Jackie Venson sets the pace for 2026 with her annual January residency at Antone’s, the home base that has fostered the artist’s evolution from blues slinger to provocative R&B experimenter. Since 2023’s Evolution of Joy, Venson has unfurled increasingly beat-laden jams behind her sharp-spiked vocals, and leaned into the electro-funk grooves that lace last year’s The Love Anthology. Venson anchors each week around a different album from her catalog, kicking off with Evolution of Joy. Opening night draws support from Lady Monday, the jazzy R&B duo of Aden Botchway and Nico Medel delivering 2024’s debut LP, Collectors Item. – Doug Freeman
