Darren Rahn Brings Soul to Ocean City Jazz Festival

Get ready, jazz lovers. This Fourth of July weekend, the saxophone will sing across the sand at North Topsail Beach.

Grammy-nominated artist Darren Rahn joins the 16th annual Ocean City Jazz Festival, running July 3rd through 5th. And trust me, you don’t want to miss it.

Darren sat down with Karen Clark of Foxy 107.1/104.3 to talk music, history, and the power of showing up for your community.

His latest album, Rock the World, came straight from the heart during a season when the whole world felt shaken.

“It’s about the world getting rocked and finding a way to rock back with hope,” Darren shared. He calls it musical therapy. “Something that’s going to maybe help us get through it together,” he explained. Both in creating the music and in listening, we find healing.

That hope runs deep at this festival. Ocean City Beach was founded in 1949 as one of the first places in North Carolina where Black families could own beachfront property. Today it sits on the North Carolina Civil Rights Trail.

For Darren, performing there means everything.

“When I think about the history of Ocean City Beach and when I think about the history of jazz, this American art form that was born out of difficulty and oppression,” he said. “It’s just an honor to be able to, as a student of this art form, to come and join you guys.”

His own musical journey wasn’t a straight line, either. Darren laughed about being steered toward clarinet as a kid.

“It wasn’t my joy. It wasn’t my passion.” Then came an opening in the junior high jazz band for baritone saxophone. “At that time, the horn was about as big as I was, but I took it, and saxophone ever since. And the rest is history.”

Three days of live jazz under the tent, vendors, art, and good people await. Want to join the celebration? Use code RAHN20 for $20 off your tickets.

Come share the love at the beach.