5 D.C. jazz picks for June 2026

Happy Black Music Month, and happy Pride!

For many, June’s mild(er) climate is the perfect time to experience the full breadth of D.C.’s culture, with a plethora of outdoor performances taking full advantage. Jazz in the Garden has kicked off at the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden with picnickers and sangria, and all of the shows at St. Vincent Wine have migrated to their backyard for the season (weather permitting). 

Indoors, there are quite a few standout offerings from nationally touring musicians across the Black American Music spectrum that we can recommend for the month. The Devlon Lamarr Organ Trio, a burning group in that hot soul jazz tradition, plays with Spanish funk-fusion bassist Vincen García at The Hamilton Live on June 13. Then the New Orleans-based Tank and the Bangas, who exploded into the national music scene through winning NPR Music’s Tiny Desk contest in 2017, bring their classic Crescent City funky blend of Black Music to the Lincoln Theater on Juneteenth. Plus, New Orleans hip-hop (a stylistic subgenre called “bounce”) pioneer Big Freedia brings her energetic anthems to the 9:30 Club on June 25.

A couple of additional local recommendations: don’t miss the cool, bluesy and swinging D.C. jazz saxophonist Marshall Keys as he brings a group at Arena Stage on June 6.  And make sure to grab tickets now for Samuel Prather’s June 24 tribute to the great soul and funk albums of the summer of 1976 before that show sells out. 

CapitalBop is also joining our friends from the Home Rule Music and Film Preservation Foundation to present the fifth incarnation of the Home Rule Festival with events throughout June. The celestial Sun Ra Arkestra headlines the June 20 main festival, with additional performances from go-go pioneers the Chuck Brown Band and Trouble Funk, rising jazz star Melanie Charles and more. 

For all other live music and needs this month, please consult the full D.C. jazz calendar.

LAFAYETTE GILCHRIST & THE NEW VOLCANOES

Saturday, June 6, 7 p.m.
Takoma Station (tickets)
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Lafayette Gilchrist was born and raised here in D.C., developing his musical interests and experiences during the culturally fertile era when go-go and jazz were in full swing. With live music everywhere, Gilchrist was able to have deep early experiences with music that have influenced him to this day. Now residing in Baltimore, he is a creative force in the Mid-Atlantic region. With a string of groups and collaborations, he is constantly building his vision through the consistent and steady stream of performance and composition.

Here he leads his ensemble the New Volcanoes.

CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT 

Thursday, June 11, 7:30 p.m.
Music Center at Strathmore (tickets)
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Cécile McLorin Salvant is a composer, vocalist and visual artist whose style blends jazz, baroque, folk, vaudeville and blues. The three-time Grammy winner hails from Miami, where her multi-cultural upbringing exposed her to a range of Black diasporic sounds, from Motown soul to hip-hop, bluegrass, Haitian folk and Senegalese and Cape Verdean music.

Her most recent album, Oh Snap, was released in September 2025 and delivers a mixture of bluesy straight-ahead instrumentals, dreamy acoustic soundscapes, folkloric storytelling, electro-ballads and bouncy house-inspired dance tracks, featuring Salvant’s velvety and rhythmic jazz-rooted vocals.

Her project “Book of Ayres” brings together improvisers from across jazz, folk and electronic scenes.

Opening is harpist Brandee Younger and her trio.

KENNY RITTENHOUSE QUINTET 

Friday, June 12, 6 p.m.
Westminster Presbyterian Church ($10 at the door, free for kids under 16)
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Trumpeter Kenny Rittenhouse has led ensembles of various sizes around the DMV for two decades, and is a member of many others (including the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra). Rittenhouse specializes in the hard-bop strains of trumpeters like Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan, and his groups deliver swinging takes on the standards and the members’ originals.

He leads a strong quintet — Grant Langford on alto saxophone, Allyn Johnson on piano, Kris Funn on bass and C.V. Dashiell on drums — to celebrate the release of his new album Anthem for the Elders.

FRED FRITH / CHAO TIAN

Friday, June 26, 7 p.m.
Rhizome (tickets)
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Fred Frith is a multi-instrumentalist who has been performing for over 50 years. Best known for his work on electric guitar, Frith has roots in rock and folk music, and has also branched out in songwriting and composing for film, dance and theater. His sound blends noise, improvised music and notes of blues.

Chiao Tian is a Chinese dulcimer instrumentalist who blends classical training with American folk traditions and improvisation.

THUNDERCAT

Saturday, June 27, 7 p.m.
Merriweather Post Pavilion (tickets) 
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Thundercat is a Los Angeles-born bassist and singer known for his eccentric and genre-blending artistry. He picked up bass at an early age, drawing heavy influence from jazz icons like Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller.

As a teenager, he began his professional career touring with punk band Suicidal Tendencies, and later collaborating with jazz and neo-soul acts like Raphael Saadiq, Erykah Badu and Kamasi Washington. He gained further acclaim working with electronic music producer Flying Lotus and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar.

His 2017 album Drunk cemented his popularity as a solo artist, gaining critical acclaim for his virtuosic style that weaves together deep funk grooves, bright, up-tempo electronica, intricate jazz rhythms and elements of pop, soul and psychedelia.

Here he opens for rock band The Strokes.