Common performs during the Black Radio Experience at Meritage Resort & Spa in Napa on Aug. 30, 2024. He will headline the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest in August. Martin Lacey/STAFF.

Rapper and actor Common, gospel and soul music icon Mavis Staples and New Orleans pop and jazz pianist PJ Morton will headline the 35th annual iteration of San Jose Jazz Summer Fest in August.

The lineup of more more than 80 acts also includes Ghost-Note, the collaboration between Snarky Puppy alumnus Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth, and Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti’s son Femi Kuti and his band The Positive Force.

The three-day event will run from Aug. 8 to 10 on nine indoor and outdoor stages at Plaza de César Chavez in downtown San Jose. Three-day early bird tickets are available now, ranging from $100 to $560, at the San Jose Jazz website.

The extensive music offerings will again offer a wide mix of jazz, soul, Latin music, funk, salsa, global music, bossa nova, blues and more. Producers are also planning a visual component with the addition of Alebrijes en San José, an exhibition of Oaxacan art featuring eight 23-foot-high Alebrijes sculptures.

The opulent statues will be set in open-air public spaces throughout the festival. The exhibition has been displayed both in Mexico and in France, and will also be shown in San Francisco in May and June. Each statue weighs about 1,300 pounds.

Also new in 2025 is a “Future of Jazz” stage on Friday curated for younger audiences, with one-day tickets for attendees 25 and younger costing $25.

Friday artists include Ghost-Note, José James, Kiefer, saxophonist David Binney with Pera Krstajic and drummer Louis Cole, and the Bay Area’s Bennett Roth Quartet.

“It’s essential for us as a nonprofit to not only offer visionary local artists opportunities to perform at our flagship summer festival, but to also encourage younger audiences to enjoy the festivities with a ticket price they can afford,” San Jose Jazz Board President Julie Ramirez said in a news release.

Additional acts include The Headhunters, Kishi Bashi, Tyreek McDole, Delbert Anderson, Something Else!, Vincent Herring, Jonathan Dely, Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Sachal Vasandani, Marisoul and the Love Notes Orchestra, Mary Stallings, Kazemde George Trio, Tom Scott & The LA Express, Saul Sierra Quintet: “Caminos, A Pan American Jazz Suite,” Ray Obiedo Group with Lilan Kane, Akira Tana with Bobby Floyd, Atsuko Hashimoto and Jackie Ryan, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and Youth Choir, Oakland Jazz Choir, Nidia Góngora, Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca, Hermán Olivera with Orquesta Taino, Andre Cruz and Chris Lujan, Malo, Juan Prado Trio, All Things Swamp, SJZ High School All Stars, Synchronicity, SOJ Band, Los Tocayos, Ames Big Band, Footnotes, Swing Solution, Full Spectrum, Top Shelf, Los Gatos-Saratoga Band and Green Feather.

More acts will be announced later.

After early bird tickets are gone, three-day ticket prices will range from $105 for general admission to $620 for VIP. There are two other ticket categories for adults: priority access ($325) and “all stages” ($150), which gain access to stages after the priority access category.

Three-day children’s tickets will cost $30 for children 5 to 12 years old. Gate admission prices will be higher for every category other than children’s tickets.