The London Jazz Festival is a

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

and the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

and in smaller jazz clubs, such as

Ronnie Scott's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sco ...

and the

Vortex Jazz Club The Vortex Jazz Club is a music venue in London, England. It was founded by David Mossman in the 1988. Background The Vortex started as a jazz club in 1988 and was located in Stoke Newington Church Street, north London. But after the acquisi ...

. It is produced by Serious.

History

In 1970 the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

added a Jazz Week to the

Camden Festival Camden Festival was an annual spring festival founded in 1954 and held in London, England. Originally, it was named the St Pancras Festival until 1965. It continued until 1987. The festival specialised in the revival of long-forgotten operas, some ...

. During the next fifteen years, the Camden Jazz Weeks were held at venues around the borough:

Bloomsbury Theatre The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre on Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 547 and offers a professional programme of innovative music, drama, come ...

, Logan Hall,

London Forum The O Forum Kentish Town is a concert venue in Kentish Town, London, England owned by MAMA & Company, and originally built in 1934. History The venue was built in 1934 and was originally used as an art deco cinema. After the cinema was close ...

, Roundhouse, and

Shaw Theatre The Shaw Theatre is a theatre in Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. It is a part of the Pullman London St Pancras hotel, located off Euston Road. St Pancras library Before being refurbished in 1998, the Shaw Theatre originally ope ...

. By the early nineties, the Camden Festival was closed. In 1992 the company Serious, which had produced the Camden festival, started the London Jazz Festival with help from the

London Arts Board The regional arts boards (formerly regional arts associations) were English regional subdivisions of the Arts Council of Great Britain History As the Arts Council began to move away from organising art activities in the 1950s, regional offices ...

. In 2011, the festival was produced in association with

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. The festival is branded as the EFG London Jazz Festival, reflecting headline sponsorship since 2013 by EFG Private Bank, part of Switzerland's

EFG International EFG International is a global private banking group offering private banking and asset management services, headquartered in Zurich. EFG International's group of private banking businesses operates in around 40 locations worldwide, with more than ...

. A history of the festival was published in 2017 to commemorate its 25th anniversary. Written by Emma Webster and George McKay, the book arose from collaboration between the festival and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

and was funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (2015–16). McKay was the inaugural Professor in Residence at the 2014 festival, and Webster the Researcher-in-Residence in 2016. The book covers the history of London as a city of jazz festivals since about 1949 and includes material on festivals at Bracknell, Camden, Crawley, and Richmond/Reading. In 2018, the final of the BBC Young Jazz Musician competition formed part of the festival, and the performances at the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

were broadcast the following day by

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

References

External links

* {{Authority control Jazz festivals in the United Kingdom Music festivals in London Annual events in London Music festivals established in 1992 1992 establishments in England