The Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions, the outdoor concert series at The Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa, has expanded to up to 40 shows for its 2026 season, running from May through October on the resort’s Village Lawn with a lineup that spans jazz, soul, rock, R&B, and stand-up comedy. The series enters its late-summer stretch this week with Bill Burr on August 14, The Head and the Heart on August 15, and Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes on August 16, followed by Diana Ross on September 1 and John Mulaney’s “Mister Whatever” tour on October 17. The expansion positions Napa Valley as a dual-purpose destination where live entertainment and wine country hospitality operate on the same property, with concert-view room packages that bundle show tickets, balcony accommodations overlooking the stage, spa access, and dining at the resort’s on-site restaurants.
Key Takeaways
- The Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions runs May through October 2026 at The Meritage Resort and Spa (850 Bordeaux Way, Napa), with up to 40 shows scheduled across the season.
- The August lineup includes Bill Burr (Aug 14), The Head and the Heart (Aug 15), Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes (Aug 16), Morris Day and the Time with Sheila E. (Aug 21), Raphael Saadiq (Aug 22), Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening (Aug 23), and Charlie Wilson (Aug 30).
- Headline acts through October include Diana Ross (Sep 1), Babyface (Sep 6), Jeff Dunham (Sep 20), John Mulaney (Oct 17), Boney James and Lalah Hathaway (Oct 24), and the Palm Tree Music Festival (Oct 2-3).
- The Meritage Resort offers Silver and Gold concert-view room packages with balcony-facing accommodations, show tickets, late checkout, spa access, and dining at Ember Steak and Olive & Hay.
- The series has expanded from its origins as a seasonal complement to the downtown Blue Note Napa jazz club, which operated at 1030 Main Street from 2016 to 2025 and has since closed.
- Visit Napa Valley and Visit California have both featured the series as a signature summer draw for the region.
A Lineup That Stretches Across Genres and Generations
The Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions programs its season around variety rather than a single genre. The 2026 calendar opens with jazz and instrumental artists including Dave Koz and Chris Botti in the early summer months, moves through Willie Nelson in July, and arrives at a late-August and fall run that mixes arena-level headliners with comedians and legacy acts.
The next seven days alone illustrate the range. Bill Burr, one of the highest-grossing stand-up comedians in the country, performs on August 14 with doors at 6 p.m. and the show at 7:30 p.m. The Head and the Heart, the indie folk band with a catalog of songs that have crossed into mainstream radio, takes the stage the following evening with guest Linus Hablot. And on August 16, Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes brings the group’s signature flamenco-pop sound to the Village Lawn, accompanied by the Heritage Kings.
The schedule deepens through the fall. Morris Day and the Time, the Minneapolis funk group formed alongside Prince, shares a bill with Sheila E. on August 21. Raphael Saadiq performs on August 22. Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, a tribute project led by John Bonham’s son, fills the August 23 slot. Charlie Wilson, the Gap Band frontman who has sustained a solo career across three decades, plays August 30.
September opens with Diana Ross on September 1, with doors at 6:30 p.m. and an 8 p.m. start. Babyface follows on September 6. Jeff Dunham brings his “Artificial Intelligence” comedy tour on September 20. And the series closes in October with John Mulaney’s “Mister Whatever” on October 17, the Palm Tree Music Festival across October 2-3, and Boney James and Lalah Hathaway on October 24.
Where the Concert Experience Meets Wine Country Hospitality
The structural advantage of the Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions is that the stage sits on the grounds of a full-service resort. The Meritage Resort and Spa, located at 850 Bordeaux Way in Napa, operates the Village Lawn as an outdoor venue integrated into the property rather than as a standalone concert space. Guests who book through the resort’s concert-view room packages receive balcony-facing accommodations with direct sightlines to the stage, meaning the show is visible from the room itself.
The Silver and Gold packages bundle the room with concert tickets, late checkout, and access to the resort’s spa and dining. Ember Steak, the property’s steakhouse, and Olive & Hay, a more casual dining option, are both on-site. The packages are designed to convert a single concert evening into a multi-day wine country stay, with the show functioning as the anchor rather than the entirety of the trip.
That bundling is a deliberate commercial strategy. Napa Valley’s tourism economy has historically been built around winery visits, fine dining, and the harvest season that peaks in September and October. Live entertainment operates as an additional draw that brings visitors to the valley on dates they might not otherwise have scheduled, and the resort model captures the spending that follows: rooms, meals, spa treatments, and wine purchases that extend the economic impact of each ticket sold.
From a Downtown Jazz Club to a 40-Show Outdoor Series
The Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions represents the evolution of Blue Note’s Napa Valley presence. The Blue Note Napa jazz club operated at 1030 Main Street in downtown Napa from 2016 to 2025, hosting intimate performances in a traditional club setting. That venue has now closed after what Blue Note described as “a wonderful decade in Downtown Napa.” The organization has announced plans for a Blue Note San Francisco location, though details have not been publicly confirmed.
The Summer Sessions, which began as a seasonal outdoor complement to the downtown club, has become the primary Blue Note operation in the region. The expansion to up to 40 shows in 2026 reflects a programming scale that the downtown venue could not have supported. The Village Lawn accommodates a larger audience, allows for the kind of production infrastructure that arena-level acts require, and connects the concert experience to the resort’s hospitality revenue streams.
The shift also mirrors a broader trend in Napa Valley’s entertainment landscape. Visit Napa Valley has noted that Ruins Napa Valley, a new venue in American Canyon, has emerged as a hotspot for EDM and hip-hop concerts, drawing audiences and musical genres that did not previously have a dedicated space in the valley. Together, the Blue Note Summer Sessions and Ruins represent an expansion of the cultural programming available to visitors beyond the tasting rooms and restaurants that have traditionally defined the Napa experience.
What the Series Means for California’s Wine Country Tourism Calendar
Visit California featured the Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions in its statewide August 2026 events guide, positioning it alongside the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens art festival, San Diego’s Gaslamp Urban Pickleball series, and the Music in the Vineyards chamber music series as examples of the cultural programming that fills California’s late-summer calendar. The inclusion signals that Napa’s live entertainment scene has reached a scale where it competes for attention alongside the state’s other major cultural draws.
For the Napa Valley tourism economy, the series creates a booking anchor across a six-month window. May through October covers the full arc of the travel season, from the spring months when vineyard canopies are filling in through the harvest period when wineries are at their busiest. A concert calendar with 40 shows distributed across that span gives the Meritage Resort and surrounding businesses a recurring reason for visitors to plan or extend trips, particularly on weekday evenings when hotel occupancy would otherwise soften.
The 2026 season runs through late October, with tickets available through Ticketmaster and room-and-show packages available directly through the Meritage Resort. Doors typically open 90 minutes before showtime, with most performances starting between 7 and 8 p.m.
FAQs
Where are the Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions held?
The Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions take place on the Village Lawn at The Meritage Resort and Spa, located at 850 Bordeaux Way in Napa, California. The outdoor venue is part of the resort property, and concert-view room packages with balcony-facing accommodations are available through the resort. The box office phone number is 707-880-2300.
How long does the 2026 season run and how many shows are scheduled?
The 2026 season runs from May through October, with up to 40 shows on the schedule. Performances span jazz, soul, rock, R&B, and stand-up comedy. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, and room-and-show packages are available through The Meritage Resort’s website.
What are the upcoming headline performances?
The August-October schedule includes Bill Burr (Aug 14), The Head and the Heart (Aug 15), Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes (Aug 16), Morris Day and the Time with Sheila E. (Aug 21), Diana Ross (Sep 1), Babyface (Sep 6), Jeff Dunham (Sep 20), John Mulaney (Oct 17), and the Palm Tree Music Festival (Oct 2-3), among many others.
