Summer nights in Morristown are about to get a soundtrack again. The Morris Museum has announced the full lineup for Back Deck 2026, its open-air concert series, and this year brings sixteen performances spread across the season from Saturday, June 20 through Thursday, September 10, 2026.
For anyone looking to fill the calendar between now and Labor Day, this is one of the easiest yeses in the county. The shows sit outdoors on the museum’s back deck, the lineup leans heavily into jazz with plenty of soul, Latin, and chamber music mixed in, and the setting is hard to beat on a warm evening.
What the Back Deck Series Is
Now a fixture of the Morris County summer, the Back Deck series is curated once again by Guest Producer Gregory Burrus, who has built the 2026 season around a mix of returning favorites and first-time performers. Every concert starts at 7:30 p.m. at the museum, and the slate runs steadily through the summer with shows most Thursdays and Saturdays.
Support for the series comes from Gary’s Wine & Marketplace and the Morris County Tourism Bureau, a division of the Morris County Economic Development Alliance.
Opening Night and the Early Summer Slate
The season kicks off Saturday, June 20 with the Nat Adderley, Jr. Quartet, led by the pianist and arranger best known for decades of work as music director for Luther Vandross. It lands on the same weekend as a packed local calendar, so it pairs naturally with the rest of our things to do in Morris County the weekend of June 20 and 21 and with Morris Arts bringing Giralda back to Morristown that same night.
From there the early summer fills in fast:
- Thursday, July 2: Alexis Morrast, a two-time Apollo winner and one of the brightest young voices on the jazz scene
- Thursday, July 9: the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey in a special presentation for America’s 250th, featuring Maestro Butts’ Jockey Hollow Suite, commissioned by Morristown National Historical Park
- Saturday, July 11: ArcoStrum, a genre-defying showcase weaving Piazzolla tango with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
- Thursday, July 16: Amani performing the music of Burt Bacharach
- Saturday, July 25: Orpheus Chamber Players in a night-themed program titled Nocturnal Serenade
The August and September Lineup
The back half of the series keeps the momentum going right into the fall:
- Saturday, August 1: Little Johnny Rivero & His Giants, a tribute to the legends of jazz and Latin jazz
- Thursday, August 6: Lance Bryant & SHOUT, blending jazz, gospel, and blues
- Saturday, August 8: The Fumos, an NYC band reviving horn-heavy 1970s dance music
- Thursday, August 13: Evan Sherman, the New Jersey-native, Grammy-winning drummer
- Thursday, August 20: Grammy-nominated vocalist Carla Cook
- Wednesday, August 26: Juno-winning trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg
- Saturday, August 29: Lynette Sheard, joined by bassist John Lee, celebrating Charlie Parker and Dinah Washington
- Thursday, September 3: Orpheus Chamber Players return with Night Revels
- Thursday, September 10: Mike Davis and the New Wonders close the season with a Roaring Twenties send-off
How to Go
The Morris Museum is at 6 Normandy Heights Road in Morristown. All Back Deck concerts begin at 7:30 p.m., and tickets along with the complete, up-to-date lineup are available on the museum’s Back Deck page. With sixteen nights of music ahead, there is plenty of reason to make the back deck part of your summer routine.
