The after-hours shows at Telluride Jazz Festival are where the weekend really comes alive. Late-night funk, deep-pocket soul, and jazz jams at intimate rooms and high-energy spaces all over town.
This is where crowds get closer and the music hits a little differently. Don’t make the mistake of calling it a night early! The after-hours are where the festival turns from great to unforgettable.
Get ready to stay out later than you meant to.
JAZZ AFTER DARK
Friday & Saturday - starts at 10 pm
Catch artists up close in small, high-energy venues where every set feels personal.
Jazz After Dark passes include access to all three venues for the night purchased—three shows for $35. Entry is first come, first served, and once capacity is reached, access is subject to availability.
The Venues
The shows unfold at three distinct rooms in Telluride, close enough to walk between, with their own personality and entirely different shows.
The Alibi
The Alibi is a bespoke jazz club in every sense. It’s an intimate room with great acoustics and tight focus. It’s small, immersive, and built for listening.
Limited to ages 21+
Sheridan Opera House
This venue is the festival’s historic anchor, originally built in 1912 and designed as an open listening room with unobstructed sightlines and a small rear balcony creating an old-world theater feel.
Open to all ages
The Moon At O’Bannon’s
Downstairs, The Moon At O'Bannon's shifts into a more party-forward energy. It’s a lively basement space with a pool table in the back and bar games on the other side of the room. The shows here usually mean staying out a little longer than planned.
Limited to ages 21+
Don Was & The Pan Detroit Ensemble
Sheridan Opera House
Don Was & the Pan Detroit Ensemble
Sheridan Opera House (Friday)
When bassist, composer, and producer Don Was takes the stage, Detroit is fully represented—funk, jazz, and blues all locked into one unmistakable groove.
His ensemble pays tribute to the Grateful Dead’s Blues for Allah, a boundary-pushing record blending psychedelic rock, jazz, and Middle Eastern influences, while also revisiting Was’s own new material from Groove in the Face of Adversity—a raw, Detroit-rooted sound built on authenticity and soul.
A longtime figure in the Dead universe through his work with Dead & Company’s Wolf Brothers alongside Bob Weir, Was brings that same spirit of exploration to this project, backed by a powerhouse lineup of Detroit musicians.
DTF: Deitch, Teitel, Fribush
The Moon At O’Bannon’s
DTF: Deitch, Teitel, Fribush
The Moon At O’Bannon’s (Friday)
Supergroup, in the house! DTF brings together drummer Adam Deitch (Lettuce), guitarist Ari Teitel (Dumpstaphunk, Hiss Golden Messenger), and organist Sam Fribush for a deep, genre-bending trio built on jazz, funk, and heavy groove.
Their 2025 release Another Side of Sound—tracked live to tape at Colorado Sound Studio—leans into space, feel, and restraint, letting each player breathe while still locking into infectious pocket. The result is a fluid mix of soulful organ, tight guitar work, and Deitch’s unmistakable funk-jazz pulse.
As a trio, they move freely between New Orleans funk, modern jazz, and hip-hop textures, reimagining what an organ trio can be—nasty, nimble, and unmistakably their own.
Theo Croker
The Alibi
Theo Croker
The Alibi (Friday)
Trumpeter, vocalist, composer, and producer Theo Croker makes music that pushes forward while staying rooted in tradition. Grandson of jazz trumpeter Doc Cheatham, Croker carries forward a deep reverence for melody—something he often credits to his grandfather’s emphasis on patience, space, and beauty in sound.
An Oberlin Conservatory graduate and former student of Donald Byrd, Croker also spent seven years in China developing his sound and collaborating with artists like Dee Dee Bridgewater, who produced his 2014 release Afro Physicist.
His latest album, Dream Manifest, draws from his personal dream journal—blending hip-hop textures, cinematic layering, and ethereal improvisation, all anchored by his fluid, atmospheric trumpet work.
Robert Randolph
Sheridan Opera House
Robert Randolph
Sheridan Opera House (Saturday)
Robert Randolph brings pure joy from the stage, leading the Family Band with electrifying pedal steel and an unmistakable spirit of celebration.
Rooted in the House of God’s sacred steel tradition, his sound fuses gospel fire with funk, blues, and rock—delivering the same ecstatic energy that first shaped him in church.
His latest album, Preacher Kids, earned the 2026 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album, a high-voltage testament to a lifelong mission: make a joyful noise.
Adrian Quesada's Trio Asesino
The Moon At O’Bannon’s
Adrian Quesada's Trio Asesino
The Moon At O'Bannon's (Saturday)
Are you ready to have some fun? Karina Rykman’s dynamic live act will fill you to the brim with the fun factor. This talented new force on the scene is making a name for herself on the live music and festival circuits. Her bass chops earned her a stint with Marco Benevento where fans of Vulfpeck, Dispatch, Guster and more were exposed to her exuberant stage presence. Her own trio — Karina on bass and vocals, Adam November on guitar, looper and effects, and drummer Chris Corsico — has opened for Khruangbin and the Infamous Stringdusters, and she’s in demand as a headliner for numerous club dates. Her psychedelic lens on the musical worlds between jam and indie pop is on full display on her 2023 record, Joyride, with Phish guitarist extraordinaire Trey Anastasio along for ride, too. This will be fun.
Endea Owens & the Cookout
The Alibi
Endea Owens & the Cookout
The Alibi (Saturday)
This phenomenal trumpeter hails from Kobe, Japan, where his first musical forays were with his school’s big band. Takuya left his home for the U.S., where his musical education deepened, first at Berklee School of Music in Boston, and then the New School in New York City. In both towns he dove into the musical scenes connecting with his peers and sharing his own talents. It was in Boston he met upcoming jazz vocalist José James, who invited Kuroda to record with him. He appeared on James’ 2010 sophomore album, Blackmagic, and on No Beginning No End—for which he also wrote the horn arrangements. José produced Takuya’s Blue Note recording, Rising Son, continuing their fruitful musical partnership. A purveyor of a blend of post-bop and contemporary soul-jazz, Takuya brings to our stage his mesmerizing take on next-generation jazz. His playing is lean and sinuous and deft. We hate to gush, but he is amazing.
