ACME x Monks Jazz Present: LuluFest

Created by jazz pianist Peggy Stern, LuluFest is an annual installment celebrating local and touring women in jazz and improvised styles. The evening will feature three bands lead by three incredible women. Please see the schedule below. Doors are at 6:30 PM.

7 PM | Peggy Stern Retrospective Band 2026

Peggy Stern – Piano

Danielle Reich – Vocals

Alex Coke – Flute, Tenor Saxophone

Brian Bettger – Trumpet, Flugelhorn

Billy Satterwhite – Bass

Masumi Jones – Drums

During a distinguished career spanning New York, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, and Austin, pianist and composer Peggy Stern has continually explored new stylistic territory. Classically trained at the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, she has developed a distinctive voice across modern jazz, salsa, Latin rock, and western swing, bringing her own inventive sensibility to each. Her musical collaborators have included Lee Konitz, Eddie Henderson, Machito’s legacy band, and members of Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters.

Stern’s extensive discography includes City Hawk (1985), Lunasea (1992), recorded with Lee Konitz, and Shine On: The Songs of Peggy Stern (2017), a collection of original western swing songs. Her album Z Octet brings together some of her most personal compositions in richly textured arrangements for flute, clarinet, cello, trombone, and rhythm section. Drawing on her classical background and expansive approach to improvisation, Stern continues to create music that resists easy categorization.

Now based in Austin for part of the year, Stern also leads LuluFest, a festival dedicated to presenting women-led jazz bands, continuing a tradition she began with the Wall Street Jazz Festival in 2004. Throughout her career, she has championed musical exploration, individuality, and the freedom to follow unexpected creative paths.

8 PM | Estrella Acosta - Cuba Meets Brazil

Estrella Acosta – Vocals

David Pulkingham – Guitar

Michael Longoria – Percussion

Cuban born vocalist Estrella Acosta is an accomplished and versatile singer-songwriter. Though she never stopped singing the folk songs of her motherland, she is equally at home embracing various Brazilian and jazz idioms. With her warm earthy voice she creates an energetic yet intimate and personal style, rooted in the sounds of her native Cuba. She has left a travel footprint that truly makes her a citizen of the world.

After completing a degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, she set out to pursue her musical dreams in a journey that took her to Rio de Janeiro, New York City and, finally, Amsterdam, where she now resides. Estrella has recorded seven albums for the label eStar, which have won international acclaim. Her album, ‘Alma Guajira - Cuban Country Songs’ (2003), was nominated for a Dutch ‘Edison’ award, and ‘Tierra’ (2023), featuring songs by female songwriters from the countryside of Cuba as well as her own compositions.

Estrella has been a featured artist in several more albums: she sang in bandoneon-player Carel Kraayenhof's project ‘Memorias de Cuba’, which included a CD recording for Universal Records and live concerts at a.o. Amsterdam's Concertgebouw with the Metropole Orchestra. Her festival appearances include the North Sea Jazz Festival, Curaçao Jazz Festival, Madison World Music Festival, World Music Chicago and Sunfest in London, Canada, and venues such as Bimhuis (Amsterdam), Ronnie Scott’s (London) and Perelman Performing Art Center (New York). Estrella has performed with many great musicians, including Toninho Horta, Craig Handy, Edy Martinez, Leo Amuedo and Jovino Santos Neto. In the Netherlands, she fronts ‘Esquina 25’, a band of top international musicians who participate throughout the years in her various projects.

9 PM | McSweeney's Urban Fado Project

Mary Ann McSweeney – Bass

Joel Frahm – Saxophone

Bruce Saunders – Guitar

Adriano Santos – Drums, Percussion

Born in Aptos, California, Mary Ann McSweeney began studying piano at age five and violin at eight before discovering the acoustic bass as a teenager. At just 16, she performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival with the All-Star Band led by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis. Since then, she has built an extensive career as a bassist, arranger, composer, and bandleader, performing with jazz greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz, Joanne Brackeen, and Bucky Pizzarelli, as well as renowned conductors Leonard Bernstein, Lalo Schifrin, and John Williams.

A longtime New York City professional, McSweeney has toured internationally and performed at venues and festivals including the Kennedy Center, the White House, and the Monterey Jazz Festival. Her work spans jazz ensembles, Broadway productions, and orchestral arrangements, with credits including more than 50 Broadway shows and collaborations with vocalist Audra McDonald and performer Chita Rivera. She also spent 12 years on the faculty of Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy.

As a composer and bandleader, McSweeney has developed projects including the Urban Fado Project and McSweeney Plays Mingus, while composing for documentary film, short films, and musical theater. Her original work reflects a wide-ranging musical curiosity, bringing together jazz, theatrical storytelling, and influences from across genres.

This project is supported in part by an Austin Live Music Fund Grant of Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment.