Press room

Today the Barbican and Associate Producer Serious announce the full line-up for this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival including Artist-in-Residence aja monet’s full residency programme and other surrounding events.

New artists announced today include special guests for aja monet’s residency finale: aja monet with guests (14 Nov). Joining her on stage are Yahael Camara-Onono (Balimaya Project), Sheila Maurice-Grey (KOKOROKO), Abdelillah Ouahbi (Arfoud Brothers & Sisters) and more.

Also announced today are performers as part of The Evolution of UK Jazz – 20 Years On ft. Camilla George and Shabaka (19 Nov). Camilla George, Shabaka and Jason Yarde will be joined by Daniel Casimir, Shirley Tetteh, Corrie Dick, Rosie Turton, and Renato Paris.

The Barbican is also pleased to continue its free-to-attend weekend FreeStage performances in the Barbican foyers. This year the stage will host jazz from Europe, as well as special showcases of jazz from Melbourne and Poland, and the return of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Round Midnight with Soweto Kinch and special guests.

Alongside the festival, the Jazz on Screen film series returns, this year bringing together a trio of rare and powerful cinematic works that explore the creative and cultural forces of jazz on screen. 

The annual London-wide jazz festival returns once again to the Barbican from Friday 14 – Sunday 23 November 2025 alongside 60+ other venues across London. Now in its 33rd year, the festival spotlights some of the very best in global and local jazz talent and, for 10 days and nights, musicians from all over the world will come together to perform boundary-pushing music that showcases jazz and its influence across genres and cultures.

More information about all performances follows below and all EFG London Jazz Festival events at the Barbican are available here.

To view the full city-wide EFG London Jazz Festival line-up click here.

FULL LINE-UP FOR EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL EVENTS AND SURROUNDING EVENTS AT THE BARBICAN:

• aja monet residency: Workshop with Barbican Young Poets (Wed 12 Nov 2025, Frobisher Room, 6.30pm)
• aja monet residency: Live reading and Q&A with Zakia Sewell (Thurs 13 Nov 2025, Barbican Conservatory, 8pm)
• Soweto Kinch & London Symphony Orchestra: Soundtrack to the Apocalypse (Thu 13 Nov 2025, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• aja monet residency: aja monet with guests (Fri 14 Nov 2025, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• FreeStage: Melbourne International Jazz Festival presents Jeremy Rose & Erica Tucceri (Sat 15 Nov 2025, FreeStage, 4.30pm)
• We Exist! The Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet (Sat 15 Nov, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• FreeStage: Polish FreeStage – Nene Heroine, Immortal Onion and Tryp Tych Trio (Sun 16 Nov 2025, FreeStage, 3.30pm)
• **Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo (Sun 16 Nov 2025, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Dhamaal (Sun 16 Nov 2025, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Anthony Joseph: Rowing Up River To Get Our Names Back (Mon 17 Nov 2025, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• The Evolution of UK Jazz – 20 Years on ft Camilla George and Shabaka (Wed 19 Nov 2025, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Hiromi’s Sonicwonder (Fri 21 Nov 2025, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• FreeStage: European Jazz: Lőrinc Barabás (Sat 22 Nov 2025, FreeStage, 4.30pm)
• Tortoise (Sat 22 Nov 2025, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• FreeStage: BBC Radio 3’s ‘Round Midnight with Soweto Kinch (Sun 23 Nov 2025, FreeStage, 3.30pm)
• Japanese Jazz (Sun 23 Nov 2025, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)

** Following the recent death of Hermeto Pascoal, this performance has been taken off sale. Bookers will be contacted in due course while a course of action is being agreed. Thank you for your understanding in light of this sad news.

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AJA MONET: EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL 2025 ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE

aja monet – Workshop with Barbican Young Poets

Wednesday 12 November 2025, 6.30pm

Barbican Frobisher Room

Open to Barbican Young Poet members by booking, free of charge

aja monet launches her residency with a workshop alongside Barbican Young Poets, open to Barbican Young Poet members. The workshop will explore the artist’s practice and approach to writing about love.

Barbican Young Poets is an artist development programme for young people passionate about the written and spoken word, and who want to explore the artform further. The programme is free, for young people aged 16-29 years old – many of whom have a multidisciplinary practice and go on to publish their work. The programme is facilitated by poet, Jacob Sam-La Rose, and invited guest tutors. 

Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious

aja monet – Live reading and Q&A with presenter Zakia Sewell

Thursday 13 November 2025, 8pm

Barbican Conservatory

Tickets from £10 (£6 Young Barbican) plus booking fee

An evening of poetry and conversation with acclaimed surrealist blues poet aja monet, hosted by curator and cultural facilitator Zakia Sewell.

aja monet, known for her evocative blend of lyricism, social insight and musical rhythm will read from both her previously released works and her new collection Florida Water. Her debut full-length poetry collection, My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter (Haymarket Books, 2017), established her voice as a fearless witness to motherhood, resistance, displacement, and Black joy. Now, with Florida Water, a richly textured meditation on migration, spiritual cleansing and environmental and communal grief, monet invites us to wade through memory, belonging, and climate’s rising tides.

In this intimate gathering, monet will share her writing process, her practice of poetry as both a spiritual tool and an expressive force. Drawing from her identity as a poet and longtime community figure, she views poetry as more than words on the page: it’s a way of living, resisting, and building collective meaning.

Moderated by Zakia Sewell, this evening promises an engaging dialogue: monet will reflect on her evolution as an artist and how her poems emerge from the lived rhythms of community, striving and love.

Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious

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aja monet with guests

Friday 14 November 2025, 7.30pm

Barbican Hall

Tickets from £20 plus booking fee

Grammy-nominated surrealist blues poet and this year’s festival Artist-in-Residence at the Barbican, aja monet brings her acclaimed debut album When the Poems Do What They Do to the Barbican stage in an evening of poetry, sound and spirit – opening the EFG London Jazz Festival with power and purpose.

Known for her fusion of poetry and music, Monet's work explores themes of Black resistance, love, and joy. Her debut album, When the Poems Do What They Do (drink sum wtr, 2023), received critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album in 2024. 

Joining monet on stage for this special performance are Yahael Camara-Onono (Balimaya Project), Sheila Maurice-Grey (Kokoroko), Abdelillah Ouahbi (Arfoud Brothers & Sisters) and more… 

Sheila Maurice-Grey’s performance is generously supported by Trevor Fenwick and Jane Hindley.

Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious

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MORE NEW ARTISTS ANNOUNCED TODAY

The Evolution of UK Jazz – 20 Years On ft. Camilla George and Shabaka

Wednesday 19 November 2025, 7.30pm

Barbican Hall

Tickets from £20 plus booking fee 

Celebrate 20 years of Barbican Associate Producer Serious’ pioneering Take Five programme with a one-night-only concert at the Barbican Hall, as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival 2025. 

Featuring new commissions, collaborations and premieres, the celebratory evening will feature standout UK Jazz artists including Shabaka, Camilla George, Jason Yarde, alongside Daniel Casimir (bass), Shirley Tetteh (guitar), Corrie Dick (drums), Rosie Turton (trombone) and Renato Paris (keys / vocals).

Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious

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BARBICAN FREESTAGE PERFORMANCES

Melbourne International Jazz Festival presents Jeremy Rose's Disruption! and Erica Tucceri

Saturday 15 November 2025, 4.30pm

FreeStage

Free and un-ticketed

Melbourne International Jazz Festival takes over the Barbican FreeStage once again to celebrate the unique and diverse sounds of the Australian jazz scene.

Led by award-winning saxophonist and composer Jeremy Rose, Disruption! The Voice of Drums is a thrilling tribute to the elemental and disruptive power of rhythm. Featuring drum virtuosi Simon Barker and Chloe Kim, the work grew out of Rose’s fascination with their solo drum music, which became the foundation for new arrangements that amplify their distinctive voices.

Erica Tucceri is an improvising flautist, composer and producer who sits at the cutting edge of the Australian jazz scene. Erica is one of Melbourne’s most sought-after collaborators and presents her band in London for the very first time. Erica will be premiering an album of unreleased music and will feature local artists Lewis Moody, Luke Wynter and Ziggy Zeitgeist.

Presented in partnership with MIJF; Creative Australia; Creative Victoria (Melbourne); Vizard Foundation

Presented by Serious

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Polish FreeStage: Nene Heroine, Immortal Onion and Tryp Tych Trio

Sunday 16 November 2025, 3.30pm

FreeStage

Free and un-ticketed

A showcase of forward-thinking jazz from Poland, presented on the Barbican FreeStage.

Nene Heroine ft. Kasia Linns: Nene Heroine present a dark, expansive and rhythmically-driven performance blurring the lines between jazz, ambient and post-rock. They will be joined by vocalist Kasia Linns.

Immortal Onion: One of the most exciting acts in the new wave of Polish jazz, Immortal Onion have been garnering acclaim in Poland and abroad for years. Known for their intricate blend of jazz, electronic textures and post-rock energy, the Gdańsk-based trio brings a precise yet unpredictable live set that defies easy categorisation.

Tryp Tych Trio: Featuring renowned Polish bassist Woktek Masilewski, Tryp Tych Trio explores improvisation through dense rhythmic interplay and stripped-back sonic forms. Also in the band is UK based saxophonist Tamar Osborn and a special guest, South African drummer Asher Gamedze.

This show is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Presented by Serious

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European Jazz FreeStage: Lőrinc Barabás

Saturday 22 November 2025, 4.30pm

FreeStage

Free and un-ticketed

Discover artists from across the incredible European jazz scene at the EFG London Jazz Festival 2025 on the Barbican FreeStage.

Lőrinc Barabás is a Hungarian trumpeter and composer celebrated for his innovative contributions to jazz, electronic, and neoclassical music. Over a prolific career spanning more than two decades, he has released twelve albums as a solo artist and with various ensembles, and has performed extensively throughout Europe and the United States.

One more artist is yet to be announced as part of this showcase.

This event is proudly supported by Liszt Institute, Hungarian Cultural Centre London

Presented by Serious

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BBC Radio 3 ‘Round Midnight with Soweto Kinch

Sunday 23 November 2025, 3.30pm

FreeStage

Free and un-ticketed

'Round Midnight & Soweto Kinch curate and host a special edition of their BBC Radio 3 show from the FreeStage in the Barbican foyers, featuring a host of exciting artists in town for the EFG London Jazz Festival 2025. 'Round Midnight is BBC Radio 3's weekday evening (23:30 - 00:30hrs) jazz show, celebrating the best in jazz from all eras and around the globe, with a particular focus on new UK artists. Special guests for this FreeStage will be announced soon

'Round Midnight is a Folded Wing production for BBC Radio 3.

Presented by Serious

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JAZZ ON SCREEN

13 – 16 November 2025, various times

Barbican Cinemas 1-3

Tickets from £13 plus booking fee

Jazz on Screen series brings together a trio of rare and powerful cinematic works that explore the creative and cultural forces of jazz on screen. These films reflect the expansive reach of jazz not only as a sound but as a way of seeing, feeling, and resisting. Whether through Ephraim Asili’s meditative film Diaspora Suite, Derek Bailey’s globe-spanning exploration of improvisation, or intimate portraits of Ben Webster and Cecil Taylor living and playing abroad, Jazz on Screen invites viewers to experience jazz as both performance and perspective – cinema in conversation with the music’s ever-shifting pulse.

Presented by the Barbican

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