\u201cThe entire Berks Arts team is looking forward to presenting the milestone 35th anniversary fest,\u201d said Tish Davis, Berks Arts executive director. \u201cIt is going to be a special 10 days of music that will offer our fans the opportunity to have fun and experience the many genres of jazz.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opening night celebration, at 6 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in West Reading, will feature fest favorite Brian Culbertson, the pianist\/trombonist who has brought his brilliant performances to Berks since 1996.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpening the 35th Berks Jazz Fest means the world to me,\u201d Culbertson said. \u201cThe fest has been an important part of my musical journey the last 30 years. I feel very fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with the fest and its loyal fans. It\u2019s like coming home to family.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764001526_930_BJF26-Yellowjacket.jpg\")
The Yellowjackets will perform at the Miller Center on March 20. (Courtesy of the Boscov\u2019s Berks Jazz Fest)<\/p>\n
That same night, the Yellowjackets \u2014 featuring keyboardist Russell Ferrante, saxophonist Bob Mintzer, drummer Will Kennedy and bassist Dane Alderson \u2014 will perform in the Miller Center.<\/p>\n
At 9:30 p.m., the renowned flutist\/saxophonist Najee will be on hand with special guests Regina Belle and Alex Bugnon in the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading Grand Ballroom.<\/p>\n
Festivities will continue with a stellar lineup for March 21:<\/p>\n
\u2022 A doubleheader featuring Pieces of a Dream and Four80East with Jeff Kashiwa at the DoubleTree<\/p>\n
![\"Trumpet](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764001527_957_BJF25-Cris-Botti.jpg\")
Trumpet master Chris Botti and his all-star assemble of guest artists will perform at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on March 21. (Courtesy of Boscov\u2019s Berks Jazz Fest)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Trumpet master Chris Botti and his all-star ensemble of guest artists at the Scottish Rite Cathedral<\/p>\n
\u2022 Multi-instrumentalist Vincent Ingala at the DoubleTree Callowhill Ballroom<\/p>\n
![\"Maysa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764001527_441_BJF26-Maysa.jpg\")
Maysa will pefrom at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading on March 21. (Courtesy of the Boscov\u2019s Berks Jazz Fest)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Amazing vocalist Maysa with special guests saxophonists Mike Phillips and Carl Cox in the DoubleTree<\/p>\n
Visitors can enjoy the first Jazz Brunch on March 22 at 10:30 a.m., hosted by Michael Tozzi, with BPM: Brian Bromberg, Paul Brown, Michael Paulo and The Berks Horns in the DoubleTree; the following Sunday the brunch will feature Gerald Veasley\u2019s Unscripted All-Stars.<\/p>\n
The ever-popular Veasley\u2019s Unscripted Jams will be featuring various lineups both Fridays and the first Saturday at 11:30 p.m. in the DoubleTree\u2019s Callowhill Room.<\/p>\n
On March 22 at the Miller Center, the Emmet Cohen Quintet will celebrate the music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane during their centenary year (Davis was born May 26 and Coltrane on Sept. 23, 1926.)<\/p>\n
During the 2020 lockdown, Cohen developed \u201cLive From Emmet\u2019s Place,\u201d a series of weekly performances by his trio and guest artists live streamed from his New York apartment. The concerts became an online sensation, receiving millions of views on social media platforms.<\/p>\n
Due to schedule demands, Cohen ended the five-year run with the final episode streaming in October.<\/p>\n
The fest\u2019s second weekend will be packed with headliners:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Saxophonist Boney James at the Scottish Rite Cathedral Friday night<\/p>\n
\u2022 Spyro Gyra (celebrating 50 years) at the Miller Center on Friday night<\/p>\n
\u2022 R&B vocalist Eric Benet will be making his fest debut Friday night at the DoubleTree<\/p>\n
\u2022 Guitarist Stanley Jordan playing music by The Grateful Dead (with Kenwood Dennard, Greg Koerner and Jesse Hiatt) at the DoubleTree on Saturday afternoon<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jazz and soul singer Will Downing at the Scottish Rite Cathedral Saturday night, with Carol Riddick and Gerald Veasley opening with their amazing tribute to Nina Simone \u2014 \u201cI Got Life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Berks County\u2019s own Dance Hall Docs with special guests Larry Braggs and Tom Bowes, both former Tower of Power lead singers, playing the music of TOP and more at the DoubleTree Saturday night<\/p>\n
\u2022 Berks Sinfonietta, led by David McConnell, will be making their Berks Jazz Fest debut in \u201cGershwin Comes Alive,\u201d featuring pianist Lars Potteiger performing \u201cRhapsody in Blue,\u201d Saturday in the Miller Center. The Berks High School All-Star Jazz Band will open for this special presentation.<\/p>\n
![\"Marcus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764001527_962_BJF26-Marcus-Miller-2.jpg\")
Marcus Miller and Friends headline a concert at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading on March 28. (Courtesy of the Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Marcus Miller & Friends featuring Eric Marienthal and Warren Wolf headlines Saturday night at DoubleTree.<\/p>\n
Chris \u201cBig Dog\u201d Davis\u2019s popular \u201cCelebrating Women in Jazz\u201d will return on the second Saturday at noon in the DoubleTree, featuring vocalists Regina Belle, Maysa, Paulette McWilliams, plus violinist\/vocalist Chelsey Green and saxophonist Jazmin Ghent.<\/p>\n
And it wouldn\u2019t be Berks Jazz Fest without the annual Chuck Loeb Memorial All-Star Jam, hosted by Veasley and Marienthal, on Thursday night at 7 at the DoubleTree.<\/p>\n
\u201cBerks Jazz Fest has been on an amazing journey since 1991,\u201d said John Ernesto, who has been part of the fest since the beginning, serving as general manager for 33 years, and now as a consultant. \u201cDespite the challenges along the way, the musical journey stayed on course and now, unbelievably, has reached the milestone 35th anniversary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe journey made it this far thanks to countless supporters \u2014 from volunteers to sponsors \u2014 who came together each year to nurture the fest, allowing it to flourish and ultimately having a major impact on our community culturally and financially.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 35th anniversary celebrates everyone who has been part of the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
As always, there will be many more concerts by local and regional artists, as well as opportunities to enjoy Berks County\u2019s top jazz students in the RMF Jazz Jam and the two-day GETJAZZED New Horizons Fest at the DoubleTree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For 35 years, Berks Arts has been drawing audiences from near and far to a jazz festival that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1681,1213,858,128,130,129,289],"class_list":{"0":"post-43273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music-and-concerts","10":"tag-ontap","11":"tag-reading-city","12":"tag-reading-city-headlines","13":"tag-reading-city-news","14":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}