Mervin Toussaint on the saxophone, the Budesa Brothers (The ones on the electric bass and keyboard), and Keith Hollis on the drums, performing at last year’s festival. (Photo by Byron Purnell; provided by Khadijah Renee)
The Germantown Jazz Festival is back for its second year from Friday to Sunday, April 24–26, 2026. It unites community members in an effort to reinforce the prominence of Jazz music in Germantown and Philadelphia.
Following the same spirit of its inaugural year, it will feature internationally known jazz artists and esteemed local musicians and ensembles. Most of the performers, the organizer said, have close ties to the community.
Longtime Germantown Jazz artist Khadijah Renee organized and curated the festival with her organization, the Community Education and Action Project, in partnership with Artcinia and primarily sponsored by the Office of State Senator Art Hayward.
Local banks, small businesses, and Councilmember Cindy Bass also provided support alongside the state grant Festival Ambassador State Rep. Haywood secured.
“What was most encouraging was the turnout for 2025; we had an appreciative amount of support from the community that helped us feel encouraged to continue,” Renee exclaimed.
On the heels of a big crowd last year, Renee says she anticipates over 2,500 attendees from across the city this year.
The opening night on April 24 will kick off with a concert held at the Attic Brewing Co. at 137 W. Berkley Street, beginning at 5:00 p.m.
Indoor and outdoor live performances will include the Richard Hill Jr. Trio, Chris Oatts and Company, TC the Third, Leon Jordan Jr. Quintet, MIC’d Up with Luke Carlos O’Reilly, and the Khary Shaheed Trio.
Second day performances and programming will be held at the Germantown Settlement Music School at 6128 Germantown Ave. Saturday’s theme will honor internationally acclaimed trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and educator Terrell Stafford and all of his contributions.
At Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance, Stafford is the Departmental Chair of Instrumental Studies and the Director of Jazz Studies, also known for his success in national competitions with his collegiate ensembles.
Day two will begin with a master class from bassist Lee W. Smith from 12–3:00 p.m. Then, from 3–5:00 p.m., there will be a Student Jazz Ensemble Concert, composed of youth from the music school.
Terrell Stafford and his Quintet will main event Saturday with an evening concert at 7:00 p.m.
Greene Street’s October Gallery Museum will also have an Art Pavilion at the music school, where local artists will have visual art pieces on display that will have themes of Jazz and dance. They’ll also bring artwork to display at the venues on Friday and Sunday.
On the final day of the festival, performances will first be held at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG) at 6001 Germantown Avenue. Starting at 5:00 p.m., there will be a lineup of Jazz Bands that will serenade the 230-year-old church, including Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band, Josh Lawrence and the Family, and the Philly Pops Jazz Orchestra.
Sunday’s next location will be at the Nile Gardens within the Nile Cafe (6008 Germantown Ave.), featuring the Late-Night Germantown Jazz Festival Jam, running from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
Hosted by longtime Jazz educator, Lovett Hines Jr., the ‘Jazz Jam’ will welcome community members to come out with their jazz instruments and talents to join in on the fun.
“That means that less experienced, less known jazz enthusiasts can go on stage and show what they know, [while being around] the greats who make a living at it,” Renee said.
Tickets are available on the Germantown Jazz Festival’s website. There are varying ticket prices for each of the events, with prices ranging from $15 to $50. One can also purchase a three- day festival pass for $125.
The Effort to Bring Jazz Back to Germantown
Some of the festival sites were selected intentionally, as Renee says, there is a rich history within Germantown as it relates to Jazz.
“There was always a place in Germantown where you [could] go to hear and perform live music,” Renee reminisced about the neighborhood.
“Settlement music school is an icon for training jazz musicians; some of the greatest jazz musicians from Philadelphia had attended Settlement,” she explained.
She continued: “[FUMCOG] used to host Jazz Vespers years ago, so jazz has always had a home in that church, [but] they haven’t had any jazz there in recent years.”
Renee brings expertise to her planning, as a jazz vocalist and performer across Germantown spaces for over 30 years, calling it the place she went to “hone in” on her craft. It’s also what fueled her to transform Germantown back into a haven for Jazz Music.
She mentions the now-closed La Rose Jazz Club, which still stands at 5531 Germantown Ave.
“The community in Germantown is feeling a lack of a comfortable, regular, safe, and classy venue since the closing of La Rose’s,” Renee said. “So there’s a void, there’s no real place to go to enjoy Jazz in Germantown anymore.”
Co-founder of October Gallery, Mercer Redcross, reflected on how common small performance venues were once across Germantown and Philly, and how the rise of the internet has changed how people experience music.
“The way you got your music was typically through record players, CDs, the radio, and if you wanted to get a sense of live music, [live music] clubs was where you had to go,” he said. “There were a lot of small places where we could go to experience live music.”
Still, Redcross believes there’s a revival underway. He said, “A Jazz art festival is something that’s a necessity — I don’t think it’s a lack of interest or appetite, it’s just [changed] a bit, so that’s why people like Khadijah Renee and other folks are saying, ‘Let’s bring it back to the surface again.”
Through the festival, Renee hopes to someday establish a new Jazz club of sorts, where “everybody feels comfortable attending.”
Bridging the Gap Between Generations
And when she says everybody, she means it. That’s why incorporating the youth in the Festival is also important for her.
Youth are involved in various activities throughout the weekend, like the master class, the Student Jazz Ensemble performance, and the Jazz Jam.
By embedding youth as a core part of planning, she seeks to keep Jazz prominent for the next generation by exposing it to them in similar ways she remembers from many years ago.
“To have the opportunity to perform with storied, well-known jazz musicians as a young person is an exciting opportunity,” Renee said. “It developed a culture whereby if you wanted to learn jazz, then there was a place for you to practice what you were learning in a professional ambiance.”
“That’s the legacy of handing over the Baton from the older generation to the younger generation that keeps Jazz populated and fluent; Jazz promotes intercultural bonding,” she said.
Pryce Jamison is Germantown Info Hub’s community engagement reporter and a Next City Equitable Cities Reporting Fellow. He covers Germantown and Philadelphia, with reporting that includes features, news, solution-focused and community-focused stories.