World-renowned guitarist Stanley Jordan brings his long-running tribute Stanley Plays Jimi to the stage–a deeply personal and imaginative homage to Jimi Hendrix. Rather than imitate, Stanley re-imagines Hendrix’s music, channeling his spirit while exploring how Jimi’s sound might have evolved today. “This is my fantasy Hendrix concert if Jimi were still alive,” Stanley says. A four-time Grammy nominee with a signature two-hand tapping technique, Stanley first connected with Hendrix as a child, making this project both a musical and emotional full circle. Though widely celebrated for his groundbreaking jazz career–including his landmark album Magic Touch, which spent 51 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s jazz chart–Stanley has always kept one foot in rock and blues. With Stanley Plays Jimi, he blends Hendrix’s explosive energy with his own exploratory style, honoring the legend while expanding the vocabulary he left behind.

Through an inimitable voice that The New York Times calls “a smooth, dark alto possessed of qualities you might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather,” renowned vocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright offers a soaring reflection of the cultural fabric of America. Her music transcends social divides with an abiding sense of love, humanity, and belonging, embodying a tradition that invites listeners home. Wright’s 2024 studio album Shadow presents her in a gentle yet triumphant light. Anchored by acoustic guitars and layered with strings, gospel vocals, Carnatic influences, and raw emotion, the album explores intimacy, loss, community, and healing. Produced by Chris Bruce and engineered by Ryan Freeland, Shadow features guest artists Angelique Kidjo and Meshell Ndegeocello. This will be a duo show with Lizz and Kenny Banks Sr. on piano and organ.

Sunny Jain’s career is a celebration of cultural diaspora’ deep-rooted tradition rippling outward, shaping and reshaping the cultures it touches. A composer, drummer, dhol player, and thought leader, Jain has been hailed by Songlines (UK) as one of the leading figures in North America’s burgeoning Asian music scene.’ His wide-ranging work includes being named a 2025 commissioned artist by Soho Repertory Theater, appearing as ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ in the Oscar-nominated A Complete Unknown, and serving as a 2023-24 Visiting Scholar and Artist-in-Residence at Wesleyan University. Best known as the founder of Red Baraat, Jain has reached new heights with Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East (Smithsonian Folkways), a project praised by The New Yorker for its maximalist vision and conceptual depth. Blending Bollywood, Punjabi folk, jazz improvisation, and psychedelia, the band has delivered standout NPR Tiny Desk and KEXP sessions and toured major festivals and cultural institutions worldwide.

Joel Ross is one of the most distinctive vibraphonists of his generation, known for music that blends rhythmic sophistication, lyrical clarity, and deep collective interplay. Since his Edison Award-winning Blue Note debut KingMaker (2019), Ross has earned widespread acclaim for a body of work that treats improvisation as conversation and composition as storytelling. His subsequent releases, including Who Are You? and The Parable of the Poet, cemented his reputation as a thoughtful bandleader and a central voice in contemporary jazz. Ross’ latest album, Gospel Music, draws from the spiritual and communal traditions of the Black church in Chicago, exploring ideas of service, renewal, and shared purpose through layered harmony and collaborative improvisation. Leading his ensemble Good Vibes, Ross creates music that is both technically expansive and emotionally direct. A sought-after collaborator and frequent headliner at major venues and festivals worldwide.