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Before you know it, Christmas and New Year's Eve will be here and gone: The presents regifted, the champagne irrevocable spilled and the streets littered with so many discarded pine trees. Ever year, when things looks their bleakest—the hours of daylight waning, temperature in the single digits—Winter Jazzfest swoops in for a long weekend of expertly curated, impeccably performed music to distract us, for a little while, that we still have five solid months of winter left.
Winter Jazzfest returns for its 12th year with music spread over five days (January 13th–17th). The fest opens with a pair of warm up shows on Wednesday, January 13th and Thursday, January, 14th, headlined by Dutch jazz-punks the Ex and soul-jazz band leader Kamasi Washington, respectively. After that, its signature two-night multi-venue marathon takes places Friday, January 15th and Saturday, January 16th, followed by a closing gig on Sunday, January 17th with sax quartet Rova, who will be reinterpreting John Coltrane's Ascension.
As usual, the festival brings an outstanding mix of jazz musicians both up-and-coming and established, offering music fans a chance to hear a range of sounds with one ticket. Head to winterjazzfest.com for passes, because they do have a tendency to sell out.
RECOMMENDED: A full guide to Winter Jazzfest
Winter Jazzfest 2016 lineup
Artist in Residence: Dave King
Alicia Hall Moran w. Brandon Ross
Amir Elsaffar's Two Rivers
Avishai Cohen
Ben Williams & Sound Effect
Bill Laswell
Brandon Seabrook Powerplant
Bumper Jacksons
Burnt Sugar Quarktet plays Ornette, Sunny and Wayne
Channeling Coltrane - Rova's Electric Ascension with Nels Cline
Charenee Wade Group performs Gil Scott Heron
Chargeaux
Ches Smith / Craig Taborn / Mat Maneri
Chris Potter Quartet
Christian McBride
Colin Stetson
Cory Henry
Craig Taborn
Cyrus Chestnut's African Reflections
David Torn
David Virelles' Mboko
Dawn of Midi
Dayna Stephens 3wi w. Sam Yahel
Dr. Lonnie Smith's Evolution
Ethan Iverson / Mark Turner Duo
Evan Christopher's Clarinet Road w. Hilary Gardner
Gogo Penguin
James Brandon Lewis
James Francies' Kinetic Band
Jim Black Trio
Joey Arias: Basic Black
Jose James
Julian Lage Trio
Kaki King
Kamasi Washington
Keyon Harold
Kris Bowers
Lakecia Benjamin & Soul Squad
Marc Cary's Indigenous People
Mark de Clive Lowe's CHURCH
Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet
Mark Turner Quartet
Matana Roberts
Michael Formanek Large Ensemble
OBJB Quartet w. Oliver Lake, Graham Haynes, Joe Fonda, Barry Altschul
Omer Avital
Ralph Alessi Quartet
Reid Anderson w. Andrew D'Angelo & Bill McHenry
Sarah Neufeld
Sexmob@20
Shai Maestro Trio
Slingbaum's Ravel Reimagined
Takuya Kuroda
Tatiana Eva-Marie & The Avalon Jazz Band
The Ex
Theo Bleckmann Group
Tim Berne Group
Vijay Iyer Trio