2017 Rosslyn Jazz Fest Lineup Announced
The Soul Rebels, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Xenia Rubinos, and Joe Keyes to play free outdoor festival on September 9
The Rosslyn BID and Arlington Arts are proud to announce the lineup for the 2017 Rosslyn Jazz Fest. The free event takes place on Saturday, September 9, in Gateway Park. The Soul Rebels, the New Orleans-based brass ensemble that the Village Voice called “…the missing link between Public Enemy and Louis Armstrong,” lead a lineup of heavy-hitters that also includes: soul legend Lee Fields & The Expressions; visionary Afro-Latina singer/songwriter Xenia Rubinos; and Baltimore’s own Joe Keyes & The Late Bloomer Band.
The festival, which is in its 27th season, regularly draws over 5,000 music fans to Gateway Park for world-class music along with local food trucks and a beer and wine garden.
“The Rosslyn Jazz Fest is unlike any other event in the D.C. area,” says Mary-Claire Burick, president of the Rosslyn BID. “For 27 years, it has offered kids and adults alike the opportunity to see, for free, an eclectic mix of big-name musicians in an outdoor setting. We’re honored to be a part of that legacy.”
To sample some of this music, download our Spotify playlist.
2017 Rosslyn Jazz Fest Lineup (set times to be announced soon):
The Soul Rebels
“The Soul Rebels are the missing link between Public Enemy and Louis Armstrong,” observes the Village Voice. The band started with an idea—to expand upon the pop music they loved on the radio and the New Orleans brass tradition they grew up on. They took that tradition and blended funk and soul with elements of hip-hop, jazz and rock. The band has settled on an eight-piece lineup and has built a career around an eclectic live show that harnesses the power of horns and drums in the party-like atmosphere of a dance club. They have collaborated with an eclectic group of artists, including Macklemore, Lauryn Hill, and Talib Kweli. They’ve performed everywhere from DC’s The Hamilton, to Bonnaroo and South By Southwest.
Lee Fields & The Expressions
Lee Fields has been recording and performing old-school soul music since 1969, but his music sounds—and feels—as relevant today as it did five decades ago. A regular on the festival circuit in the U.S. and worldwide, including at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Fields has also collaborated with the The Black Keys, Wilco, and Kool & The Gang. “While he was acknowledged in the past as sort of a James Brown sound-alike,” says Pitchfork magazine. “…[such comparisons] are more points of triangulation than direct references, with a nuanced vitality that makes his sixties sound like most artists' thirties.”
Xenia Rubinos
Encompassing the pop sensibility of Mariah Carey and the soulfulness of Erykah Badu, the Brooklyn-based Xenia Rubinos’ powerhouse vocals are at the center of her music, which grows from a wide range of influences, from R&B to hip-hop to Caribbean rhythms and jazz—all delivered with a soulful punk aura. She has collaborated with artists ranging from Man Man to Deerhoof and has been lauded in publications such as The New Yorker and Pitchfork. Clearly an artist on the rise, the artist made waves regionally with her performances at 9:30 Club and Songbyrd Music House, and is now garnering bookings at major festivals, such as Montreal Jazz Fest later this year.
Joe Keyes & The Late Bloomer Band
Joe Keyes founded The Late Bloomer Band, a concoction of Baltimore-area musicians, in 2009. The band’s brand of live improvisation and musical sophistication presents a different experience at every show, including performances at DC’s Fringe Fest and Bossa. While Keyes draws inspiration from musical mentors Gil Scott-Heron, Joe Bowie, and Sun Ra, The Late Bloomer Band brings a modern interpretation to funk, jazz, rock and a variety of other genres. Keyes has collaborated with George Clinton and members of Parliament-Funkadelic, among others.
Plan your festival experience at www.rosslynva.org/jazzfest
To view a photo gallery of this year's performers, click here.
Photo at top: The Soul Rebels will headline the 2017 Rosslyn Jazz Fest, to take place September 9 in Gateway Park.