News DeskAbu Dhabi, UAE – Under the founding patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, the 22nd edition of the Abu Dhabi Festival presents a musical tribute to Quincy Jones on 29 April at The Black Box at New York University, Saadiyat Island. The special jazz concert will be led by talented trumpeter Riley Mulherkar alongside his critically acclaimed brass quartet, The Westerlies. Featuring music from the musician’s self-titled album Riley, the concert will honour the extraordinary legacy of Quincy Jones, a longstanding friend of Abu Dhabi Festival and recipient of the prestigious ADF Award in 2014.
The performance is also part of the UNESCO International Jazz Day celebrations, with Abu Dhabi named the official Global Host City for International Jazz Day 2025, taking place on 30 April. Through this tribute, Abu Dhabi Festival underscores its contribution to the global stage, amplifying jazz as a universal language of unity, dialogue and cultural exchange, and brought to life by the captivating talent of Riley Mulherkar.
Her Excellency Huda Al Khamis-Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and Abu Dhabi Festival, revealed that the Arab World Premiere of Riley Mulherkar’s jazz concert serve as a special tribute in honour of the late musical legend Quincy Jones.
H.E. said: “Coinciding with UNESCO’s 2025 International Jazz Day, held in Abu Dhabi – the home of our Festival – this performance is not only a tribute to a beloved friend, but also a celebration of a legacy that will live on and the young talents who will carry it forward into the future. His significant contributions as a pioneering composer, producer, philanthropist, and cultural ambassador played an inspiring role in the journey of our Festival for which we will always be deeply grateful.”
“In the UAE’s Year of Community, we continue to celebrate the values of social cohesion and cultural diversity in harmony and unity, under this year’s Festival theme: ‘Abu Dhabi – A World of Harmony.’ It is also an opportunity for intergenerational collaboration and the passing on of experience – a spirit embodied in this evening’s performance by the talented trumpeter and founding member of The Westerlies, Riley Mulherkar – a group regarded as a symbol of contemporary American musical creativity,” H.E. concluded.
Speaking ahead of the performance, Mulherkar said: ““I’m honoured to bring my band to the Abu Dhabi Festival to share music from my debut album Riley, a body of music that draws on the traditions and lineages of jazz yet is deeply personal and autobiographical to me. This practice of gathering to listen and improvise in a space is a universal process that allows audiences and artists to come together in new and unexpected ways, and for that reason I can’t wait to make my debut in the UAE and the region at large.”
Trumpeter Riley Mulherkar, best known as a founding member of The Westerlies, a New York-based brass quartet, has been recognised as a “smart young trumpet player” by The New York Times, praised by The Wall Street Journal as a “youngster to keep an eye on,” and is a 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award for his work as “an original bandleader, composer, arranger, educator, community activist and advocate for jazz and the arts.”
This powerful jazz tribute by Riley Mulherkar underscores the Festival’s ongoing commitment to celebrating cultural icons whose work transcends borders and generations, paying special tribute to the extraordinary global impact and influence of Quincy Jones.
