The 23rd Annual Boscov's Berks Jazz Festival, April 5 - 14, has added some new artists this year. And many other artists will be returning.

Among the newcomers are Brian Hughes, Babatunde Lea, Elan Trotman and Friends and Cyrille Aimee and the Surreal Band.

Dianne Reeves opens the jazz fest, 7:30 p.m. April 5, Sovereign Performing Arts Center, 136 N. Sixth St., Reading.

Reeves is the only singer to win Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Performance on three consecutive albums. She sings with the Reading Symphony Orchestra, celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The jazz fest offers more than 130 concerts at 10 venues, from smooth jazz to straight-ahead jazz, blues to be-bop, and Big Band to Latin.

The list of performers is loaded with Grammy recipients and nominees.

Kurt Elling, "1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project," performs 7:30 p.m. April 6, Miller Center for the Arts.

Arturo Sandoval, "Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You)," performs 7:30 p.m. April 7, Miller Center for the Arts.

Gerald Albright and Norman Brown, "24/7," perform 10 p.m. April 12, Crown Plaza Reading ballroom.

"Every year we try to make the festival better than the prior year by trying different combinations of artists," says Berks Jazz Fest General Manager John Ernesto.

For the first time, the jazz fest is doing a major mid-week show. Vocalist and bass sensation Esperanza Spaulding performs 7:30 p.m. April 9, Scottish Rite Cathedral, 310 S. Seventh Avenue, West Reading.

Spaulding won a Grammy in 2011 for Best New Artist, startling the world over nominees Justin Bieber, Mumford and Sons and Drake.

"We are really excited about her upcoming performance. We have tried for several years to get her, but with no luck. She finally had this opening on her tour, and we grabbed it," says Ernesto.

The festival concludes April 14, Scottish Rite Cathedral, with the Gospel According to Jazz Celebration, featuring Kirk Whalum, Jonathan Butler and Donnie McClurkin with the DOXA Gospel Ensemble.