https://www.winterjazzfest.com

Winter Jazzfest 2026 celebrates the fire that keeps jazz evolving — artists who honor the past by reinventing it. Reimagine the greats, reminding us that legacy isn’t preservation, it’s transformation.

MINGUS DYNASTY brings the explosive swing, protest, and poetry of Charles Mingus to life through musicians who carry his uncompromising vision forward.

DOORS 6PM, ONE SET AT 6:45PM (PART OF THE FESTIVAL’S MANHATTAN MARATHON)

Mingus Dynasty was the first band Sue Mingus organized after Charles Mingus’ death in 1979, collaborating with his own sidemen to honor his life and work. Although Mingus was an iconic and trailblazing bassist, he always said he was first and foremost a composer, and he left behind over 300 composition that deserved to be played. So a band carrying on his music became a natural, if unanticipated, mission. Today, four decades later, the powerful legacy of Mingus Music ignites bandstands as new generations of musicians express their individual voices and musical personalities, and celebrate and explore this rich and varied musical legacy.