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Five DC Jazz Festival Artists Actually From The Washington Area

Brian Settles, pictured here at Bohemian Caverns, performs with his own Central Union band and with drummer Lenny Robinson's Mad Curious trio at DC Jazz Festival.
Patrick Jarenwattananon
/
NPR
Brian Settles, pictured here at Bohemian Caverns, performs with his own Central Union band and with drummer Lenny Robinson's Mad Curious trio at DC Jazz Festival.

Like many such events, the DC Jazz Festival brings an overload of great musicians to town. The festival kicks off with Ron Carter's quartet in one place, and the Randy Weston trio in another. On Sunday, Dianne Reeves, David Sánchez and Mark Turner are all playing at the same time — in different locations. The following Saturday, listeners will have to choose between Monty Alexander, Marcus Strickland and Marc Cary. And that's just a tiny selection of the jazz happening in the nation's capital between June 1-10.

But Washington is itself home to an active jazz scene, and the Festival has a way of heightening that energy (or at least turning a bit of the spotlight on it) through its Jazz in the 'Hoods branding. That means many of the great musicians who happen to live in the area will perform for a wider audience in coming days — and the festival provides a good excuse to spotlight musicians deserving of wider attention.

Here are five such D.C.-area jazz artists — musicians who happen to be playing DC Jazz Festival events this year. It's certainly not a comprehensive breakdown — apologies to Lenny Robinson, Marshall Keys, Brad Linde, Elijah Jamal Balbed, Christie Dashiell and many others — but it ought to be a good introduction to artists who keep the nation's capital buzzing with activity well after early June.

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