Live & Upcoming Programmes

Wayne Shorter

Wayne Shorter

Estival Jazz Lugano is an annual, open-air music festival that takes place over five days in the picturesque city of Lugano, Switzerland. Since 1979, this musical Mecca has been a must-attend event for all jazz and world music fans worldwide. In July 1996, renowned American saxophonist Wayne Shorter and his quintet performed at Estival Jazz Lugano. Together with pianist Jim Beard, guitarist David Gilmore, bassist Alphonso Johnson, and drummer Rodney van Holmes, Shorter shows he is still at his best.

2025-12-21 03:59:21 +0000 UTC2025-12-21 04:48:05 +0000 UTC(48m)
Oscar Peterson Trio, Stuff Smith & Ella Fitzgerald

Oscar Peterson Trio, Stuff Smith & Ella Fitzgerald

The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is a world-renowned concert hall, known for its first-rate acoustics. It has attracted many famous performers over the years and is one of the Netherlands' most treasured musical institutions. On May 5, 1957, jazz impresario Norman Granz presented his Jazz at the Philharmonic tour at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson and his trio of guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown are later joined by trumpeter Roy Eldridge and drummer Jo Jones. As an added attraction, American violinist Stuff Smith joins the proceedings. American singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by pianist Don Abney, Ellis, Brown and Jones, hits her vocal peak in a stunning set that culminates in a jam session of It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) with the entire ensemble.

2025-12-20 20:59:34 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 22:32:05 +0000 UTC(1h32m)
Mike Stern

Mike Stern

Guitarist Mike Stern and violin player Didier Lockwood sharing a stage: that promises a good show! After playing for years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Mike Stern landed a gig with drummer Billy Cobham and then broke through with Miles Davis' comeback band in the 1980s. Didier Lockwood played in jazz fusion band Magma during the 1970s and is known for his use of electric amplification and experimentation. Together they perform a unique duo concert at the beautiful antique theatre in Vienne, France.

2025-12-20 19:44:37 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 20:59:34 +0000 UTC(1h14m)
Avishai Cohen

Avishai Cohen

Double bassist Avishai Cohen's trio with Noam David (drums) and Omri Mor (pianist) joined forces with the international Symphony Orchestra ‘INSO-Lviv', conducted by Christian Schumann. On June 24, 2017 they brought Avishai Cohen's signature blend of influences from Eastern Europe, American jazz and the Middle East to the Alfa Jazz Festival in Lviv, Ukraine. Cohen, who also supplies vocalizations in the Judeo-Spanish dialect Ladino, came to prominence internationally in the 1990s when jazz great Chick Corea offered him a place in his trio and a recording deal. Thirty years later, Cohen has become a house-hold name himself, leaving his Ukrainian audience enthralled and connected through the universal language of music.

2025-12-20 19:36:43 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 19:44:37 +0000 UTC(7m)
Herbie Hancock & The Headhunter

Herbie Hancock & The Headhunter

American keyboard player and bandleader Herbie Hancock (1940) achieved success as an incisive, harmonically provocative jazz pianist in the 1960s, then went on to gain wide popularity as a leader of electric jazz-rock groups. One of these, Hancock's band The Headhunters, ushered in a new era of jazz that appealed to a far wider audience, making jazz listeners out of rhythm and blues fans, and vice versa. In 1974, The Headhunters appeared on German television, playing Palm Grease, Sly, Butterfly, Spank-A-Lee, and Chameleon. Hancock (keys) is joined by Bennie Maupin (saxophones), Paul Jackson (electric bass), Mike Clark (drums) and Bill Summer (percussion).

2025-12-20 18:14:39 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 19:27:33 +0000 UTC(1h12m)
Franco Ambrosetti, George Gruntz, Steve Coleman & J.F. Clark

Franco Ambrosetti, George Gruntz, Steve Coleman & J.F. Clark

Since 1977, Estival is a summer jazz festival in Switzerland, Lugano. Estival offers a thrilling and particularly surprising line-up that explores the rich world of contemporary music whilst promoting the understanding of different cultures, tolerance, and co-existence. The composer, trumpeter and bugle player Franco Ambrosetti performs with his quintet in his native Lugano as part of the Estival.

2025-12-20 16:59:43 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 18:14:39 +0000 UTC(1h14m)
China Moses, Joe Armon Jones & Luke Wynter

China Moses, Joe Armon Jones & Luke Wynter

In 1988, Dee Dee Bridgewater was one of the first great jazz singers to perform at the Jazz Festival in Ramatuelle. In 2016, the story seems to repeat itself as her daughter China Moses took the stage at Ramatuelle. Over the years, China Moses has become a mature performer with a unique style: rocky voice, sharp sense of swing, and intense/energetic stage presence. After signing compilations dedicated to Dinah Washington and blues, Moses released in 2016 an album of his own compositions, entitled "Whatever". Get ready for a most entertaining performance combining jazz, soul, and hip-hop.

2025-12-20 14:59:46 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 16:52:08 +0000 UTC(1h52m)
Herbie Hancock & The Headhunter

Herbie Hancock & The Headhunter

American keyboard player and bandleader Herbie Hancock (1940) achieved success as an incisive, harmonically provocative jazz pianist in the 1960s, then went on to gain wide popularity as a leader of electric jazz-rock groups. One of these, Hancock's band The Headhunters, ushered in a new era of jazz that appealed to a far wider audience, making jazz listeners out of rhythm and blues fans, and vice versa. In 1974, The Headhunters appeared on German television, playing Palm Grease, Sly, Butterfly, Spank-A-Lee, and Chameleon. Hancock (keys) is joined by Bennie Maupin (saxophones), Paul Jackson (electric bass), Mike Clark (drums) and Bill Summer (percussion).

2025-12-20 09:14:56 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 10:27:50 +0000 UTC(1h12m)
Franco Ambrosetti, George Gruntz, Steve Coleman & J.F. Clark

Franco Ambrosetti, George Gruntz, Steve Coleman & J.F. Clark

Since 1977, Estival is a summer jazz festival in Switzerland, Lugano. Estival offers a thrilling and particularly surprising line-up that explores the rich world of contemporary music whilst promoting the understanding of different cultures, tolerance, and co-existence. The composer, trumpeter and bugle player Franco Ambrosetti performs with his quintet in his native Lugano as part of the Estival.

2025-12-20 08:00:00 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 09:14:56 +0000 UTC(1h14m)
Quincy Jones, Porter Kilbert, Phil Woods & Budd Johnson

Quincy Jones, Porter Kilbert, Phil Woods & Budd Johnson

‘Jazz Icons: Quincy Jones' spotlights a young ‘Q' conducting his ‘dream band'—an 18-piece orchestra of world-renowned players such as Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Sahib Shihab, Budd Johnson and Benny Bailey. This recording features 5 songs and is one of the finest examples of big band jazz ever to be captured on film. Shot in Belgium in 1961, this concert is one of the only known visual documents of this legendary tour.

2025-12-20 07:14:58 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 07:43:47 +0000 UTC(28m)
Stan Getz

Stan Getz

Regarded as the greatest instrumental soloist of all-time, Stanley Gayetzky, famously known as Stan Getz emerged as one of the most significant musical forces in the world of jazz post World War II. With his distinctively warm and lyrical tone, Getz is fondly dubbed as ‘The Sound' because of his singularity and musical innovations. His commitment to music is evident from his long body of work that includes over 300 pieces of musical compositions. Ranked among America's top tenor saxophone players, Getz was a gifted saxophonist who could play just about anything on it, a quality that put him on top of the polls. He is accredited for playing some of the best jazz with some of the best jazzmen in the country. However, his personal life was a rollercoaster ride — tumultuous and loused up by abjection, alcohol, addiction and furious flare-ups. This program shows his last public performance, recorded at Munich Philharmonic Hall, Germany on July 18, 1990. Stan Getz (tenor sax) is accompanied by Kenny Barron (piano), Eddie Del Barrio and Frank Zottoli (synthesizers), Alex Blake (bass) and Terri Lyne Carrington (drums).

2025-12-20 05:00:00 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 06:59:44 +0000 UTC(1h59m)
Kenny Barron

Kenny Barron

Pianist Kenny Barron's June 27, 2019 appearance at the Alfa Jazz Festival in Ukraine's Lviv was a celebration of sublime jazz virtuosity. The revered elder statesmen of jazz piano brought his regular working trio of Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass) and Jonathan Blake (drums), augmented by stellar jazzman Marcus Strickland (tenor saxophone) and young lion Riley Mulherkar (trumpet). Their seamless blend of classic bebop and modern explorations spoke of a deep, emotive connection to each note, captivating the Ukrainian audience with lyrical improvisations during this unforgettable concert.

2025-12-20 04:42:31 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 05:00:00 +0000 UTC(17m)
Miriam Makeba, J.K. Naimro, Stanley Todd & Al Sanders

Miriam Makeba, J.K. Naimro, Stanley Todd & Al Sanders

Since 1977, Estival is a summer jazz festival in Switzerland, Lugano. Estival offers a thrilling and particularly surprising line-up that explores the rich world of contemporary music whilst promoting the understanding of different cultures, tolerance, and co-existence. Miriam Makeba, also named Mama Africa, was a South African singer, actress, United Nations goodwill ambassador, and civil-rights activist. Her career flourished in the US, where she released several albums. Makeba was among the first African musicians to receive worldwide recognition. She brought African music to a Western audience, and popularized the world music and Afropop genres. Her performances at Estival Lugano is beyond incredible. Her voice, the power and the soul summarizes her musicality in 40 minutes, together with her band and extremely talented backing-vocals.

2025-12-20 03:59:19 +0000 UTC2025-12-20 04:42:31 +0000 UTC(43m)
David Linx

David Linx

This might come unexpected, but the Brussels Jazz Orchestra (BJO) is not the kind of jazz orchestra that sticks to standards. They prefer to achieve the highest level by composing original music, creating unique arrangements, and playing inventively as well as passionately. In fact, it really is jazz with a dynamic orchestral sound, with a classic strength in which each musician is also a brilliant soloist. Call it an ‘orchestrated passion for jazz' that incites BJO to create world-class music. Founded in 1993 by Frank Vaganée, Serge Plume and Marc Godfroid, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra is recognised and has been subsidised by the Flemish Government since. Brussels Jazz Orchestra is orchestra in residence at Flagey in Brussels. During this project the BJO performs with David Linx. The Belgian jazz singer will resort to any idiom, any language, any time signature. Occasionally he seems to dispense with bar lines altogether, or he will go beyond lyrics, as he abandons his own words for some free-wheeling scat.

2025-12-19 20:44:32 +0000 UTC2025-12-19 22:49:47 +0000 UTC(2h5m)
John Scofield

John Scofield

The North Sea Jazz Festival is the largest indoor music festival in the world, known globally as the event where the past, present and future of jazz are featured within three days. Next to a firm base of jazz as the festival's staple music genre, many others, such as blues, soul, funk, or hip hop, pass by. In 1986, multi-talented American guitarist John Scofield and his band performed an electrifying concert at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. First known for playing with Miles Davis, Scofield shows here that he earned that pedigree.

2025-12-19 19:29:35 +0000 UTC2025-12-19 20:35:35 +0000 UTC(1h6m)