2026 in jazz

2026 in jazz
Decade	2020s in jazz
Music	2026 in music
Standards	List of jazz standards
See also	2025 in jazz – 2027 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting the events of jazz in the year 2026.

Events

• January 15 – Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) announces Hanno Busch as the recipient of the WDR Jazzpreis 2026, and the Big Band der Humanwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität zu Köln ('Big Band of the Faculty of Human Sciences at the University of Cologne) as the recipient of the 2026 Nachwuchspreis ('Young Talent Award'). ^[1]
• January 28 – The Melbourne International Jazz Festival announces the appointment of Xani Kolac as its 2026 Take Note programme leader. ^[2]
• January 29 – Jazz at Lincoln Center announces that Wynton Marsalis is to stand down as its artistic director in July 2027. ^[3]
• February 27 – Jazz St. Louis announces that Victor Goines has stood down as its president and chief executive officer. ^[4]
• April 23–25 – The Jazzahead festival takes place in Bremen, Germany. ^[5]
• May 29–31 – The Java Jazz Festival takes place in its new venue, the Nusantara International Convention Exhibition, PIK 2. ^[6]

Albums

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Month	Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
January	9	Dave Stryker	Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session	Strikezone Records		[7]
February	13	Julie Campiche	Unspoken	Ronin Rhythm Records		[8] [9]
March	3	John Pizzarelli	Dear Mr. Bennett	Green Hill Music		[10]
		Tomeka Reid	Dance! Skip! Hop!	Out Of Your Head Records		[11] [12]
	6	Shabaka	Of the Earth	Shabaka Records		[13]

All critically reviewed albums ranked

Metacritic

Number	Artist	Album	Average score	Number of reviews	Reference
1	Shabaka	Of The Earth	85	6	[14]
2	The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis	Deface The Currency	83	4	[15]
3	Pat Metheny	Side-Eye III+	83	5	[16]
4	Bill Frisell	In My Dreams	78	6	[17]
5	Julian Lage	Scenes From Above	76	5	[18]

Deaths

• January 26
  • Richie Beirach, American jazz pianist and composer, 78 ^[19]
  • Ian McDougall, Canadian jazz trombonist and academic, 87 ^[20]
• February 2 – Ken Peplowski, American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, 66 ^[21]
• February 7 – Kåre Grøttum, Norwegian jazz pianist and composer, 92 ^[22]
• February 9 – Michel Portal, French jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer, 90 ^[23]

See also

• List of 2026 albums
• List of jazz festivals
• List of years in jazz
• 2026 in music

References

1. "Der WDR Jazzpreis 2026" (Press release). WDR. 15 January 2026. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
2. "Introducing MIJF's 2026 Take Note Jazz Leader" (Press release). Melbourne International Jazz Festival. 28 January 2026. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
3. Robin Pogrebin (2026-01-29). "Wynton Marsalis, Founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center, to Step Down". The New York Times. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
4. Jeremy D. Goodwin (2026-02-27). "Victor Goines leaves Jazz St. Louis after leading it since 2022". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
5. "Danish Artists ready for Jazzahead 2026". Jazz Danmark. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
6. "Java Jazz Festival 2026". Java Jazz Festival. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
7. "Blue Fire - The Van Gelder Session". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
8. "Unspoken Bandcamp". Bandcamp . Retrieved 7 March 2026.
9. Fordham, John (30 January 2026). "Julie Campiche: Unspoken review – a harpist's tender, quietly radical hymn to women who endure". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
10. Enos, Morgan (January 12, 2026). "Mondays with Morgan: John Pizzarelli – new album Dear Mr. Bennett". UK Jazz News. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
11. "dance! skip! hop! Out of Your Head Records" . Retrieved March 7, 2026.
12. Fordham, John (27 February 2026). "Tomeka Reid: Dance! Skip! Hop! review – an early contender for jazz album of the year". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
13. Flynn, Mike (January 14, 2026). "Shabaka announces new solo album Of the Earth for March 2026 ahead of Village Underground launch". Jazzwise. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
14. "Of The Earth Metacritic". Metacritic . Retrieved March 7, 2026.
15. "Deface The Currency Metacritic", Metacritic , retrieved March 7, 2026
16. "Side-Eye III+ Metacritic". Metacritic . Retrieved March 7, 2026.
17. "In My Dreams Metacritic". Metacritic . Retrieved March 7, 2026.
18. "Scenes From Above Metacritic". Metacritic . Retrieved March 7, 2026.
19. Amorosi, A. D. (27 January 2026). "Richard Beirach, Pianist, Composer, Early ECM Stalwart, Dies at 78". Jazztimes. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
20. "Ian McDougall obituary". Victoria Times. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
21. Michael J. West (2026-02-03). "In Memoriam: Ken Peplowski, 1959–2026". Downbeat. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
22. "Kåre Idar Grøttum". Heder – M. Jacobsen gravferd. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
23. Suzana Kubik (2026-02-15). "Mort de Michel Portal, un musicien sans frontières". France Musique. Retrieved 2026-02-16.

External links

• Jazz portal