Annual Jazz Festival 2026
We are thrilled to present an All-Star Lineup for our 35th Anniversary Jazz Festival!
Buttonwood Nature Center presents our 35th annual jazz festival, which continues to spotlight top professional artists each year that light up the outdoor stage with hot summer jazz.
As always, admission is free. We are back at the same great location this year, The Wharf (10141 Wharf Road, Waynesboro, PA).
This year we present Paul Bollenback, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Ingrid Jensen, Troy Roberts, and Lucques Curtis.
Paul Bollenback (guitar) –Bollenback started his music career in 1981, and has performed as a sideman with a wide range of jazz luminaries, including artists as diverse as Stanley Turrentine, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Steve Gadd, Gary Bartz, David “Fathead” Newman, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Joe Locke, Jack McDuff, James Moody, Jim Snidero, Charlie Byrd, Herb Ellis, Paul Bley, Geoffrey Keezer, Mike LeDonne, Carol Sloane, Gary Thomas, Grady Tate, and in the group East Meets Jazz with the renowned tabla virtuoso Sandip Burman, to name a few. He is known for his versatility, and also for an influential 20-year stint with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco. Bollenback performs on over 80 recordings as a sideman, and has released 8 CDs as a leader. A busy performance schedule has been augmented since the late ‘90s by steady jazz education duties at Columbia University, Queens College, and The New School. Bollenback is also a composer, whose pieces have appeared on Joey DeFrancesco’s “Reboppin’” and on the “Jazz Times Superband” CD. Find Paul Bollenback on Facebook here.
Jeff “Tain” Watts (drums) –Watts holds the unique distinction of being the only musician to appear on every Grammy Award winning jazz record by both Wynton and Branford Marsalis. He got the nickname “Tain” from Kenny Kirkland when they were on tour in Florida and drove past a Chieftain gas station. Watts worked in the film and television industry as both a musician on the the Tonight Show with Jay Leno for three years and as an actor, playing Rhythm Jones in Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. Watts performed and recorded with the Branford Marsalis Quartet from 1985 to 2009. He currently performs with his own groups, The Watts Project and the Jeff “Tain” Watts Quartet, as well as with McCoy Tyner and the George Cables Project. In 2007 Watts started his own record label, Dark Key Music, releasing Folk’s Songs in 2007, Watts in 2009 and Family in 2011. Terence Blanchard won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Solo for Dark Key Music’s “Dancin’ 4 Chicken.” Watts writes most of the compositions on his own albums. He is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and can be seen on the album cover of Branford Marsalis’s “Braggtown” with a Steelers “Terrible Towel.” Find Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts on Facebook here.
Ingrid Jensen (trumpet) –Jensen has been hailed as one of the most gifted trumpeters of her generation. As a sought-out teacher, collaborator, and soloist, it is easy to see why the New York Times calls her “as versatile as she is vigorous.” After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1989, Jensen was offered a position at the prestigious Bruckner Conservatory in Linz, Austria. In the 1990s, she recorded three highly acclaimed CDs for the ENJA record label, becoming one of the most in-demand trumpet players on the global jazz scene. Settling in New York City, she joined the innovative jazz orchestras of Maria Schneider (1994–2012) and Darcy James Argue (2002–present). She has performed with a multigenerational cast of jazz legends ranging from Clark Terry to Esperanza Spalding. Jensen is prominently featured on the Grammy Award winning Mosaic Project, led by drummer Terri-Lyne Carrington. With a loyal fan base around the globe, she was hailed by the Jazz Journalist Association (JJA) as 2019’s Trumpeter of the Year. She is consistently listed in the top 5 in the Trumpet category of the Downbeat critics poll. Jensen plays a custom Monette trumpet, built personally by the master builder Dave Monette. Ingrid Jensen’s website here.
Troy Roberts (tenor sax) –Embracing his love for a vast variety of stylistic genres, three-time GRAMMY nominated saxophonist, Troy Roberts is quickly becoming one of the most widely recorded touring artists of his time. His name adorns several essential recordings ranging from the legendary Joey DeFrancesco, the iconic Van Morrison, the quintessential Jeff “Tain” Watts, the tireless Orrin Evans Captain Black Big Band, the critically acclaimed Kurt Elling, the breathtaking Veronica Swift, to numerous other jazz veterans, and newcomers considered tastemakers of their generation. Roberts, a New York City based Australian immigrant, is also a prolific leader with sixteen releases to his name. Currently celebrating his latest, Green Lights (featuring John Patitucci, Paul Bollenback and Jimmy Macbride), Roberts maintains a busy recording and performance schedule with his quartet, his original project Nu-Jive, as well as some of the greatest artists of today. Troy Roberts website here.
Lucques Curtis (bass) – is a 2025 Grammy Award winner for Best Latin Jazz Album. He was formally trained on piano and percussion but soon discovered he wanted to play the bass. He studied at the Greater Hartford Academy of Performing Arts, Artist Collective, and Guakia with Dave Santoro, Volcan Orham, Nat Reeves, Paul Brown, and others. While still in high school, he also studied the Afro-Caribbean genre with bass greats Andy Gonzalez and Joe Santiago. Curtis earned a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied with John Lockwood and Ron Mahdi. He also worked with Gary Burton, Ralph Peterson, Donald Harrison, Christian Scott, and Francisco Mela. Curtis has performed worldwide with Eddie Palmieri, Stefon Harris, Ralph Peterson, Christian Scott, Sean Jones, Orrin Evans, Christian Sands, and others. With his brother, Zaccai he co-owns a record label and has five releases under “Curtis Brothers.” As a sideman, Luques Curtis has participated in over 100 recordings. Lucques Curtis website here.
Admission is free. Rain location is Waynesboro Area Middle School.
Click here to see a list of ALL the performers in our 35 years of Jazz Fest!
Free parking is available on the property. Those attending are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets, and picnics are welcome. Cold water will be available free to attendees.
Last year’s underwriting support for this event was provided by our Premier Sponsor, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. The funds were received via a Flex Fund grant from the Cultural Alliance of York County, Pa. Further support by the Hamilton Family Foundation on behalf of Hamilton Nissan; Bev McFarland in memory of Tom McFarland; Rent In Waynesboro.com; Franklin County Visitors Bureau; Dave & Joyce Thompson, and Waynesboro Community Concert Association.
Additional support from our Today’s Horizon Fund contributors: The Nora Roberts Foundation; the late Alma W. Oyer; Mary Marshall Buckey in memory of her parents, the late George and Marty Buckey; Marge Kiersz; Don Gibe and Nancy Erlanson; and the family of the late Carolyn Terry Eddy, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin. Facility support provided courtesy of Jeff and Nancy Mace.