Now in its 45th year, the Montreal Jazz Festival (a.k.a. the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, or FIJM) has shared the details of its 2025 edition, running from June 26 to July 5.
The festival lineup is led by headliners Nas (performing his album Illmatic with an orchestra), Ayra Starr and Thundercat.
Rounding out the lineup are Allison Russell, Ben Harper, Violent Femmes, Jeff Goldblum's jazz group, Men I Trust, Mavis Staples, Elisapie, Bonobo, Jean-Michel Blais, Madlib, Arooj Aftab, Esperanza Spalding, the Cat Empire, Kes, Samara Joy, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Kid Koala and many more.
There will also be a tribute to the late Oscar Peterson, who would have turned 100 this year. See the full lineup in the poster below.
All told, there are more than 350 concerts, two-thirds of which are free. Tickets for the paid concerts go on sale tomorrow (April 17) at 10 a.m. Subscribers to the festival's newsletter will have access to presales today.
Director of Programming Maurin Auxéméry said in a statement, "The FIJM team has once again brilliantly risen to the challenge of curating a lineup as bold as it is accessible. After 45 years, this event, a crossroads between the local and international scenes, still knows how to reinvent itself, keep up with the times and redefine what jazz is, here and now. It is a remedy to the challenges of our era, an opportunity to come together and celebrate the unifying power of music, beyond genres and borders."