On the Beltway, a DC Jazz Festival playlist curated by artist-in-residence Corcoran Holt

Washington, D.C., is the birthplace of jazz legends Duke Ellington and Shirley Horn, and home to Jelly Roll Morton, Billy Taylor and go-go music pioneer Chuck Brown. Add to this list bassist Corcoran Holt, “a son of Washington, D.C.” and an artist-in-residence for the 2024 DC JazzFest.

To celebrate two decades of the festival, we invited Holt to make us a mix. “I have chosen to make this particular playlist to highlight some of the artists who are appearing at the 20th anniversary of the DC Jazz Festival this year,” Holt says. “Many are some of the finest musicians in the Washington, D.C., area. Others are some of my favorite composers and artists appearing at the fest this year. I hope you enjoy the sounds.”

We call this playlist On the Beltway as a nod to the Capital Beltway, a sobriquet for the portion of I-495 that encircles the nation’s capital and its surrounding counties.