In the long annals of the Monterey Jazz Festival, 2025 will be remembered as the year of the diva.
That’s not to say that Instrumental virtuosity will be wanting at the 68th edition of the world’s longest continuously running jazz festival, which returns to the Monterey County Fairgrounds Sept. 26-28.
Indeed, bass maestro Christian McBride’s band Ursa Major; the father-and-son summit of bassist John and pianist Gerald Clayton; the state-of-the-art organ trio of Larry Goldings, guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Bill Stewart; and Swedish multi-instrumentalist Gunhild Carling provide instant gravitas to any jazz event.
But in stepping in to book the season relatively late after Monterey Jazz unexpectedly parted ways with newly appointed artistic director Darin Atwater after only one season, veteran booker Bruce Labadie leaned into a sure-fire formula. Almost every one of the festival’s four primary stages features a heavyweight roster of vocal talent.
The big names are in the Arena, but the stages on the grounds brim with a bevy of brilliant singers, including several in their 20s who represent jazz’s 100-watt future. Arena performances will also be simulcast in a screening room on the grounds as well.
As usual, the grounds venues are intimate and scattered among booths selling a wide variety of food, beverages and music merchandise.
The lineup offers a wide array of jazz and blues talent. This list of a dozen recommended acts doesn’t come close to covering everyone I’m hoping to catch.
Gregory Porter
A benevolently patriarchal figure who honors his storefront preacher mother with a sound and spirit redolent of praise services and prayer sessions, Gregory Porter has carved out a singular niche as a soul-steeped crooner equally effective on simmering originals and Nat “King” Cole ballads.
Details: Main Arena, 7 p.m. Sept. 26
Tyreek McDole Quintet
In the past year the 25-year-old Haitian American singer has performed half a dozen times around the region, and he’s not close to wearing out his welcome. With a velvety frictionless delivery and a deep book of rarely interpreted songs, he’s rapidly become the most promising young male jazz vocalist on the scene.
Details: Pacific Jazz Café, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26
Dianne Reeves
A National Endowment For the Arts Jazz Master and five-time Grammy Award winner, Dianne Reeves is true jazz royalty, a queen acknowledged by her peers as a rightful heir to the grand tradition of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. While her sumptuous sound sometimes brings Vaughan to mind, Reeves has woven her own musical identity out of her love of Brazilian and Caribbean music and R&B. She’s joined by a quartet featuring Brazilian guitar master Romero Lubambo.
Details: Main Arena, 1 p.m. Sept. 27
Ekep Nkwelle
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., and now living in New York City, the 26-year-old Cameroonian American singer Ekep Nkwelle is poised to break through as one of jazz’s most enthralling young vocalists. A runner-up at the 2024 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition (to Lucía, who’s also featured at the festival this year), Nkwelle has yet to release an album under her own name. She has contributed to several memorable projects, like the recent “Dying of Thirst,” an album reimagining the music of Kendrick Lamar by New Jazz Underground (a collective trio that plays the final Pacific Jazz Cafe set on Sept. 28).
Details: Pacific Jazz Café, 1:45 p.m. Sept. 27
Dominique Fils-Aimé
Born and raised in Montreal to parents from Haiti, Dominique Fils-Aimé has become one of Canada’s most celebrated jazz vocalists over the past decade, and now the Juno-winning singer-songwriter is introducing herself to U.S. audiences. At 41, she’s a seasoned improviser and bandleader who effectively deploys looping technology.
Details: Dizzy’s Den, 2 p.m. Sept. 27
Carmen Lundy
Along with Abbey Lincoln, Carmen Lundy kicked the door open for leading jazz vocalists to focus on their own songs. At 70, she’s turned her band into a proving ground for emerging stars (like her pianist, “Orange” Julius Rodriguez), collaborating with players born decades after she released her impressive 1985 debut album “Good Morning Kiss” on Dr. Herb Wong’s Blackhawk Records. Lundy also plays the Freight in Berkeley Sept. 26.
Details: Dizzy’s Den, 5 p.m. Sept. 27
Ledisi
When Oakland-reared Ledisi last performed at Monterey in 2021 she was focusing partly on her recent tribute to Nina Simone. She returns with a new album celebrating Dinah Washington (1924-1963), a pioneering jazz vocalist whose blues and gospel-infused approach is a primary source of inspiration for the Grammy Award-winning R&B star. Ledisi also performs Oct. 5 at the Mondavi Center, and Oct. 6 at Davies Symphony Hall presented by SFJAZZ.
Details: Main Arena, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 27
Alicia Olatuja
One of jazz’s most ebullient singers, Alicia Olatuja brings a whole lot of church to the bandstand. Rejoining forces with her London-born, Lagos-raised ex-husband, bassist/vocalist Michael Olatuja, she delivers a hard-grooving blend of jazz, Afrobeat, funk and soul with Berkeley-reared Julian Pollack on piano and keyboards.
Details: Pacific Jazz Café, 1:30 p.m. Sept. 28
Nnenna Freelon
Following her 1992 debut on Columbia, Nnenna Freelon was one of jazz’s more visible vocalists, performing at major festivals and venues and releasing a string of highly regarded albums. Released in March, her latest album “Beneath the Skin” is a response to recent tribulations, and it’s a masterly work by an artist in full control of her craft. Her quartet includes pianist Alan Pasqua, a superlative accompanist.
Details: Tim Jackson Garden Stage, 4 p.m. Sept. 28
Lisa Fischer
Inspired by an early 1980s American Songbook that paired Chaka Khan with a cast of jazz masters led by Chick Corea, “Echoes of an Era” is a fascinating tribute by powerhouse vocalist Lisa Fischer, who’s thrived under her own name since giving up her career as a first-call back up singer for the likes of the Rolling Stones, Sting, and Luther Vandross. Alternating standards with original tunes, the ensemble includes tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, and drummer Lenny White (a member of the original project).
Details: Main Arena, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 28
Lucía
Since becoming the first Mexican artist to win the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2024, Lucía shed her other names and established herself as a single-moniker sensation. Steeped in the son jarocho she grew up performing with her family in Veracruz, she immersed herself in jazz and has honed an intoxicating repertoire of American Songbook standards (sometimes sung in Spanish), sensuous boleros, and son jarocho classics. Accompanied by a trio led by SFJAZZ Collective pianist Edward Simon, she also performs Oct. 2 at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival and Oct. 3 at The Studio, presented by Stanford Live.
Details: Dizzy’s Den, 5 p.m. Sept. 28
René Marie & Experiment In Truth
Since emerging on the jazz scene as a late-blooming talent at the turn of the century, René Marie has carved out a singular niche as a chance-taking improviser who inhabits the stage with the skill of a master thespian. Her latest project, “Jump In the Line: A Tribute to Harry Belafonte,” was full of unexpected delights, making it one of the most memorable performances at last year’s San Francisco Jazz Festival.
Details: Main Arena, 6:45 p.m., Sept. 28.
MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL
When: 3:30-10:15 p.m. Sept. 26; noon-9:45 p.m. Sept. 27; 11:15 a.m.-9:45 p.m. Sept. 28
Where: Monterey County Fairgrounds
Tickets: 3-day arena tickets, $298-$693; single-day arena tickets, $88-279; three-day grounds tickets, $198; single-day grounds tickets, $63-$88; montereyjazz.org