Next Jazz Legacy / Brandon Woody’s Upendo / Pureum Jim and The Empress (DCJF)

About

Trumpeter Brandon Woody and his band Upendo have been regulars in the D.C.-Baltimore jazz scenes for the last decade . Until now, the band has been best known locally for their electrifying live performances. But they’re taking their D.C-Baltimore sound global with their Blue Note debut, For the Love it All. T he group takes what Woody calls the “simple, honest, melody” to the heights of their possibility. Woody’s playing itself pushes out a kaleidoscope of colors from the Black American Music spectrum: there’s a triumphal, Gabriel-tooting gospel uplift merged with the softer sounds of R&B, as well as a heavy dose of strong traditional jazz a la Freddie Hubbard and the like. Opening is Next Jazz Legacy, a program through the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice that gives training and apprenticeships to young jazz artists across the U.S. A cohort of selected students performs together for this D.C. Jazz Fest showcase. Also opening is all-female saxophone quartet The Empress, led by multi-instrumentalist Pureum Jin. Specializing in straight-ahead jazz, they perform a repertoire of standards, and also tracks from their 2025 debut album Square One. Presented as part of the 2026 DC Jazz Festival .