HAMPTON—The Hampton Jazz Festival has been held annually on the last weekend of June since 1968. The halls of the Hampton Coliseum will be silent once again this year due to concerns about the pandemic and rapidly expanding Omicron virus variant.
The festival has been a marquee event for the Hampton Coliseum, drawing crowds from all over the country. The premiere event in 1968 featured jazz legends such as Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, the Thelonious Monk Quartet, Dione Warwick, and Muddy Waters, to name a few.
Since then, the event has attracted a “Who’s Who” of jazz greats throughout the ages with performances from Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Roberta Flack, B.B. King, Buddy Rich, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, The Spinners, Teddy Pendergrass, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Chuck Mangione, Lou Rawls, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Ella Fitzgerald, Peabo Bryson, Spyro Gyra, George Jones, Etta James, Kool & The Gang, Peaches and Herb, Angela Bofill, Smokey Robinson, The O’Jays, Winton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, James Brown, Luther Vandross, Patti LaBelle, The Commodores, The Manhattans, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Anita Baker, The Four Tops, Be Be & Ce Ce Winans, Jeffrey Osbourne, Earl Klugh, Earth, Wind & Fire, Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan, Robert Cray, Kenny G, The Ohio Players, Erykah Badu, Regina Belle, Stephanie Mills, Teena Marie, The Gap Band, Michael McDonald, Sheila E., En Vogue, Boyz to Men, David Sanborn, Jill Scott, Morris Day and the Time, Toni Braxton, Baby Face, Jennifer Hudson, New Edition, and Boney James—to name a few.
“The coronavirus has caused a variety of impacts and challenges over the past two years, including the current surge in the omicron variant,” said Terri Vander Vennet, director of the Hampton Coliseum. “Proceeding with an overabundance of caution in the face of uncertainty, the Hampton Jazz Festival Board of Directors decided it best to hold off this year.”
Vander Vennet said she looks forward to next year’s event, which is scheduled to be held June 23–25, 2023.