Jazz Poetry Month 2026 takes over City of Asylum this May 7–21! Jazz Poetry Month is a tradition that traces back to the very heart of City of Asylum. At its core, it is a celebration of experimentation, collaboration, and connection between art forms and between artist and audience. All performances can be viewed in person or online on our streaming platform.
Jazz Poetry Month 2026 Lineup
Thursday, May 7 @ 7 PM
James Brandon Lewis & The Messthetics with Mark Andryczyk, Rania Mamoun & Volodymyr Rafeyenko
In a month celebrating infusion, collaboration, and unique, incredible performance, who better to herald in Jazz Poetry 2026 but newly crowned Artist of the Year (DownBeat Magazine) James Brandon Lewis? The beloved six-time headliner returns to City of Asylum this May with a fresh new sound and his punk-jazz group, the Messthetics.
Thursday, May 14 @ 7 PM
Spanish Pianist Marta Sánchez with Olena Boryshpolets, Oleksandr Frazé-Frazénko & Mukhtar Shehata
Jazz Poetry 2026 at City of Asylum continues with Spanish pianist Marta Sánchez’s official album release concert! During periods of isolation and solitude, Marta composed her album, For the Space You Left. Shaped by two very different emotional landscapes, the music began in 2017 during a residency at MacDowell, where Marta applied with the intention of experimenting with piano preparation and confronting one of her long-standing fears: playing solo piano. The resulting pieces carry a quiet melancholy, fragility, and a raw openness which comes to life in this album’s live performance.
Thursday, May 21 @ 7 PM
Poet-Vocalist Erika Denae J’s “In the Mood For” (Book Launch & Album Teaser)
In this unique performance, multi-disciplinary artist Erika Denae J launches her poetry collection, In the Mood For, accompanied by a 13-piece band. A perfect fit for this festival’s long history of melding poetry and music, the poems in Erika’s collection also make up the lyrics of her upcoming companion album. It is a fusion of alternative jazz and soul that explores the pursuit of contentment at the intersection of self. This program features special arrangements by James Johnson III. The production of Erika’s book, In the Mood For, and her forthcoming album were funded by The Pittsburgh Foundation.
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