The mighty Liverpool International Jazz Festival returned to Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus for its 13th year this February and was once again an absolute triumph! The four day extravaganza, running from Thursday 20th February through until Sunday 23rd February, featured stunning live performances, talks, workshops and more — with most events completely selling out!
La Vida Liverpool magazine owner Justin Hopper and guest writers Olivia Nakar and David Murrell attended the festival to enjoy some of the enthralling events….
DAVID MURRELL: The 2025 four-day Liverpool International Jazz Festival (LIJF), jumped off in fine style with the superb Darius Brubeck Quartet. Playing two sets in front of a sell-out audience, the acoustically perfect Capstone Theatre off Liverpool’s Shaw Street, saw the thirteenth staging of the LIJF open and close to standing ovations. The suited and booted quartet has built a solid international reputation over the years led by American Darius Brubeck, the eldest son of the late 1950s jazz legend Dave Brubeck.
UK based Darius is an international Jazz Ambassador combining outstanding musical skills with an ability to establish jazz institutes and learning, to help enable change. This was fully illustrated the next day at the Capstone, by a fascinating documentary film called Playing The Changes, shot by an independent Dutch film crew. The quartet’s international touring successes and performances in communist Poland and especially Durban, in apartheid South Africa, served to illustrate the power of jazz, by one of its best loved exponents.
OLIVIA NAKAR: For those in need of a pre-festival jazz fix, Bob Whittaker’s ‘Shapes Of Jazz To Come’ exhibition ran in the Capstone Building reception throughout February. Otherwise, the festival was kicked off on Thursday by the Darius Bruebeck Quartet, before heading into the city centre for Mutant Jazz #6!
Ran by non-profit organisation Parr Jazz and hosted at Rough Trade, the Mutant Jazz events celebrate emerging talent, the youthful energy of both audience and performers proving time and again that jazz in Liverpool is alive and well! It is only right that the sixth iteration of this event should round off the first day of LIJF.
JUSTIN HOPPER: Friday night saw a coming together of some extremely talented artists, led by Florian Arbenz. 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, Ivo Neame and Szymon Mika, five illustrious musicians contribute to Arbenz’s supergroup and it was an emphatic success.
OLIVIA NAKAR: 8 hours of jazz flew by on Saturday 22nd February. Opening the day’s events in The Capstone Theatre and putting the International in Liverpool International Jazz Festival was Milap’s Beyond Roots, a captivating blend of Indian classical music and jazz by pianist and composer Rekesh Chauhan and tabla maestro Kousic Sen.
Next, it was over to the Cornerstone Theatre for some sounds from a little closer to home. The Weave, The Return of Samjoko, and Sweet Beans, three Liverpool based bands demonstrating the versatility of the city’s jazz scene. Finally back to the Capstone Theatre for the highly acclaimed Neil Cowley Trio, an unsurprisingly sold out show given the group’s seven year hiatus; it was worth the wait.
Last but certainly not least, Sunday 22nd offered a celebration of Keith Jarett’s Koln Concert (the best selling solo piano album in history) by pianist Dorian Ford, followed by a performance by saxophonist, composer and bandleader Emma Rawicz.
JUSTIN HOPPER: The grand finale was indeed a captivating performance from Emma Rawicz — a shining light of the UK jazz scene who graced us with her silky smooth saxophone sounds. During the day, she had been present at the festival’s International Sax Day event before performing some delightful compositions to a sell-out audience.
Performing alongside fellow maestros Asaf Sirkis on drums, Jonny Mansfield on vibes and Niklas Lukassen on bass, the quartet treated us to some wild and creative improvisations — with a well deserved standing ovation to see out the 2025 Liverpool International Jazz Festival in style.
OLIVIA NAKAR: As well as celebrating the current jazz scene, LIJF went one step further to inspire the next generation of musicians by offering free workshops and talks from leading jazz musicians, thanks to Arts Council funding. The future of jazz in our creative city is certainly bright, and Liverpool buzzes with energy from its impressive roster of music events on any given night of the week. What better place to eagerly await the 2026 return of LIJF?
Liverpool International Jazz Festival / Thurs 20th Feb — Sun 23rd Feb 2025 / The Capstone Theatre, 17 Shaw Street, Liverpool, L6 1HP
Images courtesy of Alan Smith
