Dallas’ first annual Riverfront Jazz Festival, presented and produced by The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL), will host national music artists and highlight the city’s charm and unique, diverse culture on Labor Day Weekend, September 1-3, 2017 on three stages at the stately Horseshoe Park, 811 Pemberton Hill Road.

Erykah Badu, Will Downing and Najee are the festival Honorary Chairs and are among the diverse artists who will perform. Other talent includes Jonathan Butler, Peter White, Paul Taylor, Jeff Lorber, Euge Groove, Pieces of A Dream, Oleta Adams, Jon Secada, Alex Bugnon, Kim Waters, and many more.

From Will Downing:

I am happy to be a part of this inaugural festival to support my friend Curtis King and the amazing work he is doing to benefit TBAAL. For a first time initiative, this festival is going to be a blast! I hope people from all over the world come to Dallas and support this great festival and institution.

Multi-genre music, Jazz (Traditional and Smooth), R&B, Pop, Soul, Blues and Neo-Soul will be performed on two main stages – the Visit Dallas Jazz Main Stage and the Blues and Soul Main Stage. A third stage will be dedicated specifically for 50 young promising artists.

From Curtis King, festival creator and producer:

This is the festival I have been working on for the past 15 years and I am glad to see it finally come to fruition. Because there have been so many funding cuts in the arts, our institution needed to come up with a project that would directly benefit our youth Arts-and-Education program and our institution, giving long-term sustainability. This is the perfect vehicle to make that happen and, all of the artists participating have been amazingly supportive.

For festival information, updates, and to view the full lineup of artists, visit: www.tbaalriverfrontjazzfestival.org. For tickets call, TBAAL Box Office at 214.743.2400 or Ticketmaster 800.745.3000.