The 606 Club has published the full programme for the festival marking 50 years as a hub for London's jazz community. It runs from Oct. 12 to Oct. 25, 2026, at the Chelsea basement venue that founder and director Steve Rubie has run throughout.
The opening night sets the pattern of two or three acts a night rather than one. Oct. 12 carries Gary Crosby and Denys Baptiste, the Sophie Alloway Band with Tony Kofi as special guest, and the Winston Clifford Quartet featuring Riley Stone-Lonergan. Jamie Cullum's band takes the following night on its own.
The guitar summit on Oct. 14 puts Jim Mullen, Nigel Price, Rob Luft and John Parricelli on the same stage with the Ross Stanley Trio. Gwilym Simcock plays Oct. 15 alongside QCBA, the group of Quentin Collins, Brandon Allen and Kyle Eastwood, and Alex Garnett and Coalminers take Oct. 16.
The middle weekend is the heaviest. Julian Joseph brings special guests on Oct. 17, with Soweto Kinch and Iain Ballamy on the same bill, and Oct. 18 runs from an afternoon session with Earl Okin and Rachel Sutton into an evening of Liane Carroll, Samara featuring Carolina Lelis, and a Stevie Wonder programme with Noel McCalla and Derek Nash.
The second week keeps the same rhythm. Tony O'Malley and Hamish Stuart on Oct. 19, Dan Reinstein and the Mo Pleasure Band on Oct. 20, Gwyneth Herbert and Sarah Gillespie on Oct. 21, then Tim Garland alongside the quartet of Jeremy Stacey, Paul Stacey, Jason Rebello and Pino Palladino on Oct. 22.
It finishes across the last weekend with the Lex Cameron Band and the pairing of Beverley Skeete and Mary Pearce on Oct. 23, the Dave O'Higgins Quartet and two further groups on Oct. 24, and a closing Sunday of Louise Balkwill, Polly Gibbons, and Ian Shaw with Claire Martin. Booking that many established players into a small room for a fortnight is what half a century of goodwill buys a venue, and it puts one of the country's oldest jazz rooms back on the festival tracker alongside anniversaries like the Spitz returning to Old Spitalfields Market.
The facts
- The 606 Club's 50th anniversary festival runs Oct. 12 to 25, 2026 in London.
- Steve Rubie is the club's founder and director.
- The Jamie Cullum Band headlines Oct. 13 on its own.
- Julian Joseph plays Oct. 17 with special guests, alongside Soweto Kinch.
- Tim Garland shares Oct. 22 with Jeremy Stacey, Jason Rebello and Pino Palladino.
- The closing Sunday features Polly Gibbons and Ian Shaw with Claire Martin.
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