GrandLife Hotels proudly presents the Downtown NYC JazzFest, a five-night jazz festival taking place April 22–April 26, 2026, across The Django, Roxy Bar and Club Room at Soho Grand. The festival will showcase an extraordinary lineup of emerging voices, marquee performers, and forward-thinking artists who embody the past, present, and future of New York jazz. The Django will host the marquee acts of the festival with five nights of world-class performances, fine dining, and curated cocktails in one of New York’s most atmospheric underground jazz clubs.

Jeff “Tain” Watts is one of the most in demand jazz drummers in the world today and takes the marquee stage of the Downtown NYC JazzFest. Watts joined the Wynton Marsalis Quartet in 1981 and proceeded to win three Grammy Awards thru 1988 with the ensemble. After working with George Benson, Harry Connick. Jr. and McCoy Tyner, he then joined the Branford Marsalis Quartet in 1989. Jeff has worked in the film and television industry as both a musician on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and as an actor, Rhythm Jones in Spike Lee’s “Mo Better Blues.” Jeff joined Kenny Garrett’s band after returning to New York in 1995 after three years in LA on the Tonight Show. Watts also continued to record and tour with Branford Marsalis as well as Danilo Perez, Michael Brecker, Betty Carter, Kenny Kirkland, and many more. His artistic ingenuity expresses itself in his incomparable technique, sweltering sense of swing, and an extraordinary ability to imbue his music with majestic grace and elegant repose. A true jazz innovator, Watts never fails to deliver the percussive magic that has been his trademark since his emergence on the contemporary jazz scene.