane family. A native of Hempstead, New York, Younger studied at The Hartt School of Music and earned her Master of Music degree at New York University. A 2025 Doris Duke Award recipient, her range of performance affiliations includes NEA Jazz Masters Pharoah Sanders and Jack DeJohnette, as well as contemporary chart toppers Common, John Legend, The Roots and Lauryn Hill. Her major label debut, Somewhere Different, was followed in 2023 by Brand New Life, which won a 2024 NAACP Image Award. Younger’s current release is titled Gadabout Season.

The 2025 DC JazzFest will take place August 27 through August 31, 2025 with more than 100 performances across DC neighborhoods citywide. The largest jazz festival in the Mid-Atlantic region, DC JazzFest will feature an exceptional array of performers encompassing an incredible stylistic range of jazz and jazz-informed expressions, from DC and DMV legends and emerging talents to international superstars and NEA Jazz Masters.

The 2025 DC JazzFest Lineup, to date, includes:

NEA Jazz Masters Ron Carter, Branford Marsalis, Eddie Palmieri, Gary Bartz, and Marshall Allen and Sun Ra Arkestra; Marcus Miller; John Scofield; Lalah Hathaway; Matthew Whitaker, The String Queens; The Baylor Project; Cécile McLorin Salvant; Emmet Cohen; Brandee Younger; Makoto Ozone, Christie Dashiell; Keyon Harrold; Jazzmeia Horn; JazzDC All-Stars Orchestra directed by Allyn Johnson; Steve Wilson; Charles Covington; Paul Carr & Vanessa Rubin; Tony Martucci; Akua Allrich, 2024 DCJazzPrix winning band Hiruy Tirfe Quartet; Todd Marcus; Lyle Link; Herb Scott; Leigh Pilzer; Joshua Bayer; the 2025 DCJazzPrix Finals; and more. For more information about the 2025 DC JazzFest, including concert updates and ticketing information, visit www.dcjazzfest.org.

For press inquiries or requests for information, please contact Lydia Liebman, DCJF publicist, at lydia@lydialiebmanpromotions.com.

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