Texas Music News — August 22, 2026
Austin will host its first-ever ATX Jazz Fest next spring. Organizers are billing it as the most concentrated jazz lineup Texas has ever seen. So ATX Chamber Music and Jazz, known as ATX Music, announced the festival this week. The inaugural festival runs April 2 through 4, 2027, at Waterloo Park’s Moody Amphitheater. Assembly Hall will host additional stages nearby. Now organizers promise more than 29 hours of live music across three days.
ATX Music also unveiled its 2026-2027 season, the organization’s fourth and most ambitious yet. Still, the lineup mixes heavyweight names with rising talent from across the state. Pianist Brad Mehldau headlines, alongside the Christian McBride Big Band and vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant. Trumpeter Terence Blanchard brings his E-Collective, and saxophonist Chris Potter rounds out a stacked bill.
ATX Jazz Fest Claims Its Own Corner of Austin
Meanwhile, ATX Music co-artistic director Geoffrey Herd said the momentum behind the organization keeps building. “This season reflects that momentum,” Herd said in a release. “We hope to welcome new audiences from across the country,” he added. But co-artistic director Anna Petrova said intimacy matters just as much as star power. She wants shows that feel “welcoming, intimate, and deeply human,” even with world-class talent onstage. That mission fits a city already thick with musical landmarks. Blocks away, a bronze Stevie Ray Vaughan watches over Lady Bird Lake.
The regular season kicks off September 12, 2026, with violinist Stefan Jackiw and Ensemble ATX. Then it runs through May 2027, with stops at The Mansion, the Music Box, and Kodosky Manor. Passes for ATX Jazz Fest and season tickets are on sale now at atxmusic.com. So come next April, Waterloo Park will sound like nowhere else in Texas.
Details at CultureMap Austin.
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