FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BRIC JAZZFEST RETURNS TO BRIC HOUSE
Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Pay Tribute to Randy Weston; Bilal, Tyreek McDole, Takuya Kuroda and Mohini Dey Headline
Friday, October 16 & Saturday, October 17
BRIC House, Downtown Brooklyn
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Arturo O’Farrill (Photo Credit: John Abbott)
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(BROOKLYN, NY) —BRIC Arts Media today formally announced the lineup for BRIC JazzFest, returning to BRIC House in Downtown Brooklyn Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17. At the center of the festival: a tribute to Randy Weston led by Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, honoring one of jazz’s most influential composers and a defining figure in the music’s relationship to Africa and the diaspora. The lineup also includes headliners Bilal, Tyreek McDole, Takuya Kuroda and Mohini Dey.
Now in its twelfth year, BRIC JazzFest has become an essential destination for jazz and music lovers, returning to its roots in freedom, exchange and improvisation while stretching outward across soul, R&B, funk, electronic music, rock, house, global rhythms and American standards. In alignment with BRIC‘s year-long curatorial vision of bringing “Radical Joy” to life, this year’s festival aims to expand the circle of what’s considered jazz music, and to welcome those who have yet to find their home within this tent. The lineup presents jazz as a collective experience, as regions to move through and music to dance to.
The festival unfolds across two nights and three stages, the Stoop, the Ballroom, and the Artist Studio with performances running simultaneously throughout BRIC House, an immersive format that lets audiences move between rooms and take in multiple artists in a single night.
Expanding the Circle
That expansion plays out differently across the headliners. Bilal’s new albumAdjust Brightness pairs the organic force of his voice with futuristic electronic textures; Takuya Kuroda’s Everydayruns hip-hop, neo-soul and funk through the same rhythmic drive; Tyreek McDole takes the opposite route, carrying the baritone vocal tradition and his Afro-Caribbean heritage into a modern jazz expression onOpen Up Your Senses. Mohini Dey’s The Dey Way pulls in a third direction entirely, joining jazz with the rhythmic traditions of India and rock and roll; proof that the same tent can hold synthesizers, ancestry and distortion at once.
That same instinct, jazz meeting a rhythmic tradition from elsewhere in the world, runs through much of the lineup. Melvis Santa presents Gata Jazz, an Afro-Cuban jazz project rooted in rhythm, spirituality and collective creation, building on her album Jazz Orishas. Salin, born in Thailand, calls her sound “Afro Thai Funk,” built on her new album Rammana. Sparklmami’s debut In This Body moves among Brazilian jazz, Mexican bolero and experimental soul, treating the body itself as an instrument.
Where Jazz Travels Next
Elsewhere, the expansion looks backward as much as outward. Braxton Cook‘s Not Everyone Can Go dissolves the distance between jazz and contemporary R&B without leaving either behind.Marcus Gilmore makes his debut as a bandleader on Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard, reshaping rhythm from inside jazz’s own tradition. Laura Anglade, following her JUNO Award-winning Get Out of Town, returns to the Great American Songbook on her forthcoming Something’s Coming, treating the standard repertoire as something still alive, not archived.
Next Gen Jazz curates the festival’s VIP Lounge, spotlighting Devon Gates, Nathaniel Coben, Isaac Byrd and Ruby Laks, placing emerging artists in the role of cultural stewards shaping where jazz travels next.
Stage Meets Dance Floor
The festival closes with Toribio & Bring Dat Jazz Orchestra, who transform the celebration into an after-hours dance party, moving from DJ set to full band as the line between stage and dance floor disappears. It’s harnessing the same energy that’s had New York in its streets all summer, from block parties to watch parties, community finding each other in public spaces. BRIC is channeling that into JazzFest‘s closing night as “Radical Joy” in its most literal form.
For the full lineup and performance times, general information, and to purchase tickets visit here. Apply for media credentialshere.
2026 BRIC JazzFEST Lineup
Friday, October 16 (NIGHT 1)
Bilal
Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra – Tribute to Randy Weston
Marcus Gilmore
Takuya Kuroda
Sparklmami
Laura Anglade
Saturday, October 17 (NIGHT 2)
Mohini Dey
Braxton Cook
Tyreek McDole
Salin
Melvis Santa presents Gata Jazz
+ After Hours with Toribio & Bring Dat Jazz Orchestra
VIP Lounge performances curated by Next Gen Jazz
Devon Gates Night 1
Nathaniel CobenNight 1
Isaac Byrd Night 2
Ruby Laks Night 2
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For more information, contact: Wendy Washington, T.I.D. Agency [email protected] | Joe Wiggins, T.I.D. Agency[email protected]
About BRIC
BRIC is one of New York City’s premier cultural nonprofits – a hybrid arts presenter, media producer, and educator. For almost 50 years, we’ve partnered with innovators and underserved communities to spotlight voices that deserve to be heard, through such tentpole programs as BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, BRIC JazzFest, BRIC House Party, BRIC TV, BCAT, and multiple artist residencies, workshops, and classes. In 2025, BRIC became the first media organization to join NYC’s prestigious Cultural Institutions Group. For emerging creators, lifelong storytellers, and communities shaping culture, BRIC is the amplifier.For more information visit bricartsmedia.org