Liverpool International Jazz Festival 2025 has just got even bigger — with 5 new events added to the 7 already on offer over the 4 days. Thanks to the hard work of the team at Liverpool Hope University’s Capstone Theatre and Arts Council funding, the festival, now in its 13th year, could well be the biggest yet!
This year’s extravaganza is taking place across Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus from Thursday 20th February through until Sunday 23rd February. It will once again feature some of the world’s most talented artists — with some events free of charge and full festival bundles available for just £65.45. Here’s the full list of what’s on with the newly added events….
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Shapes Of Jazz To Come Exhibition: Mon 3rd-Fri 28th Feb
The Shapes of Jazz To Come is an solo exhibition of work by Liverpool based artist and musician Bob Whittaker in the Capstone Building Reception taking place throughout February 2025 to coincide with Liverpool International Jazz Festival 2025.
Each painting starts 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.
FREE ADMISSION THROUGHOUT FEB
Darius Brubeck Quartet: Thurs 20th Feb, 7.30pm
The son of legendary Jazz musician and composer Dave Brubeck, Darius Brubeck has enjoyed great success as a pianist, composer and innovative educator in his own right. Darius Brubeck now leads 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.
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Playing The Changes Darius Brubeck Film/Q&A: Fri 21st Feb, 1pm
Playing the Changes – Tracking Darius Brubeck shows the eldest son of legendary pianist Dave Brubeck as not just a musician trying to step out of his father’s shadow, but as a gifted and dedicated artist and human being, who spent his life emphasising the social impact of jazz to the world. The film 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.
Playing The Changes is 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. Following the screening there’s a Q&A with Darius, his wife Cathy and director Michiel ten Kleij.
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Arbenz / Neame / Hart / Churchill/ Doran / Pursglove: Fri 21st Feb, 7.30pm
Throughout his nearly 30-year musical career, Florian 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.
The result is a wild and exhilarating blend of top UK musicians from various generations, for whom Florian Arbenz has tailor-made his newest project. 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.
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Mutant Jazz: Fri 21st Feb, 7pm
Parrjazz is delighted to announce its sixth Mutant Jazz event which will take place at Liverpool’s Rough Trade venue on Hannover Street, February 21st, 2025, with doors opening at 7pm. Mutant Jazz celebrates the emerging talent from Liverpool’s live Jazz Spectrum, exposing them to new audiences from the age of 14 years and upwards.
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.
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Milap’s Beyond Roots: Sat 22nd Feb, 1pm
Join us for a captivating afternoon of music at the LIJF 2025, featuring the extraordinary talents of Rekesh Chauhan and Kousic Sen. Rekesh 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 this special festival appearance, 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.
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The Weave: Sat 22nd Feb, 3.30pm
This concert of around 45 mins in duration takes place in the Cornerstone Theatre and is a seated concert. Admission is free but space is limited so audience members (including LIJF Bundle ticket-holders) must have tickets for this specific concert, bookable to attend.
The Weave represent the finest of Liverpool’s flourishing 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. He 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).
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The Return Of Samjoko: Sat 22nd Feb, 4.45pm
This concert of around 45 mins in duration takes place in the Cornerstone Theatre and is a seated concert. Admission is free but space is limited so audience members (including LIJF Bundle ticket-holders) must have tickets for this specific concert, bookable to attend.
The Return of Samjoko is the new project formed by Liverpool based saxophonist Bob Whittaker in 2024. 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.
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Sweet Beans: Sat 22nd Feb, 6pm
This concert of around 45 mins in duration takes place in the Cornerstone Theatre and is a seated concert. Admission is free but space is limited so audience members (including LIJF Bundle ticket-holders) must have tickets for this specific concert, bookable to attend.
Sweet Beans is a self-proclaimed ‘riot-jazz’ band hailing from Liverpool. They have been consistently performing and gigging around the city since early 2019, and since the pandemic have released a four-track EP as well as a single before it. 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
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Neil Cowley Trio: Sat 22nd Feb, 7.30pm
As a young boy, Neil 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.
NCT 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’.
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Liverpool Sax Day: Sun 23rd Feb, 10am
This day long event, taking place in the Cornerstone Building at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus, features 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.
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Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert 50th Anniversary: Sun 23rd Feb, 1pm
Internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Dorian Ford celebrates the 50th anniversary of Keith Jarrett’s legendary improvised 1975 Köln Concert with this unique performance. Reaching back through time he blends his passion for Jarrett’s brilliant original with his own improvisations – his 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 (both classical and jazz).
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Emma Rawicz: Sun 23rd Feb, 7.30pm
Emma Rawicz is a young saxophonist, bandleader and composer with an astonishing musical maturity. At just 22 years of age, Rawicz has achieved a huge amount, including the release of two critically acclaimed albums Incantation and Chroma and extensive headline tours across 15 countries.
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.
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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 — representing excellent value for money. Another triumph for Liverpool Hope University’s Capstone Theatre awaits!
Liverpool International Jazz Festival / Thurs 20th Feb — Sun 23rd Feb 2025 / The Capstone Theatre, 17 Shaw Street, Liverpool, L6 1HP
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS INCLUDING THE FULL FESTIVAL BUNDLE PACKAGE
