From 8 October to 30 November, Madrid will once again become the European epicentre of jazz thanks to this festival, featuring 70 concerts and over 200 events that bring together the most prominent figures on the scene today. The 2023 programme is once again a perfect combination of big names, classic jazz, contemporary jazz, musicians working on the margins of jazz looking for new formulas, and artists who adapt their ethnic rhythms to jazz music.
View the full programme the 2023 Festival (Spanish-English)
The official programme will take place mainly at the following venues: Teatro Fernán Gómez. Centro Cultural de la Villa, CentroCentro, Centro Cultural Conde Duque and Cineteca Madrid, as well as at the Teatro Pavón, Sala Villanos (where 54 concerts will be held), La Riviera and Teatros del Canal. Other partner venues and institutions will also be hosting events as part of this unmissable jazz festival.
Among the big international names on the line-up, audiences can enjoy performances by Ron Carter (one of the most outstanding artists of this festival, which marks the end of his tour) , Mike Stern, Billy Cobham, Patricia Barber, Ralph Towner, Bebel Gilberto, Charles Lloyd and Tigran Hamasyan.
The emerging artists featured include Samara Joy and Madison McFerrin alongside established names such as Stacy Kent and Cécile McLorin; you can also discover young musicians who explore the shores of jazz such as Alpha Mist and Kaki King, or the exotic rhythms of Rabih Abou Khalil, Azymuth (coming to Spain for the first time), Fatoumata Diawara, Mayra Andrade and Mulatu Astatke.
And, of course, there will be some established names and new artists from the Spanish scene such as Pepe Rivero and Ángela Cervantes, saxophonist Juan Saiz, pianist Moisés P. Sánchez, saxophonist Irene Reig, drummer Eva Catalá and trumpeter and singer Andrea Motis.
Villanos del Jazz- which for the third consecutive year is part of the official programme of JAZZMADRID - will be kicking off this edition on 8 October with Immanuel Wilkins performing at Sala Villanos. The line-up includes a host of attractive names such as Bebel Gilberto, Corinne Bailey Rae, TheCookers, Alfredo Rodríguez, Birélli Lagrène, Tigran Hamasyan, Ibrahim Maalouf, Azymuth, DhaferYoussef, Antonio Lizana, Jose James, Billy Cobham, Mark Guiliana, Harold López-Nussa and Benny Sings.
One of the surprises in store at this festival is that, as before, it will also feature blues concerts, for example through the exceptional musical stylings of Elliott Sharp. British guitarist Kaki King will also be performing, as will singer Mayra Andrade, from Cabo Verde, who some are dubbing the successor to Cesária Évora.
There are a great many female artists in this year’s line-up, including Cyrille Aimée, Bebel Gilberto and Corine Bailey Rae, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Andrea Motis, Patricia Barber and Ángela Cervantes, along with major ensembles such as the Big Band de Arturo Soria and the Creativa Grand Ensemble.
Another major feature of the JAZZMADRID programme is its eclecticism. This is evident in the concerts by British producer and composer Alfa Mist, singers Andrade and Samara Joy (winner of a recent Grammy Award), the Rembrandt Trio, from the Netherlands, and the guitarist and pianist Ralph Towner.
