Hudson Jazz Festival Hosts Exciting New Voices
Hudson Hall's premier festival brings the center of the jazz universe to the region.
Caity Gyorgy, one of Canada’s brightest young jazz talents, brings her quartet to the Hudson Jazz Fest in October.
The Hudson Jazz Festival—Hudson Hall’s annual three-day shake-up of Warren Street—returns October 3-5 with a bill that showcases the region’s uncanny knack for hosting world-class talent in intimate rooms. Think of it as a long-weekend mixtape: Side A spins razor-sharp post-bop, side B slides into synth-soaked future-funk, the hidden track is a sunrise gospel vamp you didn’t know you needed until the horns hit.
Friday’s mainstage opener lures prodigious multi-instrumentalist Julius Rodriguez back upstate. The 26-year-old Verve phenom—equally lethal on piano, drums, or whatever’s within arm’s reach—treats jazz less as a museum piece than an open-concept kitchen where gospel chords, hip-hop backbeats, and Monkish mischief share stovetop space. Rodriguez’s early live sets have already been name-checked by everyone from Wynton to Q-Tip, so expect combustible grooves and sideways reharmonizations that leave polite swing in the rear-view.
When the last cymbal crack fades, the party careens two blocks east to Second Ward Foundation, where Japanese keyboard wizard BIGYUKI rewires the dance floor. Masayuki Hirano’s résumé (Kamasi Washington, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest) hints at the mash-up: sci-fi synth bass, hip-hop heft, and Chopin fingerprints still visible on the keys. Bring stamina—the set is billed as an “opening-night dance-off,” and BIGYUKI is notorious for stretching a four-minute jam into cosmic overtime.
The Caity Gyorgy Quartet, set to take the Hudson Jazz Festival stage on Saturday, October 4 at 7 pm, spotlights one of Canada’s brightest young jazz talents. A two-time Juno award–winning vocalist, Gyorgy channels vintage bebop and swing with a fresh, modern twist. Fresh off performing internationally and studying jazz performance at McGill, she brings both technical prowess and emotional warmth. Her quartet balances crisp arrangements with playful improvisation, offering renditions of Great American Songbook standards alongside original compositions . It’s an intimate evening of witty phrasing, shimmering swing, and a voice that effortlessly bridges tradition and contemporary flair.
Vibraphonist Joel Ross delivers the grand finale of the Hudson Jazz Festival with his ensemble Good Vibes on October 3 at Hudson Hall.
Late night at Park Theater, bassist Tristen Jarvis anchors “Deep Tones for Peace” with his distinctive blend of improvisational agility and soulful presence. A faculty member at Ithaca College, Jarvis performs on both upright and electric bass, and has arranged and composed for ensembles large and small. His resume spans classical orchestras like the Vermont Symphony and Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, productions for Netflix's Maestro, tours with Joan Jett and Halestorm, and collaborations with Grammy‑nominated drummer Nate Smith. Expect his set to offer a meditative yet potent journey—peaceful in tone, but unflinchingly deep in emotional resonance.
Bandleader and trumpeter Alphonso Horne, a two-time Grammy nominee and Juilliard grad who’s toured with Wynton Marsalis, Broadway, and the Count Basie Orchestra, brings his dynamic ensemble The Gotham Kings to The Caboose on Sunday, October 5 at 2 pm. This high‑energy, immersive jazz celebration channels the spirit of early New Orleans—think King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band—with rags, stomps, shouts and a few smiles woven in. Expect spirited trumpet duets, infectious rhythms and vibrant storytelling as Horne presents a living history of jazz, delivered with both virtuosity and theatrical flair. It’s a Sunday afternoon set designed to ignite the room and unite listeners in the joyful roots of our music.
Vibraphonist and composer Joel Ross delivers the grand finale of the Hudson Jazz Festival with his ensemble Good Vibes, in a concert titled “Good Vibes” on Sunday on Hudson Hall's mainstage at 5pm. Born in 1995 on Chicago’s South Side and now Brooklyn-based, Ross emerged through the Brubeck Institute under mentor Stefon Harris, and since 2019 has become a marquee name at Blue Note Records with acclaimed albums like KingMaker, Who Are You?, The Parable of the Poet, and most recently nublues. His playing balances lyrical precision and rhythmic elasticity, creating music that's deeply soulful and unpredictably alive. Expect his set to explore the full palette of his Good Vibes band—sax from Immanuel Wilkins, piano, bass, drums—melding intricate improvisation with the blues-rooted energy of his latest release. It’s the perfect way to close a weekend steeped in musical adventure—an immersive, emotion-rich journey led by one of jazz’s most electrifying young voices.
