Jazz at Lincoln Center Names 2027 Unity Jazz Festival Headliners, With an Arturo O'Farrill Premiere for Wynton Marsalis

Jazz at Lincoln Center has announced the headliners for its 2027 Unity Jazz Festival, which returns for a fourth year on Jan. 15-16, 2027, at Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York. According to the organization's Oct. 23 press release, the festival will bring together more than 20 acts and emerging artists across five stages over two days.

The newly named headliners will play The Appel Room. On Jan. 15, djembe player Weedie Braimah leads Weedie Braimah and the Hands of Time with special guest Stokley, the lead singer and drummer of the R&B group Mint Condition. Keyboardist John Medeski and percussionist Billy Martin, two founding members of Medeski Martin & Wood, will give two different performances with special guests on Jan. 15 and Jan. 16. On Jan. 16, pianist and bandleader Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra will give the world premiere of O'Farrill's suite honoring Wynton Marsalis.

Jazz at Lincoln Center says the O'Farrill premiere celebrates a musical relationship between the two that spans more than two decades. The release describes Braimah as a djembefola, or master of the djembe drum, and notes that he received Jazz at Lincoln Center's 2026 Award for Artistic Excellence. His band for the festival lists Courtney Smith and Shea Pierre on keyboards, Raja Kassis on guitar, Luke Quaranta on dunun, kenkeni, bongos and pandero, Cheikh Ndoye on ngoni bass and bass guitar, Sam Dickey on ngoni and guitar, and Munir Richard on sangba set.

The organization also announced a format change. New this year, part of the festival will take place on the stage of Rose Theater, with audiences seated in the round around the musicians in an acoustic setting. Jazz at Lincoln Center says "unexpected ensemble pairings" will be part of that program.

The other artists announced so far are Hubby Jenkins, of the Carolina Chocolate Drops; Myra Melford's Splash Trio with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Ches Smith; Brian Marsella with Sae Hashimoto; Blood Brothers, with drummer Nasheet Waits, tenor saxophonist Abraham Burton, guitarist Marvin Sewell and bassist Dezron Douglas; the JD Allen Quartet; Brazilian guitarist and singer Toninho Horta with bassist Alex Claffy; the trio Ember, with Caleb Wheeler Curtis, Noah Garabedian and Vinnie Sperrazza; and an Ashlin Parker jam session.

Jazz at Lincoln Center says the full artist lineup, the performance schedule and festival vendors will be announced soon. Ticket information is available at jazz.org/unity.

The release does not give further details about O'Farrill's new suite, such as its title or length.