Fernandina Beach is deep into eight days of swing, blues, and Dixieland as the 23rd annual Amelia Island Jazz Festival fills the historic coastal town through October 11. The weeklong run pairs marquee national acts with free community shows, late-night jam sessions, and even a stage-side pot of gumbo, all built around a mission that channels ticket sales into college scholarships for young jazz musicians.
A Grammy-Winning Drummer's Decades-Long Vision
The festival was founded in 2001 by drummer Les DeMerle and his wife, vocalist Bonnie Eisele, who spent 12 years behind the kit for the Harry James Big Band, winning a Grammy for the album King James Version and touring with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Wayne Newton, according to the Ponte Vedra Recorder. DeMerle settled on Amelia Island in the 1990s after decades performing in major international venues and on television, and his lineup this year includes latin, swing, Dixieland, blues, contemporary jazz, and big band sounds, as reported by News4JAX. DeMerle's reach extends well beyond the bandstand: his jazz cover of The Beatles' “A Day in the Life” has been sampled by hip-hop artist O.C. and appeared in the film 8 Mile, per a Soundsvisual Radio report.
Two Headliners Bring Global Flash to the Grand Ballroom
The festival's biggest draws take the Courtyard by Marriott Amelia Island Grand Ballroom stage on back-to-back nights. The Four Freshmen headline October 9, a vocal group that pioneered close-harmony jazz singing while playing their own instruments, per Folio Weekly's account of the schedule. The quartet has held to that distinct arrangement style since forming in the late 1940s, the outlet notes.
The next night, October 10, belongs to Swedish multi-instrumentalist Gunhild Carling, who plays more than ten instruments, including bagpipes and three trumpets at once, according to the Ponte Vedra Recorder's report. News4JAX describes her simply as an international sensation, while calling The Four Freshmen vocal jazz legends.
Free Shows, Gumbo, and Late-Night Jams Round Out the Bill
The festival opened its run on October 4 with a free community concert at the Atlantic Recreation Center, featuring the 21-piece University of North Florida Jazz Ensemble II under director Dennis Marks, per Folio Weekly. Wednesday brings a very different kind of show: the Down Home Blues & Gumbo Show at Story & Song Center for Arts & Culture, where blues artist Bill Wharton, known as Sauce Boss, cooks a pot of gumbo onstage during his set and serves it to the audience, according to the Fernandina Observer. Wharton cooks during the show, the outlet notes.
Once the headline concerts wrap each night, official jam sessions move to Mocama Beer Company in Fernandina Beach, hosted by this year's scholarship recipient Rory Ames alongside the Next Generation Jazz Band, Folio Weekly reports. Those sessions give visiting guest artists an informal space to play together after the main stage lights go down, per the same outlet.
Scholarship Dollars and a Boost for Local Tourism
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the festival funnels its ticket revenues and grants into college scholarships for aspiring jazz musicians, and this year named Florida State University pianist Rory Ames its 2026 scholarship winner — the same recipient leading the late-night jam sessions at Mocama Beer Company. Scholarship recipients are folded directly into the official festival performance schedule, Folio Weekly notes.
Tickets are available, and the festival has not yet reached its closing weekend.
