Return of the wonderful worlds of jazz and blues

The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival is back live, with the dial set to 10 and ready to raise the curtain to let sounds from New Orleans to Brasil wash over the city for 10 days. From serious listening to party music, from 1920s traditional jazz to the here and now. The Festival will entertain, excite, and stimulate, whatever your interest in the wonderful worlds of jazz and blues.

John Scofield, Ambrose Akinmusire, Mud Morganfield and cover artist Nubya Garcia – just a few of the names you’ll find within this year’s programme who are set to bring their unparalleled artistry to stages across our city. You’ll also be delighted to see some festival friends who we have sorely missed including Jools Holland, Blind Boy Paxton and festival favourite Davina and the Vagabonds.

This year’s international programme aims to open your ears to the wider world of talent that demands to be heard. At the heart of the programme is SPARK, a celebration of Italian jazz delivered in partnership with I-jazz and the Italian Insititute. It features the artistry of Sade Mangiaracina, Francesco Zampini, the international artist-in-residence Daniele Raimondi and many more. The Festival will also welcome artists from Belgium including De Beren Gieren and David Blenkhorn from Australia, amongst others.

Festival regular Soweto Kinch brings a new programming voice to this year’s festival with BLAZE, a strand showcasing up-and-coming talent from the wider UK including Xhosa Cole, Blue Lab Beats, Rosie Frater Taylor and Scotland’s own Anoushka Nanguy.

The SCOTTISH JAZZ EXPO artists are the beating heart of the festival programme, and feature an array of new and exciting bands, projects and commissions including Fergus McCreadie, Ali Affleck, Colin Steele and Martin Kershaw. The EXPO series also gives voice to the new wave of Scottish Jazz including Richard Glassby, Conor Smith and Matthew Kilner.

A new edition to this year’s festival is the EJBF22 ONLINE programme. Across the 10 days the Festival will be broadcasting some of the UK’s finest jazz and blues artists to living rooms worldwide. The digital programme also features some exciting digital exclusives including a concert from the all-star SFJazz Collective.

On top of the programme of concerts the Festival will see the welcome return of the much loved MARDI GRAS and a programme of events in every ward in Edinburgh. Keep an eye on the Festival website for more information. And finally, there’s the EDINBURGH FESTIVAL CARNIVAL, Scotland’s largest and most flamboyant multicultural event with over 1000 participants from across the globe and from the heart of Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival runs from 15-24 July and you can find the full programme HERE.