Tilles Jazz Festival 2025

Almost a year to the day after the inaugural Tilles Jazz Festival took flight, the second edition was in full swing. This large-scale event—a collaboration between Tilles Center for the Performing Arts and Jazz at Lincoln Center, held on July 19, 2025 on the Brookville campus of Long Island University—boasted four well-set stages and nine artful acts. Running from midday through evening, there was no shortage of fine music for attendees to hear.

The daytime offered a fair number of rising stars and plenty of rousing sounds. A modified version of modernistic trio New Jazz Underground, featuring trumpeter Noah Halpern alongside bassist Sebastian Rios and drummer TJ Reddick, kicked things off with fire and forward-thinking glances. Singer Vanisha Gould's voice resonated throughout the Winnick House while, outside, just a short walk away, multi-reedist/educator Jeff Lederer led the LIU Post Jazz Ensemble through a crowd-pleasing set.

Percussionist/Vocalist Pedrito Martinez, a cut above the rest in terms of star power and potency, set the DIME Mainstage ablaze with the most potent performance of the afternoon. Trumpeter Summer Camargo brought her swinging sensibilities to an appreciative audience in parallel to Brazilian vocalist Jamile's intimate offering with guitarist Saul Cosme around the corner at University Arches. And Alphonso Horne & The Gotham Kings brought a NOLA-infused sensibility into focus as the afternoon closer before a second line parade brought the day to a true end.

The evening headliner/doubleheader featured jazz royalty in guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli, in Sinatra mode with a big band, and the legendary trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. Sadly, that part of the program wasn't in the scheduling cards for this writer. But with camera in hand, the rest was fully documented. Here's a small sampling of photos captured across the day.