Bassist Endea Owens (photo above) and her band, The Cookout, will be the headliners at the Montclair Jazz Festival’s Block Party on August 12, a warmup for the main event, the Downtown Jamboree, on September 9.
The Block Party live music begins at noon in Montclair’s Lackawanna Plaza and continues for 10 hours. The music begins with 150 Jazz House Kids emerging musicians performing in seven big bands and a vocal choir. Next is guitarist Charlie Sigler, followed by Owens. The day concludes with a funk and soul party, hosted by DJ Brother Mister, aka the Christian McBride Dance Party.
Reviewing Owens & The Cookout’s December 2021 appearance at Dizzy’s Club, National Public Radio’s Nikki Birch wrote, “Owens served the in-person audience a piping hot set. Literally sparkling, Owens captivated the room with her masterful playing and exuberant charm.” A 2018 graduate of Juilliard, Owens is the bassist for Jon Batiste’s Stay Human, the house band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
A graduate of William Paterson, guitarist Sigler ran a jam session at May’s Jersey City Jazz Festival. He has also performed at the Litchfield Jazz Festival, Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, and Berks Jazz Festival and has played with drummer Winard Harper, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, and keyboardist Radam Schwartz, among many others.
The Montclair Jazz Festival is presented by BDP Holdings, LLC and is produced by Jazz House Kids. The schedule for September’s Downtown Jamboree is expected to be announced during the week of July 10. The Downtown Jamboree will have five stages, extending a half mile down Bloomfield Avenue, from Lackawanna Plaza to Fullerton Avenue.