Marsalis will be leading his Lincoln Center Orchestra and will be joined by jazz singers Catherine Russell and Georgia Heers. The concert will take place on November 30.

The concert is also the festival's opener, and coincides with a major world tour Marsalis and the orchestra are undertaking.

"Wynton Marsalis is one of those musicians whose work has shaped an entire generation of jazz musicians and whose presence on stage is always an event," the festival's artistic director Anne Erm said.

"For the first time ever, Estonian music lovers will now have the chance to see him together with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and at such a special moment: The 2026 world tour will be Marsalis's last as the orchestra's artistic director. At Christmas Jazz, audiences will have the opportunity to witness the closing of a chapter in jazz history," Erm noted.

Wynton Learson Marsalis, 64, has been the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York for 35 years. He has won nine Grammys in both the jazz and classical music categories, released more than 150 recordings, instrumental concertos and hundreds of big band works. He is also the first jazz musician to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Marsalis and his band will take the stage at the Alexela Concert Hall in Tallinn on Monday, November 30, for the Christmas Jazz opening concert, "Big Band Holidays."

The 31st Christmas Jazz (Jõulujazz) festival runs from November 30 to December 15.

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