Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Adds Third Day With Chaka Khan, Dinner Party & Snoop Dogg (Exclusive)

The Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Valley today announced the addition of a third day of programming, adding Friday, July 29 to the already-announced July 30-31 dates for a full three-day weekend of music, fruits of the vine and much more.  Additional performers added include the transcendent jazz trio Dinner Party (Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington) collaborating with rap legend Snoop Dogg, along with performances by Chaka Khan, Kamasi Washington, Madlib, Chris Dave & The Drumheadz, Kenny Garrett, Alex Isley, Domi & JD Beck, Kiefer and Amber (of Moonchild), Marcus Strickland Twi-Life and DJ Jahi Sundance.

The debut Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Valley will take place at the historic Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, CA and will mark Blue Note Ent,.’s first outdoor multi-day and multi-stage event.

“Following the initial sell-out response from our two-day festival lineup in a matter of hours, we’re thrilled to announce a third festival date for the Blue Note Jazz Festival, Napa,” said Alex Kurland, Blue Note Director of Programming and Talent Buyer, in a statement.

Glasper, the virtuoso, Grammy-winning pianist, songwriter and producer, who in October played a widely-lauded 33-night, 66-show residency (nicknamed “Robtober”) at New York City’s Blue Note, is the festival’s artist-in-residence. His sets, which will be hosted by comedian Dave Chappelle, includes collaborations with Erykah Badu (7/30),  Ledisi and D-Smoke (7/31) and now Dinner Party (7/29).

The festival itself will also feature a number of historic collabs, including a Black Star reunion with Kweli and yasiin bey (formerly known as Mos Def), The Soul Rebels featuring GZA & Talib Kweli and the group Th1rt3en, which features Pharoahe Monch, Daru Jones & Marcus Machado.

Saturday night, the festival will host an after party with legendary crate-diggers DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown (aka Erykah Badu) and special surprise guests.

About the festival line-up, Kurland continued: “We’ve strived to present a pure concentration of greatness and culturally meaningful artistry — from the legendary Chaka Kahn, and jazz icon Kenny Garrett, to the prolific producer Madlib — we have extraordinary artists and creators gracing the festival airwaves drawing from the inspiration, stylistic influence and vibe of Robert Glasper.”

Tickets for Friday start at $225 for general admission and $450 for VIP, and go on sale Thursday, June 16th at 12:00pm PT. Though the first two announced shows have sold out, VIP packages are still available offering wine tastings, gourmet meals and transport on restored vintage 20th-century Pullman cars.

“The response from ticket buyers and the music industry to our first multi-day outdoor Blue Note Jazz Festival has been astounding,” Steven Bensusan, Blue Note Ent. Group President, said in a statement. “This year’s festival is a great model for the future of Blue Note Jazz Festivals. Our network of Blue Note Jazz Club venues spans over four continents. I plan to expand our festival throughout those markets and worldwide.”

To that end, in the month of June, Blue Note Ent. is presenting the Blue Note Jazz Festival, New York with an array of shows at venues throughout New York City. Additionally, a new Miami Beach pop-up festival took place across two weeks in June at the city’s North Beach Bandshell.

During the pandemic, Blue Note Napa, which has operated in the Napa for six years, partnered with the historic Charles Krug Winery producing nearly 40 outdoor summer concerts forming a proof of concept for the festival. The winery was established in 1861 and is Napa Valley’s first winery.

“Napa is particularly important to us,” Blue Note’s Bensusan continued. “Not only do we have a Blue Note Jazz Club in downtown Napa, but our partnership with Charles Krug Winery has successfully expanded. We’ve grown from our outdoor series during the pandemic to this new three-day festival experience taking over the entirety of the winery property.”