NEWSLETTER
Dafnis Prieto, Vuyo Sotashe & Chris Pattishall, and Shenel Johns headline a weekend of jazz, food, and fall beauty in one of upstate New York’s most vibrant small cities
Festival Passes on sale to the public Wednesday, July 1 at 10 AM
Hudson, NY (June 23, 2026) — Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House announces the return of the Hudson Jazz Festival, October 2–4, 2026. Hosted by media personality Keanna Faircloth, the ninth year of the annual festival brings a weekend of world-class jazz to Hudson Hall’s intimate 1855 theater and out into venues, parks, restaurants, bars, shops, and public spaces across one of upstate New York’s most vibrant small cities.
This year’s festival celebrates the many voices, histories, and musical traditions that continue to shape jazz in America today. Anchoring the 2026 festival are the three mainstage performances: Cuban-born MacArthur Fellow and GRAMMY-winning drummer Dafnis Prieto with his Sí o Sí Quartet; South African vocalist Vuyo Sotashe and American pianist Chris Pattishall, premiering a new Hudson Hall commission; and acclaimed vocalist Shenel Johns, whose performance at the Newport Jazz Festival was hailed by the Boston Globe as “history in the making.”
Set during peak fall foliage season and just two hours from New York City by train, the Hudson Jazz Festival invites audiences to make a weekend of it. Alongside mainstage concerts at Hudson Hall, festivalgoers can enjoy ticketed and free performances and events across the city, with time to explore Hudson’s destination dining, independent shops, historic architecture, and Hudson River views, all within one of upstate New York’s most walkable small cities. The full festival lineup including after-hours sets, pop-up events, and city-wide programming will be announced in August.
“The mission of the festival is to bring people together for an experience that lifts spirits, brings joy, and inspires awe at the breadth of virtuoso talent on these stages,” says Hudson Jazz Festival curator Cat Henry. “This year, we have intentionally included artists born abroad who have made the U.S. their home and enriched our lives with their artistry.”
Festival Passes go on sale to members Friday, June 26 at 10 AM and to the public Wednesday, July 1 at 10 AM. Single tickets go on sale in August at hudsonhall.org/hudson-jazz-
2026 HUDSON JAZZ FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT
Additional performers to be announced in August 2026
All mainstage performances at Hudson Hall
Tickets at hudsonhall.org/hudson-jazz-
Friday, October 2, 2026
7 PM: Dafnis Prieto: Sí o Sí Quartet
Dafnis Prieto, drums, music director
Peter Apfelbaum, soprano sax, tenor sax, flute
Martin Bejerano, piano
Ricky Rodríguez, electric bass
Cuban-born composer, MacArthur Fellow, and GRAMMY-winning drummer Dafnis Prieto opens the 2026 Hudson Jazz Festival with the Sí o Sí Quartet, a high-energy ensemble driven by Afro-Cuban rhythm, modern jazz harmony, and Prieto’s unmistakable command of the drum kit.
Called “one of the most impressive musicians in New York jazz” by the New York Times, Prieto channels the sounds of congas, timbales, rumba, and son through a deeply contemporary jazz language. With his acclaimed band bringing extra fire, Prieto creates, as DownBeat put it, “a sizzling set of complex compositions that will get you thinking as well as dancing.”
Saturday, October 3, 2026
7 PM: Vuyo Sotashe & Chris Pattishall: Ancestral Technologies
Vuyo Sotashe, voice
Chris Pattishall, piano
Bass, TBA
Drums, TBA
South African vocalist Vuyo Sotashe and American pianist and composer Chris Pattishall bring their deeply expressive musical partnership to Hudson Hall for a program that moves across continents and generations, with music by Duke Ellington, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, South African Xhosa hymns, and selections from their 2026 EP Invocation. Sotashe’s rich, resonant voice meets Pattishall’s “phenomenal touch at the keyboard” (Jazziz) in music of quiet intensity and emotional depth.
For the 2026 Hudson Jazz Festival, Sotashe and Pattishall premiere a new song commissioned by Hudson Hall, joined on the mainstage by rhythm section collaborators for a full ensemble performance.
Sunday, October 4, 2026
5 PM: Shenel Johns
Shenel Johns, voice
Piano, TBA
Bass, TBA
Drums, TBA
A Hartford, Connecticut native shaped by the gospel and reggae she heard growing up in her Jamaican family, Shenel Johns has emerged as one of today’s most compelling jazz vocalists. With captivating stage presence and an impressive vocal range, Johns creates a sound that moves through jazz, gospel, reggae, and American song. She has performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, won first prize at the international Riga Jazz Stage Vocal Competition, and appeared on major stages across the U.S. and abroad. With her new recording Stars set for release in summer 2026, Johns closes the 2026 Hudson Jazz Festival mainstage.
PLUS: The festival expands into the streets of Hudson with Sounds Around Town, a series of free pop-up performances by Bard College jazz faculty and students.
Full lineup and additional performers will be announced in August 2026.
TICKETS & FESTIVAL PASSES
Early Bird Festival Passes go on sale to Hudson Hall members Friday, June 26, 2026 at 10 AM and to the public Wednesday, July 1, 2026 at 10 AM.
Passes include admission to all three Hudson Hall mainstage performances and additional special events to be announced, plus 20% off all partner venue performances and discounts at participating shops, restaurants, and bars.
Single tickets go on sale in August. Additional festival performances, after-hours events, free pop-ups, and city-wide programming will be announced later this summer.
For tickets, passes, and festival updates, visit hudsonhall.org/hudson-jazz-
About Hudson Jazz Festival
Launched in 2018 as part of Hudson Hall’s reopening season, the Hudson Jazz Festival celebrates one of America’s great art forms in New York State’s oldest surviving theater. Now in its ninth year, the festival has grown from a beloved local event into a destination weekend drawing audiences from the Hudson Valley, New York City, and beyond.
Praised by critics for its intimate scale, warm sound, and city-wide spirit, the festival brings acclaimed artists to Hudson Hall’s restored 1855 theater while extending music throughout Hudson’s streets, shops, restaurants, parks, and gathering places. New York City Jazz Record wrote that “even when the mainstage concerts were not happening, music wafted through the streets,” and Hudson “suddenly felt like the hippest place to be in New York.”
About Cat Henry
Cat Henry is a creative producer specializing in the visioning and planning of concerts, tours, and public programs. Curator of jazz programs for Hudson Hall, Henry previously curated concerts for MoMA Summergarden: New Music for New York and produced the inaugural season of Lincoln Center’s first Poet-in-Residence. As executive director for Live Music Society, Henry oversees the foundation’s work to celebrate and support small music venues. Previously, she served as Vice President, Concerts and Touring, for Jazz at Lincoln Center. She is a fellow of the Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a BFA in Jazz Performance from The New School.
About Keanna Faircloth
Keanna Faircloth is a radio personality, television host, event emcee, voice over actor, writer, and artist advocate who has worked in jazz media since 2003. From 2019 to 2022, she served as host of Afternoon Jazz on WBGO 88.3 FM in Newark, NJ, where she created and produced the acclaimed interview series The Pulse. She is currently Artist Relations Coordinator for jazz and classical piano at Yamaha Artist Services New York.
Faircloth began her career in jazz radio as a student at Howard University, interning at WPFW before becoming a regular on-air host and remaining a fixture at the station for 16 years. She created the podcast Artimacy, interviewing artists including Robert Glasper, Dionne Warwick, Wynton Marsalis, and Melba Moore, and co-hosts Jazz Beyond Tradition with GRAMMY-winning drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. She has hosted festivals nationally and internationally, including DC Jazz Festival, NYC Winter Jazzfest, and Jazzfest Berlin, and has contributed to WBGO, WRTI, The New York Times, NPR Music, NPR’s All Songs Considered, and WBUR’s Here and Now. In 2024, she served as a judge for NPR’s 10th annual Tiny Desk Contest.
About Hudson Hall
Hudson Hall is a cultural beacon in the Hudson Valley, offering a dynamic year-round schedule of music, theater, dance, literature, film, workshops for youth and adults, as well as family programs and signature events such as the Hudson Jazz Festival and the Handel on the Hudson opera series. Built in 1855, Hudson Hall is a landmarked building housing New York State’s oldest surviving theater. @hudsonhallny
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Photo: (Left to right): Dafnis Prieto, photo by David Garten; Shenel Johns, photo by Diane MacDonald; Vuyo Sotashe & Chris Pattishall, photo by Yekaterina Gyadu