Montclair Jazz Festival Featuring Host S. Epatha Merkerson

New Jersey’s eclectic town of Montclair will once again transform into a bonanza of incredible, world-class music and elated jazz fans on Saturday, August 16. The Montclair Jazz Festival is a fun-filled day with entertainment for the entire family.

Produced by Jazz House Kids with support from lead sponsors City National Bank, North Coast Brewing Co. and Arctic Glacier, this year’s festival is hosted by award-winning actor S. Epatha Merkerson.

The Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor, is best known for her 17-season run as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on NBC’s “Law and Order,” for which she won three NAACP Image Awards, is the Montclair Jazz Festival’s Mistress of Ceremonies.

Featured headliners include:

-Jazz House Kids Artistic Chair Christian McBride with special guest John Scofield

-Chuchito Valdés

-Melissa Walker

-Bruce Williams and More to Go

-The Jazz House Faculty Collective.

-Jazz House Kids large ensembles, including the award-winning Jazz House Big Band, will perform alongside the professional musicians throughout the day.

Returning to the festival is the Family Jazz Discovery Zone, a collaboration among Jazz House Kids and partners Montclair Public Library and Montclair Art Museum, which will feature healthy snacks, music-related story books read by festival musicians, and a host of other kid-friendly art activities for wee-boppers and their parents. Also returning to the festival is the popular Beer Garden, sponsored by North Coast Brewing Co.

Also added are the artistic talents of Andres Chaparro, whose interpretive portrait of Christian McBride will be the face and overall texture of this year’s Montclair Jazz Festival. In addition, the festival will be recorded for distribution on PRX (the Public Radio Exchange) to be broadcast on national stations and the European Broadcasting Union.

Jazz fans are invited to bring friends and family, lawn chairs, blankets, and picnic baskets. In addition to the North Coast Beer Garden and Family Jazz Discovery Zone, food and artisan craft vendors are part of the offerings in the historic, 17-acre park. (Directions: http://bit.ly/Q4wiry).

New this year is the Montclair Jazz Festival shuttle, which will stop at key parking points throughout town. For more information, visit http://www.montclairjazzfestival.org/welcome-1-1/.

To volunteer, become a vendor, or for more information, visit www.montclairjazzfestival.org, and the Montclair Jazz Festival Facebook page, email info@jazzhousekids.org or call 973-744-2273. For information about Jazz House Kids, visit www.jazzhousekids.org.