EFG London Jazz Festival announces new names for 2026 in
EFG London Jazz Festival
Announces New Names For 2026
Including Goldie, Mariza, Caravan Palace, Gerald Clayton and Kyoto Jazz Massive
Joining Melody Gardot, Morcheeba, Samara Joy, Fatoumata Diawara, Ben Folds and more
13 – 22 November
EFG London Jazz Festival continues to expand its 2026 programme, announcing a new wave of artists spanning global jazz, contemporary composition and boundary-pushing improvisation. Following the recent announcement of a special one-off performance from Melody Gardot at the Royal Albert Hall (16 Nov), the festival returns from 13–22 November with ten days of adventurous music across venues throughout the capital, reaffirming its position as one of the world’s leading celebrations of jazz and creative music.
Leading the new announcements is Goldie, the pioneering British DJ, producer, visual artist, and actor who presents ‘Dare To Dream’, a special orchestral project bespoke to the Festival with Elysian Collective, live band, choir, and very special guests. With two shows at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on the opening Saturday of the Festival (14 Nov), this is set to be one of the most star studded line-ups of the Festival, full of surprises.
Long admired by UK audiences, Mariza is returning to the Festival with a much anticipated new album expected to be released later this year. Born in Mozambique and raised in Mouraria, one of the most emblematic and traditional neighbourhoods of Lisbon, Mariza grew up surrounded by the voices, guitars and memories of Fado. She will bring that intimacy to the opulence of the Royal Festival Hall (15 Nov) to close the opening weekend of the Festival.
Music has long been central to the work and imagination of iconic Japanese authorHaruki Murakami, whose novels are threaded with jazz references, record collections and late-night listening sessions. In a special event at the Barbican (21 Nov) Haruki Murakami’s Jazz at Peter Cat: a Japanese Jazz Night invites audiences into the world that shaped Murakami’s writing, inspired by the Tokyo jazz club he ran from 1974 to 1981, Peter Cat. Across two performances, audiences will step inside an immersive Japanese listening club experience, with acclaimed Japanese ensembles Junko Onishi Trio, Sachi Hayasaka/TReS and Yoshio Suzuki’s The Blendfeaturing Kosuke Mine, Keisuke Nakamura, Hakuei Kim and Tamaya Honda, reinterpreting the jazz records and sonic worlds that informed Murakami’s literary universe, alongside spoken word, newly commissioned visuals and unique stage design. The project promises to be one of the festival’s most transportive and imaginative events. While Haruki Murakami himself will not appear in person, the celebrated author has given his blessing to the performance.
Parisian phenomenon Caravan Palace bring their euphoric blend of electronic music, jazz and swing to the new British Airways ARC in Olympia (14 Nov), channelling the spirit of the Roaring Twenties through pulsing modern production and dazzling live energy. Meanwhile, Cadogan Hall once again becomes a home for some of the festival’s most refined and exploratory musicians. Newly announced performances include the Andy Sheppard Trio (18 Nov), bringing together the master saxophonist with Italian piano virtuoso Rita Marcotulli and acclaimed French bassist Michel Benita, while opening the evening is one of Britain’s most distinctive vocalists, a seminal artist of the UK jazz scene Norma Winstone, joined by pianist Kit Downes. Kicking off the final weekend (20 Nov) Greek pianist Tania Giannouli and Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær meet in a shared language of atmosphere, improvisation and cinematic minimalism, before six-time Grammy nominated pianist and Blue Note artist Gerald Clayton (21 Nov) arrives with his celebrated trio featuring Joe Sanders on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums.
The Barbican’s sister venue Milton Court is a key space for the festival, and this year the festival has invited Japanese composer and saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu (15 Nov), widely known for his interpretations of J.S. Bach. Two days later (17 Nov) experimental Estonian composer Maarja Nuut presents Liivast juukseid kammides (Combing Hair into Sand), a song cycle for vocal ensemble, percussion, violin and electronics performing alongside London-based choir Shards and drummer Nicolas Stocker. Shards will also perform an opening set blurring the lines between contemporary classical, experimental and choral music. In the Barbican main hall saxophonist, rapper and composer Soweto Kinch (19 Nov) revisits the trilogy of works he has created with LSO, starting from The Black Peril co-commissioned by Serious in 2019, to the White Juju and Soundtrack to the Apocalypse.
Grammy nominated innovators Manu Delago (handpan) and Max ZT (hammered dulcimer) come together in a bold new duo that reimagines the sonic possibilities of their instruments. Drawing from a lifetime of global collaboration, deep improvisation, and refined compositional craft, the two virtuosos bring their immersive, meditative soundscapes to Stone Nest for two special in-the-round performances (15 Nov). Following acclaimed performances of A Prayer for D’Angelo, Dave Okumu heads to the Union Chapel (15 Nov) to celebrate the artists who have shaped his musical world like Nina Simone, Sly Stone, Prince, D’Angelo and Kendrick Lamar. The performance brings together a stellar cast of London musicians and a 20-piece choir led by ESKAand Alice Grant for an uplifting exploration of resistance, hope and resilience. Elsewhere, pioneering Japanese collective Kyoto Jazz Massive return to London featuring Echoes of a New Dawn Orchestra for a rare live performance at Islington Assembly Hall (22 Nov), celebrating 30 years of their genre-defying fusion of jazz, house, broken beat and cosmic groove that helped shape the global crossover scene.
Scottish jazz-folk saxophonist and Take Five alumni Matt Carmichael will bring his group to the Cecil Sharp House in Camden (17 Nov). Acclaimed singer-songwriter, cellist and composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson launches her new album at 93 Feet East (18 Nov) with her intimate blend of soul, jazz and folk storytelling. Pulitzer Prize-winning trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire brings one of the most singular voices in contemporary jazz to Kings Place (15 Nov), with work that transcends genre, moving between contemporary chamber music, orchestral commissions, dance, film, and improvisation. Also at Kings Place (22 Nov), jazz heavy-weights Dave Holland and Norma Winstone join the London Vocal Project for Vital Spark, a deeply personal celebration of the final compositions of Kenny Wheeler, brought to life through choral arrangements, new lyrics and decades of musical friendship. Grammy winning guitarist, vocalist and composer Isaiah Sharkey, best known for work with D’Angelo, John Mayer and Common, brings his unmistakable blend of soul, RnB and jazz to the Jazz Cafe (19 Nov) with a powerful new live show.
Serious are proud to introduce the Serious Youth Network, a new community for music lovers aged 16–25 offering £5 tickets to selected EFG London Jazz Festival shows alongside exclusive perks including discounts on festival merchandise and offers at the Jazz Social. Designed to open up world-class live music to a new generation of audiences, the network will continue year-round across Serious programmes and events.
EFG London Jazz Festival 2026 (New Additions in Bold)
Fri 13 Nov
Jazz Voice – Royal Festival Hall
Coltrane 100: Joe Lovano, Melissa Aldana, Nduduzo Makhathini, Linda May Han Oh, Jeff “Tain” Watts – Both Directions at Once – Barbican
Morcheeba – Troxy
Emma-Jean Thackray presents Dear Miles – A Love Letter – EartH Theatre
Fergus McCreadie – Kings Place
Sat 14 Nov
Goldie: ‘Dare to Dream’ – Royal Festival Hall (matinee and evening show)
Caravan Palace – British Airways ARC
Rita Wilson – Purcell Room
Sun 15 Nov
Mariza – Royal Festival Hall
Yasuaki Shimizu – Milton Court
Dave Okumu & Friends present DVTN: Music Changes the World: from Nina Simone to Sly Stone – Union Chapel
Manu Delago x Max ZT – Stone Nest (matinee and evening show)
Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet – Kings Place Hall One
Anouar Brahem – Barbican
Lizz Wright with Kenny Banks Sr. – Cadogan Hall
Alfredo Rodriguez and Pedrito Martinez – KOKO
The Meltdown – Jazz Cafe
Mon 16 Nov
Melody Gardot – Royal Albert Hall
GoGo Penguin – KOKO
Tue 17 Nov
Maarja Nuut + Shards ‘Combing Hair Into Sand’ – Milton Court
Matt Carmichael – Cecil Sharp House
GoGo Penguin – KOKO
Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes – Union Chapel
Wed 18 Nov
Andy Sheppard Trio + Norma Winstone & Kit Downes – Cadogan Hall
Ayanna Witter-Johnson – 93 Feet East
Fatoumata Diawara – Roundhouse
PREP – KOKO
Rymden – Jazz Cafe
Thu 19 Nov
Soweto Kinch x LSO – Barbican
Isaiah Sharkey – Jazz Cafe
Fri 20 Nov
Tania Giannouli & Nils Peter Molvaer – Cadogan Hall
Ben Folds – Royal Festival Hall
Kronos Quartet – Queen Elizabeth Hall
Sat 21 Nov
Haruki Murakami’s Jazz at Peter Cat: a Japanese Jazz Night – Barbican (matinee and evening show)
Gerald Clayton Trio – Cadogan Hall
Branford Marsalis + Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane – British Airways ARC
Emma Rawicz’s Cloudwalker – Kings Place
Sun 22 Nov
Kyoto Jazz Massive ft. Echoes of a New Dawn Orchestra – Islington Assembly Hall
Vital Spark (Music of Kenny Wheeler) Dave Holland, Norma Winstone & London Vocal Project – Kings Place Hall One
Samara Joy – Royal Festival Hall
Cécile McLorin Salvant with BBC Concert Orchestra – Queen Elizabeth Hall