Jazz in the Garden made a successful return to the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden on Friday nights last summer. Attendees danced next to the huge central fountain, sprawled in the grass with pitchers of sangria and caught up with friends at the end of another workweek. It was almost like old times.
The only problem, says Damon Reaves, the National Gallery’s head of education, was the passes that were required for admission. They were released one week before the concert, reserved through the National Gallery’s website. “Within a minute, they would be gone,” he says. “And as we started thinking about what our priorities are as an institution — to really be for all the people, and how we really want to be welcoming people to this program — we realized that, if you can’t be on your computer right [when passes were released], your chances of getting in were so extremely low, it was like next to nothing.”
In the interest of fairness, free tickets for this year’s 12 Jazz in the Garden concerts, held on Fridays from May 19 through Aug. 4, will be distributed through a lottery system. Anyone who wants to attend a concert can submit a request for up to four tickets during the week before that concert, beginning Monday and running through Friday at noon. Successful applicants will be notified the following Monday.
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For example: For the May 19 season opener, which features Martha Redbone, a Native American blues and soul singer, ticket requests can be made between May 8 and May 12, and everyone who enters will receive an email at 10 a.m. May 15. And if you don’t win, “a few additional passes” will be available at the gates each week on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the National Gallery.
Reeves says they made the shift in ticketing to make it a more equal-opportunity event. “Because the people who are selected for those passes will be generated randomly, everyone has the potential to access the shows.”
(D. C. music fans are already buzzing about ticket lotteries, thanks to the Atlantis, the forthcoming club inspired by the original 9:30 Club, which received more than 520,000 ticket requests for a series of 44 concerts featuring the Foo Fighters, Pixies and Maggie Rogers.)
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While the process for Jazz in the Garden is changing, the National Gallery doesn’t expect to increase capacity beyond the roughly 5,000 passes that were available for each event in 2022. The actual number of passes may vary throughout the season, however, as the staff looks at capacity and attrition rates, or how many passes are used each week.
The capacity limits, which are about half what they were a few years ago, “started out as a response to covid,” Reaves says, “But ultimately, this space, like any other public space, does have a capacity limit. We need to think about how we’re not just protecting the art, but protecting the people — making sure that everyone there can have a safe, enjoyable experience.”
Not much is changing about the main event: While the name remains Jazz in the Garden, “We’re using the phrase ‘exploring the American soundscape,’” Reaves says. “Jazz starts as our base, but we’re also thinking about the American soundscape that we can tap into as well. There’s some Indigenous fusion, there’s some contemporary jazz, Latin fusion, Caribbean — an exciting mix that I think really livens up the space.” Redbone, who was scheduled to headline the only 2022 concert that was canceled due to weather, returns for the first concert of the year. There’s a special Juneteenth show on June 16 with the Muneer Nasser Quintet, and the season ends Aug. 4 with the legendary bluegrass group the Seldom Scene.
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As always, Jazz in the Garden can be canceled due to rain, excessive heat or the threat of either. Food, wine and beer are available in the Pavilion Cafe, and while outside picnics are welcome, outside alcohol is not.
Fridays from May 19 to Aug. 4. Gates open at 5 p.m.; concerts begin at 6 p.m. National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, Constitution Avenue NW between Seventh and Ninth streets. nga.gov/jazz. Free.
Jazz in the Garden 2023 schedule
Martha Redbone Roots Project, blues
(Lottery open May 8-12)
¡Tumbao!, Latin fusion
(Lottery open May 15-19)
Tobago Bay, Caribbean
(Lottery open May 22-26)
Chelsey Green and the Green Project, contemporary jazz
(Lottery open May 29-June 2)
The Muneer Nasser Quintet, jazz
(Lottery open June 5-9)
Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas, zydeco
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(Lottery open June 12-16)
D’DAT, Indigenous fusion
(Lottery open June 19-23)
Alex Minasian Quartet, jazz
(Lottery open June 26-30)
Ultrafaux Ensemble with Hot Club of Baltimore, Roma swing
(Lottery open July 3-7)
DuPont Brass, eclectic soul
(Lottery open July 10-14)
The 8 Ohms Band, horn-heavy funk and soul
(Lottery open July 17-21)
The Seldom Scene, bluegrass
(Lottery open July 24-28)
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