Full line-up revealed for this years EFG London Jazz Festival 2022!
Discover the very best of Jazz at venues across London through this year’s strands: Icons, Homegrown, Beyond Margins, Voices, New Creations, Global Roots and Jazz Visionaries
Excitement is building for the biggest celebration of jazz the capital has ever seen; EFG London Jazz Festival’s 30th birthday takes place from 11-20 November and today sees the conclusion of its main programme announcements.
To mark this, the festival has shared a short film documenting its 30 years which you can watch here. EFG London Jazz Festival will take over iconic London venues including the Barbican and Southbank Centre, and numerous jazz clubs and independent venues from Cafe Oto to King’s Place. The prestigious festival boasts a lineup that explores every corner of the jazz world with a uniquely ambitious scope ranging from established icons of jazz like Abdullah Ibrahim to new visionaries such as Alabaster DePlume.
The festival is thrilled to announce a new slew of shows to add to its impressive roster: a lively festival gathering with Nubiyan Twist and Secret Night Gang at KOKO, venturing into new spaces with Moment’s Notice in the Wilds and a second show of Lady Blackbird at The Broadway both in the borough of Barking & Dagenham, and free shows presented by Total Refreshment Centre, J to Z Live and Kinetika Bloco amongst others. All newly announced shows listed below..
Beyond the rich musical offering, EFG London Jazz Festival is proud to announce a virtual gallery of acclaimed photographer George Nelson called ‘4/4 for the festival,’ the online exhibition will feature four stories behind four shows from last year's festival captured on camera by Nelson. More details to follow in October.
From within the multitude of shows during the ten days of the festival, there are purposeful connections between different shows. A key event of the first weekend will be African Manifest on Saturday 12th November with Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra, Afla Sackey + Afrik Bawatu and Falle Nioke at the Clore Ballroom, celebrating the music of West Africa as part of the festival’s wider Global Roots strand, exploring music from the corners of the globe. Closely aligned with this is one of the most hotly anticipated performances of the opening weekend, as Fatoumata Diawara plays the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 12th November.
The first weekend will also see the iconic Generations of Chicago Weekend at the Barbican, featuring the return of the legendary CHICAGOxLONDON featuring artists from the International Anthem roster, Chicago free improv legend Henry Threadgill making his first London appearance in over a decade alongside Anthony Braxton, and a series of free performances curated with Hackney music hub Total Refreshment Centre. These events are part of the Beyond Margins strand, illuminating adventurous artists constantly pushing boundaries of jazz and expanding the definition of the genre, drawing influences from other idioms and providing a truly unique audience experience. This strand also includes the likes of Hidden Orchestra, Matana Roberts, a night celebrating Shabaka Hutchings’ new label Native Rebel Recordings and the phenomenal line up including Bonobo, Mafalda, Joe Armon-Jones & Maxwell Owin, Tenderlonious & Lorenzo Morresi and Zakia at Printworks in collaboration with Hydra.
Afrocubanismo is at the core of the festival’s second weekend, with almost a festival within the festival: The Ultima Fiesta, including shows such as Chucho Valdes’ colossal project celebrating his career and 80th birthday and Harold Lopez Nussa’s much awaited show with guest Yilian Canizares. This weekend is surrounded by free shows by Eliane Correa and La Evolucion Orchestra, Colectivo Futuro and Grupo Lokito on Sunday 20th November at Clore Ballroom.
EFG London Jazz Festival will also host an array of shows under its Homegrown strand, showcasing the inspirational, hottest emerging and leading established talents from the UK scene. This includes shows from Rosie Frater Taylor, Mark Kavuma’s Banger Factory, Binker Golding, Jas Kayser, Yahael Camara Onono, Camilla George and Xhosa Cole.
The Icons strand boasts major international names coming to live London stages like Jan Garbarek, Ron Carter, and Dave Holland’s Aziza while the New Creations will highlight collaborations, special commissions and unique projects like Turkish Psychedelic blast Air Anatolia, a tribute to legendary trumpeter Don Cherry with Kahil El'zabar, Dwight Trible, David Ornette Cherry, Ana Ruiz and the members of Cherry family, Emma-Jean Thackray’s It’s a UK Thing celebrating and reimagining UK dance music and BBC Concert Orchestra’s Tomasz Stańko celebration bringing Marcin Wasilewski and trumpeter Avishai Cohen together on stage.
For those who want to immerse themselves in brilliant singers celebrating the power, connection and expression of song, the Voices strand of the festival will highlight shows such as Dianne Reeves on Saturday 12 November at Cadogan Hall and Sunday 13 November at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Melanie Charles on Sunday 13 November at Lafayette and Emma Smith and Georgina Jackson’s American songbook big band the Big Swing on Friday 18 November at Cadogan Hall.
Song is celebrated once again in the glamorous opening gala of the Festival Jazz Voice at Royal Festival Hall on Friday 11th November which features the 45 piece EFG London Jazz Festival Orchestra conducted by Guy Barker with alt-country singer songwriter Amythyst Kiah, jazz and reggae legend Caroll Thompson, soulful jazz singer Dana Masters, one of UK’s most influential jazz vocalists Ian Shaw, global jazz icon Kurt Elling, a West-End and Broadway star Marisha Wallece, rising soul songstress Mica Millar and the legendary front woman of Noisettes Shingai.
Jazz Visionaries will be spotlighting acclaimed artists who have changed the course of jazz with their distinctive sound and their illustrious careers with Rymden, Courtney Pine, Zoe Rahman, Tord Gustavsen, Ellen Andrea Wang and Xhosa Cole & Hamid Drake.
The festival will also have a core focus on Celebrating the Jazz Clubs spotlighting the unique tapestry of London jazz club scene, from iconic venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room, to creative spaces like Cafe Oto, The Albany and Church of Sound , and to seasoned jazz clubs such as Pizza Express, Vortex, and Ninety One Living Room.
The Barking and Dagenham Borough of London will open its doors for the second time to the EFG London Jazz Festival for a unique collaboration of culture, creativity and community. Across the festival’s two weekends, Barking and Dagenham will host the remarkable jam session Moment’s Notice, curated by George Nelson at The Wilds on Sunday 13th November and the unparalleled Lady Blackbird will perform at the Broadway Theatre on Saturday 19th November. Alongside the two shows, there will be a host of free, pop-up performances throughout the borough on Saturday 19th November to celebrate jazz and culture.
The Festival's title sponsor EFG Private Bank celebrates the richness and depth of the Festival line-up with highlighting four shows hand-picked for the EFG Elements Series. This year’s Elements Series shows are the Festival’s opening Gala Jazz Voice, legendary bassist Ron Carter’s 85th Birthday celebration, outstanding singer-songwriter Melody Gardot and the premiere of new special commissions of Guy Barker’s Guitar and Clarinet Concertos, through a collaboration between Barker himself, guitarist Eugene Pao, clarinettist Giacomo Smith and talented youth orchestra Southbank Sinfonia.
The Festival’s partnership with BBC Radio 3 and several BBC channels help take the music to a huge national and international audience with on-air and digital offerings. These will include a live radio broadcast of Jazz Voice on ‘J to Z’ on Friday 11th November, BBC Concert Orchestra’s show will be recorded and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Young Jazz Musician Finale from the Festival on BBC 4, and BBC Radio 3 will be recording live from the Barbican Free Stage on Sunday 20th November.
For the full line-up, please click here
For more information on specific shows, please click the artist name
