Don’t let the name fool you, the Richmond Jazz & Music Festival, happening August 8–10, 2025, isn’t just about jazz.
This year, hip hop isn’t just part of the mix, it’s taking center stage. It’s been moving in that direction for a while, but now the shift feels complete. As the festival continues to evolve, it’s embracing the full spectrum of contemporary Black music the trap storytellers, R&B powerhouses, jazz virtuosos, and neo-soul shapeshifters all sharing the bill. The result is a genre-blending, generation-bridging weekend that reflects the music people actually live with: on playlists, in barbershops, around the dinner table, and in headphones on the ride home.
A Lineup That Bridges Generations
This year’s lineup brings legacy and innovation into the same conversation, sometimes within the same set. Saturday’s headliner, T.I., remains one of the South’s most influential voices. He helped define the sound of trap in the 2000s and continues to carry that legacy with the confidence of a seasoned strategist and the flair of a storyteller who’s seen it all. Whether he’s breaking down systemic contradictions or hyping the crowd with a banger, Tip still commands attention with clarity, charisma, and a cadence that helped rewrite the rules for Southern hip hop.
Jodeci, icons of ’90s R&B, bring that raw emotion and gospel-tinged sensuality that defined an era. Before streaming, before algorithms, there were slow jams on cassette, and Jodeci was the reason a lot of people pressed play. Their sound was church and bedroom, leather and lace, grit and vulnerability, all at once. They didn’t just bend the rules of R&B, they broke them open, fusing New Jack Swing with soul confessionals and setting the stage for every artist who blurred the lines between devotion and desire.
On stage, they’re unpredictable in the best way — loud, loose, and emotionally immediate. For a generation raised on “Come and Talk to Me” and “Feenin’,” this isn’t just a set, it’s a memory hitting you in the chest. For newer fans, it’s a chance to see where modern R&B gets its edge.
And then there’s Muni Long, whose breakout hit “Hrs & Hrs” didn’t just dominate airwaves, it became a cultural moment. Her voice carries the weight of old-school soul with the emotional precision of modern R&B, and she writes like someone who’s lived it twice. A Grammy-winning songwriter before the spotlight found her, Muni Long knows how to build a track from the inside out balancing vulnerability, power, and melody in a way that sticks. On stage, she brings that same energy: intimate, commanding, and completely dialed in.
She’s joined by a strong Saturday lineup that bridges eras and sounds. Aloe Blacc brings his signature blend of soul and socially conscious pop, an artist whose hooks land and whose messages linger. October London delivers a silky, Marvin Gaye-style falsetto with a modern twist, while Norman Brown continues to represent the smooth jazz tradition with fluid guitar work and effortless cool. Rising group Hot Like Mars adds genre-blurring energy, weaving in funk, soul, and future-forward vibes.
And of course, Richmond’s own Charles Owens and Alexander Mack bring the hometown weight. Owens, a staple of the city’s jazz scene, delivers deeply rooted improvisation and emotional range. Mack, one of the region’s most promising young voices, fuses jazz, hip hop, and lyricism into something entirely his own. Together, they help make Saturday feel like a full-spectrum experience that’s national in reach, but unmistakably Richmond.
On Sunday, Masego, Virginia-born, globally recognized takes the headlining slot, and it feels like a homecoming. Raised in Newport News, he’s carved out a completely original lane with what he calls TrapHouseJazz, a genre-hybrid that flips between saxophone solos, digital loops, and smooth vocals with ease. It’s both deeply musical and effortlessly modern.
Sharing the stage is the inimitable CeeLo Green, a one-man genre machine who’s been blurring the lines between soul, funk, hip hop, and pop for decades. From the Dungeon Family to Gnarls Barkley to solo anthems like “Forget You,”CeeLo’s catalog is as unpredictable as his stage presence is flamboyant, strange, and always soulful.
Marsha Ambrosius, formerly of Floetry, delivers grown-woman vocals steeped in soul and emotional nuance. She’s the kind of artist who can hush a crowd with a single note. Raheem DeVaughn, long known as the “Love King,” balances sensuality and consciousness in his R&B is a reminder that romance and revolution often share a rhythm.
And then there’s Dru Hill. If Jodeci defined the edge of ‘90s R&B, Dru Hill delivered the harmonies. Expect them to bring both the power ballads and the shoulder-roll anthems.
Jazz fans will get their fill with legends like Kirk Whalum and Mindi Abair, artists who’ve held down the smooth and soulful sides of the genre for decades. And just like Saturday, Sunday stays grounded in Richmond with performances from local rising star Shera Shi, whose voice and presence are drawing serious attention, and the Legacy Band, keeping the spirit of live musicianship alive and local.
Straight No Chaser: A Jazz Takeover Across the City
Before the big stages light up at Maymont, Straight No Chaser: A Downtown Jazz Suite sets the city in motion.
Running August 6–10, this series presents a curated slate of free, intimate performances spread across some of Richmond’s most beloved restaurants, museums, hotels, and cultural venues. But it’s more than just music in unexpected places — it’s a reintroduction of straight-ahead jazz into the daily rhythm of the city.
The series kicks off on Wednesday, August 6, with simultaneous performances across downtown:
- Calvin Brown & Sam Reed at Bar Solita (5–7PM)
- Weldon Hill at Tarrant’s Downtown (6–9PM)
- Charles Owens Trio at Richmond Marriott (6–9PM)
- Chet Frierson at Black Olive (8–10PM)
- Dominion Energy Jazz Café at the VMFA (6–8PM)
Each venue becomes its own little jazz suite—piano keys echoing off marble bars, horn solos weaving through the dinner rush, basslines filling the quiet between museum walls. It’s jazz as it was meant to be experienced: up close, unexpected, and in conversation with the city.
On Thursday, August 7, the spotlight shifts to Common House for a signature event, An Evening with John D’earth & Friends. Part concert, part documentary shoot, this night blends performance, legacy, and community. D’earth, a cornerstone of Virginia’s jazz scene, leads a live ensemble through a fluid, improvisational set, backed by curated cocktails from Angel’s Envy and a behind-the-scenes film crew capturing the spirit of the evening.
By Friday, August 8, the energy moves to one of Richmond’s most historic venues. Homegrown at the Hipp takes place at the Hippodrome Theater in Jackson Ward, a space that once hosted legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and James Brown. This year’s spotlight artist is Kemi Adegoroye, an emerging vocalist known for blending timeless jazz standards with her own genre-blurring compositions. Doors open at 6PM, and this is a ticketed event—well worth it for anyone wanting a night that blends old-school glamour with new-school voice.
Throughout the week, Straight No Chaser doesn’t just complement the festival, it grounds it. It’s a love letter to Richmond’s jazz roots, placing the music back in the neighborhoods that shaped it.
A Big-Feel Festival That’s Still Very Richmond
For all its growth, the Richmond Jazz & Music Festival still feels like Richmond in the best way. Yes, the stages are bigger. The lineups are national. The production is tight. But at its core, the festival hasn’t lost its local soul. You’ll see homegrown talent on stage, legendary acts roaming the grounds, and familiar faces posted up with picnic blankets, cold drinks, and folding chairs like they’ve been here every year, which they probably have.
So whether you live here or you’re just rolling through, this is the weekend to lock in. Pull up. Cool off under the trees, and let the music take you somewhere you didn’t expect.
For more information, check out richmondjazzandmusicfestival.com
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Photos from past Richmond Jazz & Music Festival
