The Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music returns across two weekends this fall, September 24 to 27 and October 2 to 4, spreading more than 26 performances across nine days and seven venues. UK Jazz News describes the festival's focus on the experimental and improvised end of jazz as unique in the UK, a niche that still manages to draw solid audiences to the city's iconic venues even when the music itself is considered difficult.
The first weekend leans more conventional, with sets from Arun Ghosh at the Gosforth Civic Theatre, Get the Blessing at the Cluny, the John Pope Quintet at the Cumberland Arms and the Alex Hitchcock Quartet at The Globe, alongside a series of family workshops.
The second weekend moves to the more challenging end of the program and the more dramatic setting of the Literary and Philosophical Society, opening with a performance of George Crumb's Makrokosmos, a fully composed avant-garde piece that can sound improvised even though it isn't jazz at all. Friday evening continues with a duo performance from vocalist Zoe Gilby and drummer Johnny Hunter, a solo set from bassist Andy Champion, and the Zoe Rahman Trio with Gene Calderazzo on drums and Andrea Di Biase on bass.
Saturday opens with a new quartet called Anemone, led by pianist Laura Cole with Olie Brice on double bass, Faye MacCalman on saxophone and clarinet, and Johnny Hunter on drums, followed by a solo set from Danish pianist Jeppe Zeeberg and an unusual combination of accordion, harp and bass from Zbigniew Chojnacki, Mccoy and Pope.
The main evening concert closes the festival with three acts: the Olie Brice Quartet with Rachel Musson, Alexander Hawkins and Will Glaser, a solo piano set from Hawkins, and the Harper Trio led by harpist Maria-Christina Harper with Josephine Davies and Evan Jenkins.
With that many names spread across seven venues, the festival functions as a working map of the current UK improvised-jazz scene as much as a single event, with tickets and full details posted on the festival tracker's entry ahead of the September opening weekend.
The facts
- The festival runs September 24 to 27 and October 2 to 4, 2026
- It spans more than 26 performances across seven venues in Newcastle
- The second weekend takes place at the Literary and Philosophical Society
- Performers include the Zoe Rahman Trio, the Olie Brice Quartet and pianist Jeppe Zeeberg
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