2024 is the “Year of the Big Band,” according to the good folks at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, and aren’t they the experts on these things? They’re certainly the experts on their own programming, which this year takes place Feb. 16 to 18 at the Hilton Rockville and features no less than 10 big bands playing on its Ronnie Wells Main Stage.

Each year, the MAJF builds itself around a theme; for the festival’s 15th anniversary, director Paul Carr wanted to do something special. “I’ve always wanted to present a show with big bands,” he says. “I wanted to show how big bands have evolved in the music from swing, bop, fusion, and beyond.” (Big bands, for the uninitiated, are ensembles of 12 or more musicians grouped into reed, brass, and rhythm sections.)

“Plus audiences love the big bands,” Carr adds. “Hearing and seeing all of those horns and voices interact with precision and soul gets them going like none other.”

Most of this year’s acts (six of the 10) are college-student big bands, the kind that have always been part of the MAJF package. Indeed, the college bands tend to be the first thing you see when you attend the festival, filling out the bulk of the schedule at the hotel’s atrium stage. For this writer, though, watching those bands play is a festival highlight. They’re tight as hell, each band has creative arrangements and at least one standout soloist, and you’re guaranteed to hear an ensemble that really impresses—one that makes you think, Wow, they should be on the main stage!

Well, now they are—and alongside big-name guests. The University of Maryland Jazz Ensemble, for example, makes their festival debut with star attraction Orrin Evans (the Philadelphia native whom local audiences will recall was the DC Jazz Festival’s artist in residence for the past two years) on piano. The Boston College Jazz Ensemble will, at their own request, feature Baltimore-based but world-renowned vibraphonist Warren Wolf; another vibist, festival favorite Joe Locke, appears with the North Carolina Central University Jazz Ensemble.

There’s some crossover, too. In addition to working with UMD, on Feb. 17 Evans also leads his own Captain Black Big Band, one of the best large ensembles going, with an impressive ability to be taut and laser-focused on the written themes, loose and rowdy on the improvisations. Trombonist and NEA Jazz Master Delfeayo Marsalis guests with the University of Memphis Jazz Ensemble on the afternoon of Feb. 17, but only after leading his New Orleans-based Uptown Jazz Orchestra the night before. 

“That’s one of my favorite orchestras,” Carr says of the Uptown—then corrects himself. “Well, I guess all of them are.”

This must also include his own entry into the big band parade. Carr’s Mid Atlantic Jazz Orchestra provides the festival’s capstone. An outfit of DMV all-stars, the orchestra includes trombonist Reginald Cyntje; saxophonists Antonio Parker and Tedd Baker (who also guests with Temple University’s big band); trumpeters Thad Wilson, Donvonte McCoy, and Alvin Trask. It also has a killer rhythm section of pianist Allyn Johnson, bassist Michael Bowie, and drummer C.V. Dashiell.

But MAJF’s celebrity guest star is the world-famous, Chicago-born vocalist Kurt Elling. “He’s just great,” Carr says. “I love the vocalese and the scatting, but more than that I really like the way he just sings a song. He can do anything. In fact, he’s just so much that I wanted to end the festival with him.” 

There aren’t supposed to be this many nonlocal names in this hyperlocal jazz column. So let’s also add the cavalcade of our own wonderful musicians that will be performing at the festival. Vocalists Alison Crockett, Lori Williams, and Karen Lovejoy get the spotlight in the Oval Room, as do the young brother-and-sister saxophone wunderkinds Ebban and Ephraim Dorsey. Alto saxophonist Terry Koger, whose economical bebop style is one of the region’s most underrated, takes a star turn on the Club Stage, along with the fusion band Stickman and singing institution Marcia Baird Burris. And, despite the Main Stage’s poaching, the Atrium will feature many local high school and college bands, along with the U.S. Air Force’s Airmen of Note and several other regional jazz acts.

But why, reader, are you getting this in advance? Why is Swing Beat not picking a highlight and debriefing you about them after the fact, as usual? The answer will break your heart: I can’t be there this year. The kids are out of school that week, and your humble correspondent thus has the terribly unfortunate duty of taking them to Orlando to meet the Mouse. Therefore, it is I who must ask you to attend on my behalf. Wander the various stages, check out the many big (and small) bands on offer. Bask in the ear-tickling warmth of so much jazz in a confined space. (It’s both bigger and smaller than you think). And tell them Mike West sent you.

The 2024 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival runs Feb. 16 to 18 at Rockville’s Hilton Hotel, ​​1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville. midatlanticjazzfestival.org. $25–$85.