By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Jun 27, 2022 at 4:16 PM Photography: Visit Milwaukee

The great Milwaukee summer is HERE! Don't miss all of our great coverage on local festivals and happenings. Click here for your full summer line-up! 

Your guide to having a great summer is brought to you by Potawatomi Hotel & Casino and Peoples State Bank.

Everyone's ears may currently be focused on Summerfest, but don't forget about Milwaukee's free live music series – including the much-anticipated return of Jazz in the Park, which today announced the lineup of performers coming to Cathedral Square Park starting next month.

Taking the stage on Thursday nights from 6-9 p.m. for the first time since 2019, Jazz in the Park – presented this year by Johnson Financial Group – brings vendors, food, drink and of course great music from a variety of genres, from soul to funk to blues to (as you'd expect) plenty of jazz. Plus, the evening starts with a happy hour from 5-6 p.m.

Here's the full lineup coming to Jazz in the Park beginning Thursday, July 21:

  • July 21 – Cigarette Break
  • July 28 – Reverend Raven & The Chain Smokin' Altar Boys
  • Aug. 4 – An Evening with Fresh Coast Jazz Festival featuring Marcus Adams
  • Aug. 11 – The Bill Bonifas Electric Band featuring Brian Lynch
  • Aug, 18 – An Evening with the Milwaukee Jazz Institute
  • Aug. 25 – Esquires II
  • Sept. 1 –Kal Bergandahl Project
  • Sept. 8 – Barbara Stephan Band
  • Sept. 15 – Steez
  • Sept. 22 – Nineteen Thirteen
  • Sept. 29 – Latin Jazz Night with The Eric Jacobson Latin Jazz Quintet

To help make the most of the triumphant return of Jazz in the Park, this year's edition also comes with new special VIP experiences. Brought to you by OnMilwaukee, the VIP experiences offer a parking pass, a reserved picnic table for eight by the stage, a charcuterie board and two bottles of wine – one white, one red – all for $60. Only three of these VIP experiences are available per week – so jazz on over to this Eventbrite page as soon as possible to purchase your VIP Jazz in the Park experience while it's still available. 

For more information on Jazz in the Park, click here. And for more information overall on the city's collection of free live music series this summer, check out our guide

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.