There are two churches on Bay Ridge Avenue in Eastport: St. Luke's Episcopal at 1101 and Eastport United Methodist at 926. Each one opens a weekend of this year's Annapolis Jazz & Roots Festival with a 7 p.m. Friday concert that features music by Miles Davis. The St. Luke's concert on Friday, November 6, costs $30 plus a $1.30 fee. The one at Eastport United Methodist on November 13 is free.
The rest of the festival follows the same split. This is its fifth year, with nine events at eight venues in five neighborhoods from November 6 through 15, under the 2026 theme "New World Music: Centuries of Sound." All three ticketed events fall on the first weekend. Everything from November 13 through November 15 is free. On both weekends, the festival's schedule asks for reservations at every event, free ones included.
All three tickets fall on the opening weekend
Here are the only three events this year that cost money. All three are between Friday, November 6, and Sunday, November 8.
| Date | Performer | Venue | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 6, 7 p.m. | Muneer Nasser Band | St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1101 Bay Ridge Ave. | $30 plus $1.30 fee |
| Sat, Nov 7, 4 and 6:30 p.m. | Perkutao | Peerless Rens Club, 406 Chester Ave. | $25 advance, $35 at the door |
| Sun, Nov 8, 7 p.m. | Makaya McCraven | Maryland Hall, 801 Chase St. | $48 to $58 |
The Perkutao row comes with a cost for waiting. Buying ahead saves $10 a seat on the official price, $25 in advance against $35 at the door. The festival schedule lists the shows at 4 and 6:30 p.m., and the InstantSeats ticket pages show the same times. If you saw a 6 p.m. second show listed somewhere else, plan on 6:30.
McCraven's show is the one ticket the festival doesn't sell. Its schedule sends buyers to Maryland Hall, which lists the drummer and composer for Sunday, November 8, at 7 p.m. on the Main Theatre stage. Maryland Hall describes his work as a blend of improvisation, hip-hop production and global musical traditions. The festival's own schedule shows the year as 2025 on this entry. Maryland Hall's page has the correct date, November 8, 2026.
What the Saturday ticket gets you on Chester Avenue
The Afro-Peruvian band Perkutao plays at the Peerless Rens Club, a neighborhood club with a long Eastport history. According to the club, it began in the 1920s when Eastport neighbors formed a basketball team. The team was revived in 1947 and incorporated as Peerless Rens Club, Inc. in 1948. The club bought land to create a gathering place for the neighborhood, and it still meets in its original two-story brick building at 406 Chester Avenue.
That fits a festival built around centuries of sound. On the first weekend, the free events go back to colonial Maryland. Historian William Kelly, Ph.D., speaks on slavery and indenture in the colonial era at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Eastport-Annapolis Neck Library, 269 Hillsmere Drive. Reservations go through the county library's event page. On Sunday at 2 p.m., David and Ginger Hildebrand play colonial music on period instruments at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, 333 Dubois Road. Admission is free, and the InstantSeats page shows general admission with no fee.
You could spend a Saturday hearing a colonial history lecture in the morning and an Afro-Peruvian band in the afternoon, both within the 21403 ZIP code, and pay only for the second.
The centennial that plays twice
The two Bay Ridge Avenue Fridays are linked by more than the street. The Muneer Nasser Band's opening concert, billed as "Jazz Genius: Coltrane, Miles & Weston," honors John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Randy Weston, three musicians born in 1926. A week later, the U.S. Naval Academy Band's Superintendent's Combo plays its own tribute to Miles Davis at Eastport United Methodist Church. That free concert also honors the late Annapolis musician and arts volunteer "TEA" Arthur.
So the Miles Davis centennial gets two Friday nights on the same avenue, one ticketed and one free. If your November 6 is already booked, you can still hear his music at the festival a week later.
The free weekend, in order
Every event from Friday, November 13, through Sunday, November 15, is free. Each one has a reservation link on the festival schedule.
- Friday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m. U.S. Naval Academy Band Superintendent's Combo, Miles Davis tribute, Eastport United Methodist Church, 926 Bay Ridge Avenue.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m. Jazz vocalist and historian Vanessa Racci on Italian contributions to American jazz, Eastport-Annapolis Neck Library, 269 Hillsmere Drive.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 2 p.m. Vocalist and composer Akua Allrich at the Banneker-Douglass-Tubman Museum, 84 Franklin Street. She'll celebrate her 2026 album Bonya and honor Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone.
- Sunday, Nov. 15, 2 p.m. Closing performance by Uhwachi-Reh, an Indigenous performance group led by Louis Campbell, at the Pip Moyer Recreation Center, 273 Hilltop Lane. The program features traditional dance, ceremonial regalia, live drumming and singing.
The second Saturday works like the first, with a library lecture in the morning and a concert in the afternoon. This time, though, the afternoon show is free, and it's downtown on Franklin Street instead of in Eastport.
Why a free seat still needs a booking
The festival's message is the same at every venue. Its schedule tops the page with "Reservations Strongly Advised for All Events" and repeats it under each listing. Artistic Director Paulina Phillips told Eye On Annapolis that "events are free or require modest admission, and all but two venues offer free onsite parking."
Reservations are spread across three systems, which is easy to miss:
- InstantSeats handles most events, paid and free. That covers St. Luke's, Peerless Rens, the Hildebrands, the Superintendent's Combo, Racci, Allrich and Uhwachi-Reh.
- The Anne Arundel County Public Library handles the William Kelly lecture on November 7.
- Maryland Hall sells the Makaya McCraven tickets.
For the free weekend, the simplest plan is to reserve all four events on InstantSeats at once, since every November 13–15 listing links there. Hold the Kelly lecture separately on the library site, and buy McCraven tickets through Maryland Hall.
Two of the eight venues don't have free onsite parking, and the festival hasn't said which two, so give yourself extra time to park before a 7 p.m. start.
The festival runs as an affiliate of the Annapolis Community Foundation. Six of its nine events this year are free.
Day Weitzman has lived in Annapolis for decades, and November weekends like these, spread across Eastport churches, a club on Chester Avenue and a museum on Franklin Street, are part of the town she knows. If you're thinking about a move this season and want advice from someone who knows these streets, Day Weitzman is happy to talk. Request a Confidential Home Valuation or Private Consultation.