EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 Preview

Robert Spellman previews the EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 held from 15 to 24 November featuring Pat Metheny, Jamie Callum and Dave Holland.

The reliably fantastic EFG London Jazz Festival is upon us once again, the mid-November party that sees musicians from across the globe fill the capital’s great halls, legendary clubs and hidden basements with jazz music of every stripe. The event takes place between 15 and 24 November and in addition to hundreds of concerts, there are film screenings, free events, talks and workshops. Star names this year include Pat Metheny, Jamie Callum, Dave Holland, Andrew Bird Trio and Robert Glasper.

The festival opens at the Royal Festival Hall with an all-star gala – Jazz Voice – on 15th celebrating the power of song through iconic record labels such as Blue Note, Impulse! and Motown and featured guests are Carmen Lundy, actor Damian Lewis, Marisa Monte, Veronica Swift, Cherise, Lucy-Anne Daniels, Kyra and IAMTHELIVING. Guy Barker conducts the 44-piece orchestra for this popular and spectacular show and surprise guests are expected.

London Jazz Festival 2024 — Pat Metheny, photo Jimmy Katz

Two more big draws at the Royal Festival Hall are Jamie Cullum on 22nd, and the festival closer on 24th where ANOHNI and her band The Johnsons (formerly Antony and The Johnsons) celebrate the music of the late Lou Reed, a close friend of ANOHNI.

Pat Metheny will play personal and fan favourites from his 50-year career along with music from latest album MoonDial on the 15th and 16th at the Barbican. Bassist Dave Holland joins saxophonist Chris Potter and tabla player Zakir Hussain as the Crosscurrents Trio at the Barbican on the 22nd and the Andrew Bird Trio play their acclaimed debut release Sunday Morning Put-On, a tribute to small group jazz, at the Royal Festival Hall on the 19th. Hip hop, jazz and R&B innovator Robert Glasper plays Camden Town’s KOKO on the 18th and 21st.

This year the EFG Elements Series will highlight the vibrant strands of jazz that the festival draws upon.

The Icons strand will celebrate legendary figures such as Charles Tolliver to Meshell Ndgeocello, while Jazz Visionaries highlights those like Tania Giannouli & Nik Bartsch, Brandee Younger, and Samora Pinderhughes, who push at boundaries and definitions of the genre. New Creations brings a big celebration of new sounds, from the South African jazz of Sikelela, to orchestral projects such as BBC Concert Orchestra celebrating John Coltrane’s legacy.

Homegrown focuses on the emerging UK talent like Mark Kavuma, Amy Gadiaga, Olive Jones and Marla Kether, while Beyond Margins explores the intersections of jazz with other genres and art forms including projects by Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn, Tashi Wada and MonoNeon.

Voices strand explores the beauty of singing, and features the astonishing prowess of Veronica Swift and the mesmerising vocals of ganavya and Song Yi Jeon. Beyond Borders showcases music from all corners of the earth, with Anouar Brahem, Kayhan Kalhor, Dora Morelenbaum, The Joy and Cimafunk.

Some wonderful free events are to be discovered on the Barbican Free Stage. Jazz Out Of Norway, featuring LILJA and Nils Økland, is the highlight on the 16th, and Økland will support Tord Gustavsen at Cadogan Hall on the previous evening. On the 17, the Barbican Free Stage hosts the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and the Clore Ballroom in the Southbank Centre hosts London Line Up, a programme of youth jazz bands across London, on the same day.

On the 23rd, November, African ManiFest: Sounds of South Africa will celebrate South African Jazz at the Clore Ballroom, while over at the Barbican Free Stage, London Louisiana will stage Whiskey Moonface and Ten Bells Rag Band. On the 24th, The Big Easy at the Clore Ballroom is an all-day Louisiana party with brass bands, parade dancers and cajun musicians. Back at Barbican Free Stage, Round Midnight & Soweto Kinch host a special edition of their BBC Radio 3 show featuring exciting artists who are in town.