The Elkhart Jazz Festival has announced its 2022 lineup, which includes headliners Gunhild Carling, The Queen’s Cartoonists and Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers. The festival, which brings over 20,000 people to downtown Elkhart, runs from Thursday, June 16 to Sunday, June 19.
The 34th year of the festival kicks off on Thursday, June 16 with a free concert at the Lerner Theater by the Truth in Jazz Big Band from 7 to 8 p.m.
That same evening, the Wellfield Botanic Garden starts its Groovin in the Garden series with the David Hilliker Quartet at 7 p.m. and the Chicago-based Latin group Rica Obsesion at 10 p.m.
On the evening of Friday, June 17, the Lerner Theater is headlined by Gunhild Carling — a multi-instrumentalist known as “Sweden’s Queen of Swing” — and The Queens Cartoonists, who will perform music from classic cartoons and contemporary animation synchronized to video projections of the original films.
Other Friday performances include the Andy Brown Trio, Couch, Jazmin Ghent, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and the Nia Quartet.
Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers will headline at the Lerner Theater on the evening of Saturday, June 18. A 13-time Grammy nominee, Hornsby first rose to national prominence with “The Way It Is,” his 1986 debut album with The Range. The title track became the most-played song on American radio in 1987 and was sampled in Tupac Shakur’s 1998 single “Changes.”
Hornsby was also a part-time member of the Grateful Dead from September 1990 to March 1992 and performed over 100 concerts in the United States and Europe. His albums have sold over 11 million copies worldwide.
During the day, Saturday features performances by local high school students and festival regulars including Dave Bennett, Kris Brownlee, Paul Decker, Emily Cavanaugh, Craig Glidner and Lena Seikaly.
On Sunday, June 19, the festival concludes with a free concert by the United States Air Force’s Shades of Blue Jazz Ensemble at 3:30 p.m. in the Lerner Theater.
Other Sunday performances include the Yellow Creek Jazz Project, the Christopher Lucas Wilson Trio and the Notre Dame Faculty Jazz Trio.
Tickets for each day will be sold separately, with the Friday, June 17 day pass at $25, the Saturday, June 18 day pass at $35 and the Sunday, June 19 day pass at $15.
The Friday and Saturday headliners cost an additional fee — the Friday double feature of The Queen’s Cartoonists and Gunhild Carling ranges from $15 to $35, and the Saturday performance by Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers ranges from $39 to $79.
All festival passes include free entry to the Wellfield Botanic Garden for the weekend.
Tickets can be purchased online, at the box office of the Lerner Theater or by calling 574-293-4469. The full festival schedule is also available online.
The Elkhart Jazz Festival is a financial supporter of WVPE.
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donating here.
