Acclaimed musicians headline Atlanta Jazz Festival

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - What do you get when some of the most acclaimed jazz artists in contemporary music take over three stages during one hot weekend in May?  We can answer that in three words: Atlanta Jazz Festival.

The 42nd annual Atlanta Jazz Festival is happening Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26, drawing hundreds of thousands of music fans to Piedmont Park to check out an exciting and eclectic mix of artists.

This year’s festival features a trio of newly named stages — The Meadow Stage, Oak Hill Stage, and Park Drive Stage — each of which will feature several performers on both afternoons and evenings of the event.

Among this year’s headliners are acclaimed singer-songwriter Rhonda Ross and her husband, Rodney Kendrick, who will appear on the Meadow Stage at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Ross has music in her blood — her mother is legendary singer and actress Diana Ross — and released her first studio album in 2016, titled In Case You Didn’t Know. Ross has performed around the world (sometimes even opening for her mother), and is also an acclaimed actress – she garnered a Daytime Emmy nomination for her role on the soap “Another World.”  Oh, and did we mention her son Raif-Henok is taking social media by storm and becoming a star in his own right? 

The Good Day feature team spent the morning at Piedmont Park, chatting with Ross and some of her fellow performers about the Atlanta Jazz Festival and learning more about why the annual event has become such an important part of the city’s vibrant arts and entertainment scene.