Five new shows and exhibitions have been announced for the upcoming Liverpool International Jazz Festival 2025 next month.
The four-day extravaganza of music, film and visual art across city venues, which is now in its 12th year, will take place from Thursday 20th February through until Sunday 23rd February and will once again feature some of the world’s most talented artists in the genre.
First in the latest wave of events is The Shapes of Jazz To Come – a solo exhibition of work by Liverpool-based artist and musician Bob Whittaker. Anyone visiting the Capstone Building Reception throughout February will be presented with paintings that start with a fragment or opening theme of a song. Musical notes are precisely measured into geometric shapes, creating a visual mirror of the auditory experience. Pitch, rhythm, and expression of the music are translated into angular forms with a predominantly monochromatic palette consistent with musicians’ manuscript.
On Thursday 20th February at 7:30pm, the son of legendary jazz musician and composer Dave Brubeck, Darius Brubeck will lead the London-based Darius Brubeck Quartet, which has been together for 15 years and tours internationally.
The group features saxophonist Dave O’Higgins, who has been described by The Jazz Guide as “A stunning player in the neo-bop vein, with an apparently effortless flow of coherent ideas, beautiful time and a highly developed harmonic sense”; bassist Matt Ridley, a graduate of Trinity College of Music London and a well-known sideman and band leader on the UK Jazz scene; and South African drummer, educator and composer Wesley Gibbens.
The following afternoon on Friday at 1pm will see a screening of Playing the Changes – Tracking Darius Brubeck, a film about what it is like to grow up as a jazz musician in a turbulent time of racial segregation in the US and political tension during the Cold War, and about applying these experiences to living and teaching in segregated South Africa. The feature examines how jazz had such a transformative role in different societies like (post-)Soviet Poland and Nelson Mandela’s South Africa, where jazz was present, but disowned through apartheid.
Following the screening there’s a Q&A with Darius, his wife Cathy and director Michiel ten Kleij.
The Friday evening will see a performance from a ‘wild and exhilarating’ blend of top UK musicians from various generations, for whom Swiss drummer and percussionist Florian Arbenz has tailor-made his newest project.
Throughout his nearly 30-year musical career, Arbenz has consistently demonstrated that he’s not only a brilliant drummer but also has a keen sense for unique and gripping combinations of musicians and instruments. In his latest project, he turns his attention to the musical connections he’s formed during his frequent visits to the UK.
From the rising star Immy Churchill to internationally renowned musicians like Percy Pursglove, Jim Hart, and Ivo Neame, and the legendary veteran Christy Doran, five illustrious British musicians contribute to Arbenz’s supergroup.
Friday night will also see Parrjazz present their Mutant Jazz night at Rough Trade on Hanover Street. The ever-popular event celebrates the emerging talent from across Liverpool’s live jazz spectrum, exposing them to new audiences.
Mutant Jazz #6 will feature: Lydia Reece and her band, Finite Experience, The Unstoppable Sweeties Show. Early doors will see some of Liverpool’s youngest Jazz Mutant Allstar players, 14-18 years old, improvising with the Parrjazz house band. DJ Copious Notes will be spinning jazzy vinyl all night.
On the afternoon of Saturday 22nd February at 1pm, the festival joins forces with Liverpool’s South Asian arts company, Milap for a captivating afternoon of music featuring the extraordinary talents of Rekesh Chauhan and Kousic Sen.
Chauhan, a multi-award-winning British pianist and composer, is celebrated for his versatility in both Indian and Western classical traditions. His performances have graced some of the world’s most prestigious stages, and he has collaborated with legendary artists such as Pt. Birju Maharaj and Mercury Prize-winner Talvin Singh.
In Milap’s Beyond Roots, Rekesh will be joined by internationally renowned tabla maestro Kousic Sen. Together, they will explore the dynamic intersection of Indian classical music and jazz, blending tradition with contemporary innovation.
Three free concerts will then take place at The Cornerstone Theatre on Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus, with support from Arts Council England.
At 3:30pm The Weave return to the Liverpool jazz scene after a hiatus of some 7 years. Their newest album, SNISHOO, sees these talented musicians return to create an exciting collaborative journey. At the heart of this musical endeavour is band leader Martin Smith, who has assembled a network of Liverpool’s top players: Anthony Peers (trumpet), Anthony Ormesher (guitar), Tilo Pirnbaum (drums), Rob Stringer (piano) and Hugo “Harry” Harrison (double bass).
Then at 4:45pm, audiences can witness The Return of Samjoko – a new project formed by Liverpool based saxophonist Bob Whittaker, drawing influences from the modal and free 1970s supergroups of Elvin Jones, Ornette Coleman, Ed Blackwell, Dewey Redman and Don Cherry, the band employs saxophone, two double basses and two drum kits.
The final of the three free Saturday night concerts sees Sweet Beans take the stage at 6pm.
The self-proclaimed ‘riot-jazz’ band from Liverpool have been consistently performing and gigging around the city since early 2019. Stylistically, the music is a combination of raucous big-band horns, jazzy harmonies, rocking electric guitar and rhythms rooted in techno and other dance music styles.
Then, on Saturday evening, the festival will welcome Neil Cowley Trio onto the Capstone Theatre stage, returning to the scene after a break of 7 years with their new album ‘Entity’.
As a young boy, Cowley studied classical music and by the age of 10 had performed a Shostakovich piano concerto to a full house at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. By his mid-teens he had turned his back on his classical career entering the world of old-school R’n’B, soul and funk and working with some of the most successful bands of the day including the Brand New Heavies and Zero 7 alongside his own chill-out production duo, Fragile State.
The trio went on to record six highly acclaimed studio albums – Displaced (2006) winner of the 2007 BBC Jazz Award for Best Album; Loud… Louder… Stop (2008) hailed by Mojo as a ‘modern classic’, Radio Silence (2010), cementing Cowley’s credentials as a brilliant, dazzling composer; The Face of Mount Molehill (2012) with a string ensemble that earned them the 2013 Jazz FM award for Best UK Jazz Act and Touch and Flee (2014), described by Cowley as his ‘concert hall album’.
For those wanting to party on into the night, Liverpool International Jazz Festival is collaborating with Parrjazz and one of Liverpool’s coolest small venues, Commune.
Starting at 9pm and finishing around midnight, Commune will be hosting a vinyl DJ set selecting tunes from the broad jazz spectrum of jazz fusion, hip-hop, acid jazz, funk and ska.
Featuring the Mutant Jazz and Cali Discs couple, DJ Copious Notes and JabJazz, with their Jazz But Not As We Know It record box.
Sunday 23rd February is Liverpool Sax Day – a day-long event kicking off at 10am in the Cornerstone Building at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus. The day will feature workshops, masterclasses, performances from UK sax star Emma Rawicz and also from the North’s leading jazz tenor player and educator Dean Masser.
Those attending are encouraged to bring their saxophones and join in the ensemble classes hosted by prolific international sax expert and composer Andy Scott, and also peruse and try out all the latest sax models and paraphernalia at the many trade stalls. Liverpool Sax Day ticket holders also get free admission to the Emma Rawicz Quartet’s evening concert in the Capstone Theatre, the final concert of Liverpool International Jazz Festival 2025.
The Sunday afternoon of the festival will also see internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Dorian Ford celebrate the 50th anniversary of Keith Jarrett’s legendary improvised 1975 Köln Concert with a unique performance.
Reaching back through time he blends his passion for Jarrett’s brilliant original with his own improvisations, Ford’s riffs and grooves re-igniting the spark of genius of the young Jarrett. The original live recording is still the best-selling solo piano album in history in both classical and jazz.
Closing the festival on the evening of Sunday 23rd February at 7:30pm will be the award winning young saxophonist and composer, Emma Rawicz.
Rawicz is a bandleader with an astonishing musical maturity. At just 22 years of age, she has achieved a huge amount, including the release of two critically acclaimed albums Incantation and Chroma
She has appeared in high profile festivals and venues including concerts featuring as a soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and with the German SWR Radio Big Band at a sold out Berlin Philharmonie. She was the youngest ever Artist in Residence at Cambridge Jazz Festival and has received a number of awards and nominations recognising her achievements.
After a record year in 2024, Liverpool International Jazz Festival is back in 2025 with another exciting line up featuring some of the world’s leading jazz musicians. Individual event tickets start at just £5.50, whereas full festival bundle tickets are just £65.45.
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS INCLUDING THE FULL FESTIVAL BUNDLE PACKAGE