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15 - 24 November 2024

#wearejazz

About

The EFG London Jazz Festival is the capital's biggest pan-city music Festival in Europe and the highlight of the jazz calendar in the UK, with over 300 shows across more than 70 venues drawing over 100,000 in live audiences. Taking place annually in November it has long been acclaimed for showcasing a heady mix of talent from around the world. 

The festival was created in 1992 by live international music producers, Serious. The festival emerged from the long-standing Camden Jazz Week which was created in 1970; with the active support of the London Arts Board (now Arts Council England, London). Serious - who had for some years produced the Camden Jazz Week - engineered a transition that saw the evolution of the festival. Taking a mix of international and British artists and a commitment to education activity, the London Jazz Festival began to spread its wings. The aims of the festival still remain the same today; celebrating the place of jazz in a city which is at ease with its rich cultural diversity, and drawing in a multitude of venues across London who present the music, week in, week out, throughout the year.

'That glorious time of year when more live improvised music can be heard in the bars, clubs and concert halls of the capital than the rest of the year put together.'

The Independent

Jazz, at its very roots, is a music created, developed and shaped by Black culture. The EFG London Jazz Festival has worked for years to promote cultural diversity and opportunity. We recognize that it is our responsibility to ensure that our Festival reflects this richness and serves as a platform for underrepresented artists and we continue our commitment in fulfilling this. 

The Festival is produced by Serious, one of the UK’s leading producers and curators of live jazz, international and new music. Serious produces events that range from major concerts, festivals and national and international tours through to learning and participation programmes, conferences and specially commissioned bespoke events. Alongside its core role as a live music events producer, it works in artist and rights management. Alongside this exists the registered charity, Serious Trust, which has been established to support the next generation of artists and audiences through our artist development, learning and participation and commissioning programmes.

'The highlight of the capital’s jazz calendar’

The Telegraph

'The jazz club element, which runs parallel to the big concert hall and major space programme of the EFG London Jazz Festival, is a vital part of the continuing success and energy of the fest.'

Jazzwise Magazine

'While the smaller gigs all over the city are important in making the London Jazz Festival representative not only of jazz in the world but in this city, one of the most valuable things it achieves is the presentation of seriously important musicians who have brought so much to this area of music down the years, but whom we don't get to hear nearly often enough'

thejazzbreakfast.com