Liverpool International Jazz festival – Crossing borders with Jazz without boundaries.
Liverpool’s relationship with jazz runs deep. Long before the Merseybeat explosion, the city was one of the first UK ports to welcome the sound of early jazz across the Atlantic. In 2026, that spirit of musical exchange returns in full force as the Liverpool International Jazz Festival (LIJF) takes over the Capstone Theatre and venues across the city from Friday 26 February to Sunday 1 March.
Established in 2013 by Liverpool Hope University, LIJF has quietly but confidently built a reputation for bringing world-class contemporary jazz to the city. This isn’t a nostalgia exercise or a polite recital series. The emphasis is firmly on contemporary instrumental jazz in all its restless, shape-shifting forms — music that pushes outward, drawing from global traditions, crossing genres and refusing to sit still.
And the 2026 programme might be the festival’s most dynamic yet!
Opening the weekend are Tim Garland and Geoffrey Keezer, a collaboration that immediately signals intent. Garland, a saxophonist and composer with Grammy credentials, has long been known for balancing technical brilliance with emotional clarity. Keezer, equally lauded, brings a piano style that can shift from lyrical elegance to muscular improvisation in a heartbeat. Expect interplay at the highest level — two musicians in deep conversation with you the audience allowed to eaves-drop!
Saturday’s afternoon pairing of Zoe Rahman and Arun Ghosh embodies the festival’s cross-cultural ethos. Rahman’s piano style draws on jazz tradition while absorbing classical and global influences. Ghosh’s clarinet work fuses jazz improvisation with South Asian rhythmic and melodic frameworks. Together, they represent the kind of border-blurring collaboration LIJF champions — rooted in jazz, but reaching far beyond it.
Later that evening, Robert Mitchell’s Little Black Book takes the stage. Mitchell has long operated at the cutting edge of UK jazz, and this project blends fusion energy with spiritual depth. Expect bold harmonic shifts, exploratory passages and moments that lean into the avant-garde without losing groove. It’s the sort of set that reminds you jazz is still evolving in real time.
Sunday offers two contrasting masterclasses. Guitar legend Martin Taylor performs in the afternoon, bringing decades of virtuosity and a touch that can make a single instrument feel orchestral. His solo performances are exercises in precision and warmth, drawing audiences in with clarity and craft.
Friday continues with David Helbock and Julia Hofer, a duo that promises something more intimate but no less adventurous. Helbock’s piano work is inventive and often cinematic, while Hofer’s electric bass adds texture and rhythmic drive. Their partnership thrives on contrast — melody against groove, restraint against flourish — and feels perfectly suited to the Capstone’s acoustics.
Closing the festival is the Marius Neset Quartet, and if there’s a statement booking in this year’s line-up, this is it. Neset’s compositions are high-energy, rhythmically complex and unapologetically modern. Expect surging sax lines, intricate ensemble passages and a sense of controlled chaos that resolves into exhilarating cohesion. It’s a fitting finale — expansive, ambitious and forward-looking.
For those wanting the full immersion, Festival Bundle Tickets are available at £72 + booking fee, covering all six main concerts. Bundle holders also receive free entry to the three evening Fringe Festival events at Quarry on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The bundle option runs until Friday 13 February 2026, after which it disappears — so early commitment has its rewards. Tickets are available via TicketQuarter. It’s fantastic value.
As Neil Campbell, LIJF 2026 Artistic Director states: “This year, LIJF celebrates its 13th year and, as ever, the line-up of main concerts at the Capstone Theatre has an international focus, featuring artists from the US, Europe and Scandinavia (and of course the UK). The concerts presented across the Festival’s four day duration will be captivating in their creativity, virtuosity and originality – an exciting artistic feast for music-lovers with open minds and open ears.”
And if the events at the Capstone Theatre isn’t enough to slake your musical thirst, the LIJF Fringe 2026 spreads across Liverpool city centre, amplifying the festival’s reach. But the Fringe isn’t an afterthought; it’s an essential part of the ecosystem. Grassroots artists, experimental collaborations, jam sessions and open opportunities to play sit alongside curated performances. It’s where emerging voices test ideas and where audiences can encounter something unexpected. Details for Fringe events are available via the LIJF Fringe 2026 listings, with multiple venues participating.
What makes LIJF distinct isn’t simply the calibre of its bookings — though that’s undeniable — but its sense of curation. Each year’s programme feels deliberate. The through-line is contemporary jazz as a living, breathing form: international in outlook, technically accomplished, but emotionally resonant.
Liverpool has never been a city content with musical conservatism. From transatlantic exchanges in the early 20th century to the cultural revolutions that followed, innovation has always found fertile ground here. The Liverpool International Jazz Festival taps into that lineage, reminding us that jazz remains one of the most open, exploratory and globally connected art forms around.
Six headline concerts. A citywide fringe. Four days of fearless musicianship. That’s the LIJF 2026!
