CELEBRITY SERIES of Boston Jazz Festival Returns This March
The pop-up jazz club takes place at Arrow Street Arts' vibrant Harvard Square location.
Experience four electrifying nights of jazz at the Celebrity Series' 2025 Jazz Festival, hosted at the newly opened Arrow Street Arts in Harvard Square from March 13-16, 2025.
This year's lineup features a dynamic roster of artists who embody the genre's boundless creativity and expressive power: pianist and composer Sean Mason and his Quartet; bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh and her Quintet; bassist, singer-songwriter, and composer Mali Obomsawin with her Quartet; and harpist Brandee Younger and her Trio.
The four-night festival with two sets each night promises to be the must-attend event of the spring jazz season. With dramatic lighting and state-of-the-art acoustics, the Arrow Street Arts venue is built to the highest standards and better equipped than any other venue in the city. Intimate table seating and a full bar offering snacks and drinks welcome audiences to this musical celebration of next-generation jazz greats.
Building upon the success of previous Celebrity Series Jazz Festivals with past artists such as Regina Carter, Melissa Aldana Quartet, Christian Sands, Nnenna Freelon, Anat Cohen Quartetinho, Matthew Whitaker, and others, this year's event provides an exciting opportunity to showcase a diverse array of artists, offering audiences a rich and varied exploration of jazz's many styles and influences.
"We are delighted to welcome audiences to the 2025 Celebrity Series Jazz Festival at the new Arrow Street Arts venue in Harvard Square," said Gary Dunning, President and Executive Director of the Celebrity Series of Boston. "This year's lineup of extraordinary artists reflects the depth and innovation of jazz today. We're proud to continue our commitment to showcasing world-class performances that bring people together through the power of live music."
For more information, visit: https://www.celebrityseries.org/live-performances/jazz-festival/
These performances are made possible in part by support from Celebrity Series' LIVE PERFORMANCE! Arts for All Innovation Funds. Additional support is provided by the Amy Lam Fund for Creative Performance.
Celebrity Series Jazz Festival Performances:
Sean Mason Quartet
Arrow Street Arts | Thu. March 13, 7pm and 9pm
Tickets start at $39
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/sean-mason-quartet/
Pianist and composer Sean Mason artfully navigates the confluence of contrasts, masterfully blending the past and the future, the fresh and the timeless, uptown glamor and downtown grit, the blues joint and the church pew. This visionary young bandleader illuminates the rich tapestry of jazz history to show a new path forward.
Sean Mason, piano
Tony Glausi, trumpet
Felix Moseholm, bass
Domo Branch, drums
Linda May Han Oh
Arrow Street Arts | Fri. March 14, 7pm and 9pm
Tickets start at $39
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/linda-may-han-oh/
Malaysian Australian bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh shares her remarkable musicianship and distinctive voice with audiences. Celebrated for her pivotal role as both the inspiration for a character and a featured bassist in the Pixar movie Soul, Linda also earned a Grammy Award for her contributions to Terri Lyne Carrington's New Standards, Vol. 1 in 2023. The Financial Times lauded “her vibrant tone, close control, and confident attack,” underscoring her status as a highly sought-after talent in the music world.
Linda May Han Oh, acoustic bass, electric bass, vocals
Fabian Almazan, piano
Sara Serpa, vocals
Greg Ward, saxophone
Mark Whitfield, Jr., drums
Mali Obomsawin Quartet
Arrow Street Arts | Sat. March 15, 7pm and 9pm
Tickets start at $39
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/mali-obomsawin/
Mali Obomsawin, from Odanak First Nation, is a multifaceted artist known for her prowess as a bassist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Recognized as one of Grammy.com's top ten emerging jazz artists, Obomsawin stands out among the vibrant community of Indigenous jazz artists. A multi-disciplinary musician blending jazz, folk, and more, offstage Obomsawin is also a writer and educator with Sunlight Media Collective, a Wabanaki-driven media team, to promote stories at the intersection of environmental justice and tribal sovereignty.
Obomsawin created the score for the acclaimed 2024 documentary Sugarcane, a film by Emily Kassie & Julian Brave NoiseCat, produced by National Geographic Documentary Films. The film, nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards, confronts the legacy of abuses of Indigenous children at a residential school in British Columbia. She received nominations for Best Original Music Score at the International Documentary Association Awards, and was nominated by the Cinema Eye Honors Awards (USA) for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score, and shared a collective nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking.
Mali Obomsawin, voice & bass
Magdalena Abrego, electric guitar
Yuma Uesaka, reeds
Drums, TBA
The 9pm performance of Mali Obomsawin Quartet is generously supported by Margaret & Michael Simon.
Brandee Younger Trio
Arrow Street Arts | Sun. March 16, 5pm and 7pm
Tickets start at $39
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/brandee-younger/
Harpist Brandee Younger, current Resident Artistic Director at the illustrious SFJAZZ, is carving a unique path in the music world while honoring the legacy of those who paved her way. Her most recent album, Brand New Life, pays tribute to jazz harp trailblazer Dorothy Ashby, a Black female musician who defied expectations by becoming a bandleader and composer on an unconventional instrument.
Brandee Younger, harp
Rashaan Carter, drums
Allan Mednard, bass
The 7pm performance of Brandee Younger Trio is generously supported by Debra & Joseph Corrado.
ABOUT CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON
Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario Aaron Richmond. Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers—from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more—to Boston's major concert halls for 86 years. Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives, and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience—on stages, on streets, in neighborhoods—everywhere.
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