Press room

Today (15 July) the Barbican and Associate Producer Serious announce the third wave of EFG London Jazz Festival performances for November 2026. Today’s new shows include a number of debut performances from the legendary Asha Puthli in a rare standalone UK performance tracing everything from avant-garde jazz to cosmic disco, to East London’s own Church of Sound marking their 10th birthday with a celebration of the past, present and future of British jazz. This year’s festival will feature another showcase from the Take Five talent development programme with performances by saxophonist, composer and bandleader David Kayode and multi-award-winning steelpan musician Marlon Hibbert a.k.a. Marlon the Pannist. Finally, 2026 festival draws to a close on Sunday 22 November with South African vocal group The Joy.

Now in its 34th year, the annual jazz festival returns to the Barbican from Friday 13 – Sunday 22 November 2026 with ten days of headline concerts and bold new commissions alongside the festival’s city-wide presence in venues big and small across the capital. Taking over 60+ venues across London, musicians from all over the world will come together to perform boundary-pushing music that showcases jazz, its influence across genres and cultures, and ability to transcend borders and blend musical traditions.

This year, the Barbican also kicks off the festival in a special concert open to local schools with Endurance Steel Orchestra and its founder Marlon Hibbert in “EFG London Jazz Festival: Sounds of the Diaspora”. The concert is part of the Barbican’s Learning and Participation programming, inviting local young people into the centre to celebrate the rich musical heritage of Trinidad and Tobago with some of the musicians who have shaped its legacy across the diaspora.

The Jazz Social also returns for its third year as the festival's pop-up hub, running ahead of and throughout the festival (9–22 Nov). Located just minutes from the Barbican, it offers a programme of live music, workshops, talks and special events, alongside a record shop, bar, radio broadcasts and more; bringing together audiences, artists and the wider jazz community in one vibrant space throughout the Festival. The full programme will be revealed in September by Serious.

The final, full festival line-up at the Barbican Hall and Milton Court Concert Hall including the longstanding free-to-attend FreeStage performances in the Barbican’s Level G foyers will be revealed at a later date.

Barbican EFG London Jazz Festival Line-Up to date: 

• John Coltrane 100 (Fri 13 Nov, 7.30pm, Hall) 
• NEW - Asha Puthli: The Cosmic Voyager (Sat 14 Nov, 7.30pm, Hall) 
• Yasuaki Shimizu (Sun 15 Nov, 7.30pm, Milton Court) 
• Anouar Brahem: After the Last Sky (Sun 15 Nov, 7.30pm, Hall) 
• Maarja Nuut + Shards 'Combing Hair Into Sand' (Tue 17 Nov, 7.30pm, Milton Court) 
• London Symphony Orchestra/Soweto Kinch (Thu 19 Nov, 7.30pm, Hall) 
• NEW - Church of Sound 10th Birthday | British Jazz Songbook (Fri 20 Nov, 7.30pm, Hall) 
• Haruki Murakami’s Jazz at Peter Cat: a Japanese Jazz Night (Sat 21 Nov, 5pm & 8.30pm, Barbican Hall) 
• NEW - Take Five Showcase: David Kayode and Marlon The Pannist (Sat 21 Nov, 5pm, The Pit) 

• NEW – The Joy (Sun 22 Nov, 7.30pm, Hall) 

 
Full details for Wave 3 Barbican performances follow below. As more performances and details are announced in later waves, all EFG London Jazz Festival 2026 events at the Barbican can be found here. 

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Asha Puthli: The Cosmic Voyager 
Part of the EFG London Jazz Festival 
Saturday 14 November 2026, 7.30pm 
Barbican Hall
Tickets from £30 plus booking fee

A rare standalone UK concert uniting musical icon Asha Puthli with a vanguard of fellow cross-generational trailblazers for a genre-defying live celebration.

For five decades, Mumbai-born Asha Puthli has been music's best-kept secret. Endorsed by John Hammond, she exploded into jazz when Ornette Coleman chose her voice for his 1972 masterpiece, Science Fiction —winning her the prestigious DownBeat Critics' Poll alongside Ella Fitzgerald and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Seamlessly bridging avant-garde jazz, Indian raga, and operatic training, Puthli pioneered the ethereal, sultry, whispered vocals that birthed cosmic disco and became a hip-hop sampling staple. This blueprint anchors her 1973 debut featuring the psychedelic Right Down Here and her cult classic album The Devil is Loose—featuring her influential, gravity-defying anthem Space Talk. Following a major career renaissance, her active legacy continues from her recent acclaimed single Pawa! to guest vocals on Gorillaz's new album, uniting jazz purists and a new generation of music lovers.

Far from a retrospective, this rare performance brings her pioneering blueprint to the Barbican stage, backed by her stellar band and special guests to reveal an enchanting, sharp-witted raconteur alongside fellow contemporary innovators.

Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious
Find out more

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Church of Sound 10th Birthday | British Jazz Songbook
Part of the EFG London Jazz Festival
Friday 20 November 2026, 7.30pm
Barbican Hall
Tickets from £20 plus booking fee

Legendary East London DIY outfit Church of Sound marks 10 years of music making and their Barbican debut in a vivid celebration of British jazz’s past, present and future.

Coinciding with the release of a gatefold 10th Birthday compilation album this debut appearance at Barbican will incorporate works both old and new into a celebratory programme. The wide-ranging evening with a stellar line up of jazz musicians aims to acknowledge Church of Sound, and its widespread community, as a significant factor in the here and now of the British jazz continuum - standing atop the shoulders of their forefathers while maintaining a firm focus on what the future might hold.

The evening night opens in the form of a songbook, looking back in time to shine a light on what many refer to as a golden era of British jazz, from 1965 to 1975. Luminaries such as Ian Carr, Stan Tracey, Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and many others were in mystical form throughout this time, putting out album after album of classics that were to shape so much yet to come. Music that has, in following years, been much cherished by collectors and listeners alike. Through the continuing programme and evening, Church of Sound will situate this era of jazz as foundational to the continuum of British music as we know it, taking audiences on a journey through the years and into the future.

Line up for the evening includes: Byron Wallen (trumpet/MD), Jas Kayser (drums), Daniel Casimir (bass), Tamar Osborn (baritone, flute), Oscar Jerome (guitar), Cassie Kinoshi (alto/effects), Norma Winstone (vocals), with more to be announced.

Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious and Church of Sound
Find out more

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Take Five Showcase: David Kayode and Marlon The Pannist
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2026
Saturday 21 November 2026, 7.30pm
The Pit
Tickets from £19 plus booking fee

Two alumni from the Take Five educational talent development programme showcase bold new directions in UK jazz - David Kayode's saxophone-led compositions and Marlon Hibbert a.k.a Marlon the Pannist’s contemporary steelpan.

David Kayode is a London-based saxophonist, composer and bandleader whose music draws on Yoruba musical traditions, Afro-diasporic rhythms and contemporary jazz. Marlon Hibbert is a steelpan player, composer and arranger whose work brings together jazz, calypso and Caribbean musical traditions. A Guildhall School of Music & Drama graduate and founder of the Endurance Steel Orchestra, Hibbert was also the first musician to graduate from the school performing on steelpan. Both artists are alumni of Serious' Take Five artist development programme.

This double bill brings together two distinctive voices in contemporary UK jazz. Kayode's rhythm-driven compositions sit alongside Hibbert's inventive approach to the steelpan, offering two different perspectives on jazz shaped by heritage, improvisation and original composition.

Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious
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The Joy
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2026
Sunday 22 November 2026, 7.30pm
Barbican Hall
Tickets from £31.50 plus booking fee

South African vocal group The Joy return to the Barbican with their rich Zulu harmonies beautifully blended with contemporary songwriting.

The Joy are a South African vocal group from KwaZulu-Natal whose close vocal harmonies are rooted in Zulu musical traditions. Since emerging in 2021, they've reached audiences around the world through collaborations with Doja Cat and The Blessed Madonna, alongside performances on Later... with Jools Holland and The Jennifer Hudson Show.

As part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2026, The Joy return with a performance centred on the remarkable blend of their voices. Bringing together original songs and South African choral traditions, their music is intimate, expressive and unmistakably their own.

Produced by Serious 
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