ARLINGTON, Mass. - BostonChron -- The Arlington Jazz Festival has been held annually since 2012, usually in April, a timeframe that has become known internationally as Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). Festival originator/organizer/producer and Arlington-resident Dan Fox initially dubbed his vision as the A-Town Jazz Festival, when it was more of a relatively small but ambitious experiment.

Fox's first efforts proved to be mighty enough that he has continued programming the Festival on a yearly basis. Even without missing a beat in 2020, when it needed to go virtual. Now the annual Festival has blossomed to the point that the tickets to this year's festival headliner master jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan and his Trio have been moving very quickly. Evidence that the Arlington Jazz Festival's grapevine has become very robust.

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The Festival, supported in part by a grant from the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture (ACAC), also receives organizing and production assistance from Arlington-based Morningside Music Studio, which is also under the direction of Dan Fox. He has this solid mission: to raise awareness and appreciation of jazz through the confluence of top performers, local rising ensembles, and student groups. He is also dedicated to fostering a sense of community and an appreciation that Arlington and surrounding towns outside of Boston-proper can also be cultural destinations. Morningside's motto: "keep the groove in your life."

Arlington Jazz Festival's basic listing info for each concert can be found at arlingtonjazz.org/2026-festival-schedule.html (https://www.arlingtonjazz.org/2026-festival-schedule.html). Most of the festival concerts, primarily held in Arlington (or adjacent Belmont), are free and open to all. Any questions can be submitted at arlingtonjazz.org/contact.html (https://www.arlingtonjazz.org/contact.html).