Atlanta Deep Cuts Summer 2026
Some of the best shows on the City Winery Atlanta calendar this summer aren't the ones anchoring the marquee. They're the ones the room is built for: artists with real careers, real craft, and real reasons to be playing somewhere this attentive. This is the summer Deep Cuts list, eight acts performing in Atlanta between June and August 2026 that belong on your radar. A few you know. Most you should.
Tamika Patton
Tamika Patton
Friday, June 19 at 8:00 pm, City Winery Atlanta
Tamika Patton is a Philadelphia native now rooted in Atlanta, and her resume runs in two directions simultaneously: a debut album on Capitol/EMI/Orpheus that announced a gospel voice with genuine range, and a theatrical background that includes work alongside Loretta Devine, Chanté Moore, and James Pickens Jr. She currently serves as Psalmist at Ebenezer Baptist Church and International Worship Pastor at Rock Hill Church, and holds a Doctorate in Musicology alongside a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. All of that context matters because it explains why a Tamika Patton performance feels different from a concert. The gospel foundation is load-bearing. What she does with jazz, pop, and R&B on top of it is the interesting part. This is a Friday night in Atlanta worth clearing the calendar for.
T. Murph
T. Murph
Sunday, June 28 at 8:00 pm, City Winery Atlanta
T. Murph built his following the modern way: brutally honest takes on parenting, marriage, and the daily indignities of adult life, delivered online with a timing that translated perfectly when he took it to Hulu's Woke and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Comedy Central and Don't Tell Comedy have both put out his specials, which means the material has been tested at every level. His last Atlanta show sold out. This one will too. The room is exactly the right size for what he does: close enough that nothing gets lost, comfortable enough that everyone relaxes into it. Book early.
Michael Blackson
Michael Blackson
Friday, July 3 at 7:00 pm, City Winery Atlanta
Saturday, July 4 at 7:00 pm, City Winery Atlanta
Michael Blackson has been making rooms laugh for decades, from Def Comedy Jam and BET's ComicView to his breakout in Next Friday alongside Ice Cube. His stage presence is its own category: high energy, culturally sharp, built around characters and commentary that land because they're grounded in something real. He performs in his signature dashikis and brings a fearlessness to the material that you can feel from the back row. A July 3rd show at City Winery Atlanta is a genuinely good way to start a holiday weekend. The intimate setting keeps everything up close. Come ready to laugh.
An Evening with Buena Vista Orchestra
An Evening with Buena Vista Orchestra
Sunday, July 12 at 8:00 pm, City Winery Atlanta
The Buena Vista Orchestra is the ensemble that carries the lineage of the Buena Vista Social Club forward, and this summer's tour puts violinist Rolando Morejón Reyes at the center. His credits include leading the Orquesta de Enrique Jorrín and working alongside Omara Portuondo, Willie Colón, and Cachao Lopez. The band around him draws from the same deep well: trumpeter Antonio Perigo, percussionist Miguel Valdés, pianist Helder Rojas, who played the original Buena Vista Social Club concerts in Havana, and Latin Grammy nominee Pepe Espinosa. This is not a tribute act. It's a living ensemble of musicians who were inside the original project, led by someone who has spent a career at the center of Cuban music. The repertoire is joyful and precise. A July night in Atlanta, wine on the table, with this kind of musicianship on a stage this close: it's a hard combination to beat.
Dee Lucas: Heart & Soul Tour
Dee Lucas: Heart & Soul Tour
Wednesday, July 15 at 8:00 pm, City Winery Atlanta
Twenty years into a solo career, Dee Lucas is still putting out records, still owning his masters, and still sounding exactly like himself. The new album, Heart & Soul Volume 1, pulls jazz, R&B, funk, and gospel into something warm and cohesive, the sound of a saxophonist who has spent two decades figuring out what he wants to say and now says it without hedging. He founded ODL Music to maintain creative control, secured distribution through The Orchard/Sony, and has twelve albums to show for the commitment. His live performances are where the catalog opens up in ways the recordings can only suggest. A Wednesday in July with a well-poured glass and a musician this dedicated to his craft is a good use of a weeknight.
Atlanta's Own Legendary: BRICK
Atlanta's Own Legendary: BRICK
Thursday, July 23 at 8:00 pm, City Winery Atlanta
BRICK formed in Atlanta in the 1970s and helped build the blueprint for what funk and jazz could do together on a dance floor. "Dazz" climbed the Billboard charts. "Dusic," "Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody," and "Happy" followed. Founding member Jimmy Brown's horn arrangements gave the band its signature shape; Curtis Reynolds's deep roots in funk and soul keep it grounded. Decades later the grooves hold up not because nostalgia is doing the work but because the musicianship always was. Seeing BRICK at City Winery Atlanta is a particular kind of experience: a band that helped define the city's sound, playing an intimate room in the city that made them. The floor will move. Make a reservation first.
Trey Daniels
Trey Daniels
Sunday, August 16 at 6:30 pm, City Winery Atlanta
Trey Daniels is an Atlanta saxophonist who has played Montreux, toured with Anita Baker, and charted on Billboard Smooth Jazz with his debut single 86th St. He is not a secret. What City Winery offers is the version of this you can't get at a festival: seated, up close, with dinner running before the first note and a room sized for the music to actually land. His set moves through jazz, funk, R&B, and hip-hop with real energy and without losing the thread. A 6:30 Sunday show gives you time to eat well before the music starts. Plan accordingly.
Lori Williams
Lori Williams
Monday, August 17 at 8:00 pm, City Winery Atlanta
More than three decades of global touring. Festival appearances across Europe, Japan, the Caribbean, and the United States. A South Arts Jazz Road Award. A catalog built on jazz standards, originals, and classic material, performed with the kind of presence that makes a room go quiet in the best possible way. This appearance includes new work alongside the established repertoire, which gives it a different shape than a greatest hits set and a reason to be there even if you already know her recordings well. A vocalist of this caliber, on a Monday in August, with the kitchen still running and the wine list open: the night basically plans itself.