Big Freedia, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and More Set for 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival

In March, the Flynn announced French-Caribbean soul-funk-R&B artist and producer Adi Oasis as the curator for the 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. Now, after months of planning, preparation, and collaboration, the Flynn is thrilled to reveal the full lineup for the 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, produced by the Flynn and presented by New England Federal Credit Union. The festival takes place across Burlington from June 5-9, with performances at the Flynn, the Vermont Comedy Club, all along Church Street Marketplace, and Waterfront Park. The festival features free music every day; almost all of the jazz festival events are free, including the massive shows at the Top of the Block on Church Street and two days at the Burlington Waterfront. The performers at this year’s festival were selected to draw focus on five primary themes: the future of jazz, women’s impact on the genre, centering LGBTQIA+ communities, global perspectives, and youth at the center.

The full festival lineup is now live at flynnvt.org. 

Haitian-American composer, singer, and visual artist Cécile McLorin Salvant, who Dr. Angela Davis called, “without a doubt her generation’s most accomplished jazz vocalist,” opens the festival on the Flynn Main Stage on June 5 at 7:30 pm. The festival closes with one of the towering figures of the modern jazz scene: five-time Grammy-winner Robert Glasper on the Flynn Main Stage on June 9 at 7:30 pm.

Tickets for Cécile McLorin Salvant on June 5 and Robert Glasper on June 9 are on sale now to Flynn members. Find out more and get tickets only at flynnvt.org.

All of the other performances at the 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival are free and open to the public, including two days of large-scale shows at Waterfront Park, a stacked showcase at the Top of the Block on Church Street, performances by dozens of student bands from across the region, a star-studded tribute show in City Hall Park on the last day, and late-night shows at the Vermont Comedy Club, which once again transforms into the throwback jazz club Big Joe’s for the duration of the festival.

This year’s Waterfront Park shows take place on Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8. Both days feature full lineups throughout the evening. Friday’s lakeside showcase presents local cosmic-R&B outfit Acqua Mossa, with dancer Sage Horsey; rising R&B livewire vocalist Durand Bernarr; a special performance by festival curator Adi Oasis and her band; and a headlining show from New Orleans legend Big Freedia, AKA the Queen of Bounce. Saturday’s showcase presents Montreal-based Haitian voudou and rara musician Wesli, funky NYC up-and-comers Underground System, eccentric bassist and Prince collaborator MonoNeon, and heir apparent of the Afrobeat dynasty, headliner Seun Kuti & Egypt 80.

On Thursday, June 6, the jazz festival action is in the heart of Downtown Burlington, particularly the amazing lineup playing the Top of the Block of Church Street Marketplace. This block party includes local favorite KeruBo, retro-inspired soul and jazz project CARRTOONS, dynamic boom-bap vocalist Lady Wray, and sought-after Brooklyn group Phony Ppl, known for their viral collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion.

“I can’t express how excited I am to finally announce this lineup for the 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival,” said Adi Oasis, festival curator. “It has been so much fun, and a lot of hard work, collaborating on this lineup with the team at the Flynn, and I’m immensely proud of the artists we have booked and the themes we are exploring with this festival lineup. Our goal is to celebrate the scope of jazz, but also to honor the unique perspectives and styles that Black women and the LGBTQIA+ communities are infusing into jazz now, pushing this art form in bold and thrilling new directions.”

Again this year, the Vermont Comedy Club transforms into Big Joe’s every night of the festival, becoming an after-hours, old school jazz joint named in honor of “Big Joe” Burrell, one of Burlington’s cornerstone jazz musicians. As part of a continuing partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center, Tyreek McDole is playing a five-night residency. McDole plays with his impressive band of jazz musicians starting at 10 pm each night, then the stage is opens for jam sessions at midnight for any musicians who would like to come and play. There is an additional late-night show in Flynn Space on Friday, June 7, when the black box theater transforms into an after-hours LGBTQIA+ club. This event is a continuation of the Flynn’s ongoing Hot Butter events, designed to create a safe, welcoming, and lively space for these communities, and features The Illustrious Blacks and their theatrical spaced-out disco rave music late into the night.

On the final evening of the festival, a lineup of great local musicians play a series of shows in City Hall Park. This event has been organized in collaboration with the Vermont Blues Society as a tribute to the late saxophonist Joe Moore, who passed earlier this year. Joe Moore was a longtime player at Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, going all the way back to the very first festival in 1984. Just last year, he performed as part of Myra Flynn’s closing night performance on the Flynn Main Stage, then played a show immediately after at the Main Street block party to close out the 40th annual jazz festival. This tribute concert honoring Joe Moore’s legacy and influence features many local musicians who played with him over the years, including Pork Tornado (featuring Jon Fishman), Dwight & Nicole, Myra Flynn, All Night Boogie Band, and Left Eye Jump “House Band.”

“The jazz festival really brings together our whole community,” says Flynn Executive Director Jay Wahl. “The city comes alive with music and you can feel the collective joy and excitement in the air as the weather gets nicer and people come out to experience the incredible musicians. I’d like to give a special thanks to our wonderful curator Adi Oasis. It has been a pleasure to work with her to put together an outstanding lineup. We’re humbled to welcome so many brilliant artists year after year to the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival.”

Find out more about the 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival at flynnvt.org. 
 

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