The Saratoga Jazz Festival will return to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on its traditional weekend, Saturday June 25th and Sunday June 26th, 2022!
Performances will begin each day on the Charles R. Wood “Jazz Discovery” Stage at 11 AM and on the Amphitheater Stage at noon.
Saturday June 25 Lineup
Amphitheater
- Booker T. Presents: A Stax Revue
- Robert Glasper
- Galactic featuring Anjelika Jelly Joseph
- Con Tumbao featuring Issac Delgado, Robby Ameen, Oscar Hernandez, Conrad Herwig, Pedrito Martinez, Juan Munguia, Alain Pérez, Mike Rodriguez, Tony Succar & Miguel Zenon
- Ozmosys Band featuring Omar Hakim & Rachel Z
- Amina Figarova Sextet plus Strings
- Hot Club of Saratoga
Charles R. Wood “Jazz Discovery” Stage
- Red Baraat
- Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt with Dawn Thomson, Nadje Noordhuis, Jeff Lederer & Martin Wind
- Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith
- Connie Han Trio
- Emmaline
- Dan Wilson Trio
Sunday, June 26 Lineup
Amphitheater
- Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
- Ledisi
- SuperBlue: Kurt Elling featuring Charlie Hunter
- Eliane Elias
- Matthew Whitaker
- Garland Nelson’s Joyful Noise
Charles R. Wood “Jazz Discovery” Stage
- Cha Wa
- Tiempo Libre
- Carolyn Wonderland
- Ryan Keberle & Catharsis
- Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars celebrate George Wein featuring Mike Rodriguez, Steve Davis, Jimmy Greene, Bill Cunliffe, Dave Stryker, Todd Coolman & Dennis Mackrel
Tickets
Tickets for the festival start at $65 and will be available online to the general public at spac.org beginning March 16th at 10 AM (SPAC members have the opportunity to purchase tickets starting on March 7th.) Before May 1st two-day passes are also available for a savings of $10 per ticket.
Lawn seating is free for children ages 12 and under.
$20 amphitheater tickets are available for children ages 12 and under and students with a school-issued ID.
20 replies on “2022 Lineup”
Hi there. This will be my first time attending. How does the outdoor seating work? I got a little confused when I went to buy tickets. Thank you.
Hi Myiesha – We can’t wait for you to join the family! The reserved seat amphitheater is “open air.” So it’s outdoor, but under cover, and you get a reserved seat to see and hear the artists on the amphitheater stage. The lawn is completely general admission. You bring a beach chair or blanket, etc. and can find a spot. You can still hear the music from the amphitheater and see most of the groups on large video screens. We have a 2nd stage too. That’s open to everyone via general admission seating, standing and we have a large crafts tent, food, etc. If you need more assistance, call the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Box Office at 518.584.9330. They will assist you. Best DM
Hi Friends – Happy May. I’m in New Orleans for the Jazz Festival, the club shows, food, friends, sights, scents and hopefully no Covid. We’ll see what happens…
My trip started off on Thursday in Fredericksburg, VA, where I produced an incredible “Cuban Night” at beautiful new 1200-acre ecotourism ranch call The Lodge at Moss Neck. The event featured Cuban food, drinks, desserts and an inspiring, fun, funky, dance party set by Tiempo Libre, who will play at the festival on Sunday, June 26. This band kicks ass and now features the explosive drummer, Yissy Garcia, who you may remember from Maqueque, the all-female Cuban band who played at the festival with Jane Bunnett in 2017 and 2018.
After a 3-year hiatus, I hit the holy land of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival runnin’ on Saturday and heard a ton of great music but seeing some the Galactic set, along with 25,000 people, just before the headlining set from The Who, gave me chills. Galactic, who will be at the festival on Saturday, June 25, is a New Orleans institution, combining jazz, funk, R&B and soul and features the dynamic and powerful vocalist Anjelika Joseph. Wowsie!
Some of you may know that I programmed a series of Sunday jazz concerts at Live at The Falcon, in Marlboro, NY, from late February through late June. This coming Saturday, May 7, apart from the Sunday series, the club is presenting Ozmosys featuring Omar Hakim & Rachel Z. Omar Hakim and Rachel Z Hakim presented their Trio of Oz band to roaring applause at the 2010 and 2012 festivals (they also sold the most CDs of any band at both festivals), are now coming back with their new band on Saturday, June 25.
I’m headed out to lunch at Brennan’s in the French Quarter today and meeting with my friend and colleague, Charles Driebe, who manages Jon Cleary, the Blind Boys of Alabama and numerous other groups including Cha Wa. You may remember them from their euphoric 2019 set. They return for an encore set to close the Discovery Stage on Sunday, June 26.
And as we all are, JazzFest is honoring the founder and my mentor George Wein. There are some events and sets dedicated to George, and we are curating a special one with the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars on Sunday, June 26.
This is all to say that I am in New Orleans but my head and my heart are in Saratoga. The festival is NEXT MONTH, and I’m looking forward to seeing you all there to celebrate the really good things in life. For me, the festival is at the top of that list.
As they say here in the Big Easy, “Yeah You Right!”
Love – Danny
Hi Friends – Hope everyone has been well. Elizabeth Sobol and I finally got the chance to get together and be on the radio to talk about the festival. Check it out if you have a few minutes.
https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2022-04-11/freihofers-saratoga-jazz-festival-returns-to-spac-june-2022
Hello friends – I hope everybody is healthy, warm and looking forward to spring and somewhat of a re-awakening. We’re so pleased with the initial response to the jazz festival announcement and it’s really impossible to put into words how excited we are to reunite with everyone and to share these wonderful festival moments with all of you again.
George Wein used to say that the most valuable part of the festival was the stage time. That every set should be considered a golden moment and we should book the artists we felt “deserved” or earned that time. But once that’s done, the stage is theirs and what they do with that time is their expression, their art, their “business” so to speak.
With that in mind, every few days I am going to write and post a short piece spotlighting each band on the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival Fans page on Facebook.
I am calling my “column” Why We Booked Them.
I think it’s important for everyone to know a bit about all of the artists and understand why they belong on the line-up. You’ll quickly see a pattern – that they are talented, original, important creative people and are writing, interpreting and playing music at the highest level. They are artists, not “acts.”
I can’t wait to hear them at SPAC on June 25 & 26 and I hope you’ll be inspired too.
Stay tuned! 
When I saw the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra a few years back it had several vocalists performing including the wonderful Roberta Gambarini. Will there be vocalists with the orchestra this summer at Saratoga?
Hi Chuck – that’s up to Wynton Marsalis. I did tell them that I’d be happy if they were able to feature a vocalist. Let’s see what happens. Best DM
I am eager to buy two-day passes for five people tomorrow morning when the ticket sales begin, but I cannot figure out two things:
1) How to buy a two-day pass (the SPAC site only features options for a single day),
2) information on price ranges for tickets. I will be buying tickets for others, and I would like to tell them what they can expect to spend. Is there information somewhere as to the price range for a two-day pass?
I was able to purchase my tickets today. The discount for two-day pass is applied automatically when you purchase tickets for both days.
Unfortunately the pricing on SPAC’s ticketing website isn’t very clear, at least to me. The ticketing system lists 5 price points for single-day tickets:
$71 (lawn), $82, $92, $102, $113, and $134 (orchestra pit)
I bought inside tickets, and SPAC charged me an additional $6 “commission” for each ticket. I am not certain, but am wondering if the $71 lawn price already has this $6 fee included, which explains why it is more expensive than the $65 ticket that was advertised.
When will we know about your full Jazz outdoor procedures for 2022?
Hi Lynette – Most everything will be the same as it was in 2019 and prior to that. Full festival schedule, no seating or lawn capacity restrictions.
One new policy that we are being required to enforce by our insurance carrier is no running into the festival when the gates open. We can not allow that to happen anymore. We will have a new staggered entrance plan in place to ensure everyone’s safety.
Again, we are announcing the festival line-up on Sunday.
Best DM
We are announcing the line-up via the Albany Times Union on Sunday, Feb 13.
Will the line-up be the full 22 to 23 performers as in the past or some modified version as last year?
Yes.
Yes, full line-up.
Will we be able to bring in our food, grills and coolers this year?
You’ve never been able to grill but yes on coolers, food etc.
The lawn will be fully open this year but there’s a beautiful new plaza and it’s shaped differently so some people won’t be able to hang where they’re used to being because that real estate doesn’t exist now. We will be posting a map at some point. Expecting to announce the line-up in early February. Looking forward to the 45th fest!
Will we be allowed to choose our own spots on the lawn as before Covid?
Let’s hope so! Really looking forward to a return to normal!