Chris Potter & Julian Lage

The festival closes with A Nation Listens, an ambitious evening that confronts history, identity, and the unresolved tensions at the heart of the American story.

The night opens with Mark Turner, one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary jazz, presenting The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, inspired by James Weldon Johnson’s 1912 novel. Turner translates the novel into a thoughtful musical essay — rhythmically elusive, harmonically dense, and emotionally intense — where long, searching lines and ensemble interplay unfold like narrative rather than illustration.

Chris Potter and Julian Lage then take the stage to debut a world premiere inspired by the legacy of abolitionist John Brown - the radical abolitionist whose 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry helped propel the nation toward Civil War. The work reflects on Brown himself: the physical body as symbol, catalyst, and moral reckoning. Potter, one of the most significant saxophonists of his generation, joins forces with Lage — guitarist celebrated for his clarity, imagination, and deep engagement with American musical traditions — to explore history through music that wrestles with contradiction, conviction, and consequence.

These performances close the festival with depth, urgency, and a clear-eyed look at the ghosts we continue to live with.