Brick Lane Jazz Festival 2026 preview: 10 acts you need to see
The annual East London jazz extravaganza runs from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th April across multiple venues.
Celebrating its fifth year in 2026, Brick Lane Jazz Festival has become a byword for great music and emerging talent.
Showcasing both established and new artists – the festival takes place between Friday 24th and Sunday 26th April. You can grab day tickets for between £39.95 and £74.95. A weekend ticket will set you back £139. With a stellar line-up covering many shades of jazz, RnB, hip-hop and more – you can’t say fairer than that.
The festival happens across the multiple venues that are nestled along Brick Lane and a couple more just a short walk from the famous East London street. Village Underground, 93 Feet East and Rich Mix provide larger hub venues. Meanwhile, music development organisation Jazz re:freshed curate a stunning line-up at the intimate 91 Living Room. Café 1001 will host DJs and provide a perfect place to chill-out between live acts – while further artists will grace the stages of Rough Trade East, Juju’s Bar and Stage, and more.
If you want to get a glimpse of what the future of UK jazz might look like, then why not stop in at Brick Lane Tap, which will play host to young musicians from the Tomorrow’s Warriors Programme. That’s the youth music club that helped give us Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia and many others. Below, we pick 10 of the best acts to catch at this incredible event.
1. Ruby Rushton
- Friday 24th April
- Rough Trade East
For the uninitiated, Ruby Rushton is in fact a band and not a person! Formed in 2011, they are pioneers in contemporary UK jazz, fusing the influence of classic artists like Herbie Hancock and John Coltrane with touches of afrobeat, Latin, hip-hop and more. Led by saxophonist and flautist Ed Cawthorne AKA Tenderlonious, the band has a clutch of much praised albums under their belt. As part of a showcase for their bandleader’s label 22a – they also delivered the first Boiler Room set to feature a full live jazz performance. Not to be missed.
2. Charlie Stacey
- Friday 24th April
- Rich Mix
Charlie Stacey has built a reputation as one of the most skilled pianists on the UK jazz scene today. A hugely in demand player, he has worked with the likes of Yusuf Dayes, Dargz and BLCK ODYSSY. Like so many of his contemporaries, he’s an alumnus of Tomorrow’s Warriors. For this performance Stacey will be playing material from his forthcoming record as well as tracks from his EP The Light Beyond Time.
3. anaiis & Grupo Cosmo
- Friday 24th April
- Village Underground
London based French-Senegalese singer anaiis has developed a strong following and a distinctive place in the music scene with her sophisticated blends of R+B, soul and jazz. This performance brings together her vocal prowess with Brazilian trio Grupo Cosmo. Together they released a self-titled EP that blends everything from rock to bossa nova and 1970s psychedelia. This gig promises to be one of the highlights of the festival.
4. Tanhai Collective
- Saturday 25th April
- Juju’s Bar and Stage
Six-piece London band Tanhai Collective specialise in a distinctive blend of instrumental soul-jazz and touches of post rock. Delivering ear grabbing melodies, foot tapping grooves and bags of atmosphere, their set at Juju’s Bar and stage is bound to be a memorable one at this year’s event.
5. Jembaa Groove
- Saturday 25th April
- Juju’s Bar and Stage
Berlin based collective Jembaa Groove were founded in 2020 by Ghanaian percussionist and vocalist Eric Owusu and German bassist and producer Yannick Nolting. With a sound rooted in Ghanaian tradition, highlife and global groove-based music – they have fast become a torchbearer for contemporary Afro-jazz. Delivering intricate polyrhythms and intoxicating grooves, they have developed a reputation for highly immersive live shows.
6. Levitation Orchestra
- Saturday 25th April
- Rich Mix
The eleven piece Levitation Orchestra features several musicians known for their own solo output – harpist Marysia Osu, trumpeter Axel Kaner-Lidstrom and vocalist Plumm. Together with their band mates, they deliver a heady blend of spiritual, progressive and avant-garde jazz. For anyone heading to the festival on the Saturday, the band’s set at Rich Mix is bound to be engaging, uplifting and highly memorable.
7. Richard Spaven
- Saturday 25th April
- 91 Living Room
Drummer, producer and band leader Richard Spaven makes a distinctive sound combining detailed contemporary jazz with electronica and hip-hop. Playing at the intimate 91 Living Room – Spaven’s set offers the chance to witness a drumming masterclass, while appreciating the heady sonic fusions that the artist brings together. Having played with musicians as varied as Jordan Rakei, Guru, Flying Lotus and Loyle Carner – Spaven is a skilled operator who fuses styles in distinct and ever engaging ways.
8. Kinzoogianna
- Sunday 26th April
- 91 Living Room
Keyboardist, singer and producer Anna Stubbs aka Kinzoogianna is bound to bring a bucket load of fun and sass to her performance at 91 Living Room. Having established herself as part of Brotherly, a band that dealt in shades of jazztronica and broken beat – she branched out on her own. As a solo artist she explores the influences of house, electronica and synth pop as well as jazz. With her 2025 album The Clique of ’86, Stubbs recounted messy nights out in Essex, set to tunes that drew heavily on the late 80s. Her set is bound to bring a smile to the faces of all those who check her out.
9. Amanda Whiting
- Sunday 26th April
- Rich Mix
A classically trained musician, Amanda Whiting channels the greats of harp based spiritual jazz such as Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby – while taking on a distinctly multi-genre approach. Fusing jazz with cinematic arrangements, hip-hop and more, she has become an ever intriguing and deeply engaging artist across albums like 2024’s the Liminality of Her. If you’re looking for a sound that is emotive and stirring, while also acting as a soothing balm, you can’t go wrong with Amanda Whiting.
10. Joe Armon-Jones
- Sunday 26th April
- Village Underground
Closing out the festival at Village Underground, its largest venue, is none other than Ezra Collective keys man, solo artist and producer Joe Armon-Jones. Across several albums he has created a distinctive take on contemporary jazz, infusing it with electronica and dub aesthetics. With 2025’s two-part epic All The Quiet, Armon-Jones delivered a concept album about a dystopian future where music is dying out as it hasn’t been nurtured and protected. A heady dub influenced set, the album is in many places uplifting and energising despite its theme. He’s sure to draw heavily on this record as well as his previous efforts in what is bound to be a perfect set to see out the event.
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