Brick Lane Jazz Festival announces full conference line-up and further artists for 2026 edition
New speaker additions include:
Josh Mason-Ǫuinn (Somewhere Soul), JGrrey (musician, Marathon Music Group imprint & Women In Jazz partner PACE), Jas Kayser (musician), Nigel House (Director at Rough Trade), Soweto Kinch (award-winning saxophonist & broadcaster), Fia Roberts (mixing / mastering engineer), Marina GB (creative producer, Ladies Music Pub), Alison Farmery (Help Musicians), Fred Bolza (founder, New Soil), Alexandria Carr (Contemporary Music Programmer, Southbank), Naomi Palmer (head of Earth Agency), Clara Cullen (Help Musicians), Elizabeth Sills (PRS Foundation), DJ Ritu (turntablist, co-founder of Club Kali), Bobby Friction (DJ, Sound Artist Management), Farook Joi (Bangla Soundsystem), Emma Warren (author & journalist), Toddla T (DJ, producer, and radio host), Cathy Runciman (co-executive director of Earth Percent), Santiago Moralez (Alma De Selva) (artist, producer, DJ & founder of Bonita Worldwide), Roxanne Tataei (vocal artist, performer & composer), Studio Moross, Gabriel Starkey (Tomorrow’s Warriors Learning Producer), Binker Golding (jazz artist, composer, and Tomorrow’s Warriors Music Leader), Adrian Newman (head of Lambeth Music Service), Romarna Campbell (jazz artist, composer, and Tomorrow’s Warriors Music Leader), Steez Factory (DJ, producer, and radio host) + more.
New line-up additions:
FERDI, Lucinda Chua (Pro Pass required), Esk (dj set), Eliana Glass, David Mrakpor, Jay Verma, Raidaa (dj set) + LEV & KingCrowney, Charlotte Dos Santos, Steam Down (playing with a 10 piece brass section from NYJO), JGrrey, and HolyBrune and Girls Of The Internet.
23rd – 26th April 2026 | Pro Pass tickets start from just £19 | Early bird festival tickets start from just £34.95 | Payment plans from just £11 per month
Having firmly established itself as a cornerstone of East London’s musical landscape, Brick Lane Jazz Festival has earned a reputation for spotlighting local artists and emerging trailblazers from the city’s thriving underground scenes, whilst honouring the jazz legends that have come before them. Always striving to find new ways to support the next generation of talent, the festival recently announced details of a new conference program along with a new release of Pro Pass tickets that will give attendees access to a range of talks, workshops, exhibits, and exclusive performances.
Brick Lane Jazz Festival returns for their fifth birthday edition from 23rd – 26th April 2026, the new conference sees a host of inimitable and eclectic speakers join a stacked line-up headlined by Joe Armon-Jones, Brian Jackson, and anaiis & Grupo Cosmo. Today, they have announced a new wave of panellists to reveal the full line-up which features everyone from multi-award winning saxophonist and community leader Ahnansé; co-founder of jazz mentoring charity Tomorrow’s Warriors, Gary Crosby OBE; the Women In Jazz collective; audio tech pioneers Solid State Logic; Swedish keyboard manufacturers Nord; French synthesizer manufacturers Arturia; and ethical streaming tastemaker service Qobuz; through to Tru Thoughts Records; DJ, and broadcaster, Rohan Rakhit; hip-hop activist and mentor Eerf Evil; Brownswood label manager Valentine Comar; New Soil label founder Fred Bolza; (Jazz artist, composer, and Tomorrow’s Warriors Music Leader, Binker Golding; award-winning Jazz Journalist, Jane Cornwell; Director of Rough Trade UK, Nigel House; award-winning saxophonist & broadcaster, Soweto Kinch; author & journalist, Emma Warren, and many more.
The conference will be held in the festival’s new venue, the ‘Flow State Hub’ - an open-plan warehouse space opposite Juju’s Bar & Stage in the heart of the festival site in Ely’s Yard, while Juju’s Bar & Stage will host their evening networking mixers. There will also be opportunities for structured networking sessions in partnership with Women in Jazz at Juju’s Bar, which will include one-to-one mentoring sessions with industry professionals, as well as some less formal networking mixers. Festival sponsors, One Jazz Radio, will be broadcasting live from the conference venue, with exclusive performances from Eliana Glass, Lucinda Chua, David Mrakpor & Jay Verma on the Nord stage included.
Speaking on the conference, the festival’s founder, Juliet Kennedy says, “Our aim is to empower artists and music professionals by connecting people across the industry, encouraging meaningful exchange, and helping create sustainable opportunities within London’s grassroots music ecosystem.”
Independent apparel, lifestyle, homeware, and cosmetics retailer, Goodhood, will also be joining the conference as a partner. The store will be providing a retail outlet for some of the festival’s cutting-edge exhibitor audio equipment in the conference hub, with their store next door to Juju’s Bar. 0% volunteer led not-for-profit, The National Jazz Archive, will also be present in the conference hub with an archival exhibit and pop-up shop selling early edition jazz records & merch.
Full conference line-up:
Andre Marmot (Earth Agency), Sophie Farrel (co-founder, Sister Midnight), Robert Luis (Label Head Tru Thoughts), Valentine Comar (Label Manager, Brownswood), Asher Korner (co-founder, Route 73), JGrrey (musician, Marathon Music Group imprint & Women In Jazz partner PACE), Soweto Kinch (Award-winning saxophonist & broadcaster), Nigel House (Director, Rough Trade UK) Lou Paley (director and founder of Women in Jazz), Jas Kayser (Musician), Fia Roberts (mixing / mastering engineer), Marina GB (creative producer, Ladies Music Pub), Alison Farmery (Help Musicians), Fred Bolza (Founder, New Soil), Alexandria Carr (Contemporary Music Programmer, Southbank), Naomi Palmer (head of Earth Agency), Clara Cullen (Help Musicians), Shannon-Latoyah Simon (British Council), Elizabeth Sills (PRS Foundation), Yvette Griffith (NYJO), Ahnansé (founder, Steam Down), Josh Mason-Ǫuinn (Somewhere Soul), Charlie Fenemer (Orii Comunity), Rohan Rakhit (DJ, broadcaster & curator, Daytimers & WWFM), DJ Ritu (turntablist, co-founder of Club Kali), Bobby Friction (DJ, Sound Artist Management), Farook Joi (Bangla Soundsystem), Jane Cornwell (award-winning Jazz Journalist), Gary Crosby OBE (Co Founder Tomorrows Warriors), Brian Jackson (musician, Jazz-funk pioneer), Emma Warren (author & journalist), Eerf Evil (artist, organiser, & co founder of the Silhouettes project), Toddla T (DJ, producer, and radio host), Cathy Runciman (co-executive director of Earth Percent), Santiago Moralez (Alma De Selva) (artist, producer, DJ & founder of Bonita Worldwide), Roxanne Tataei (vocal artist, performer & composer), Studio Moross, Gabriel Starkey (Tomorrow’s Warriors Learning Producer), Binker Golding (jazz artist, composer, and Tomorrow’s Warriors Music Leader), Adrian Newman (head of Lambeth Music Service), Rhys Baker (label Manager, Tru Thoughts), Romarna Campbell (jazz artist, composer, and Tomorrow’s Warriors Music Leader, and Steez Factory (DJ, producer, and radio host)
Pro Pass tickets are available now from just £19. Full conference programme and tickets here
More information about Brick Lane Jazz Festival 2026:
Growing from its modest debut across four venues in 2022 to a 12-stage extravaganza spanning Brick Lane and Shoreditch in just five years, the festival was named #1 Best London Festival by The London Standard in 2024, and has earned plaudits from the likes of The Guardian, Metro, NOTION, Clash, The Line Of Best Fit, Jazzwise, All About Jazz, UK Jazz, Elle, Wonderland, TimeOut, Jazz FM, Rinse FM, One Jazz, Worldwide FM, and many more. Since 2024, the festival has also amplified its impact with the launch of BLJF Presents - a year-round series of events showcasing the UK’s most exciting artists, record labels, and parties. After sell-out shows in Manchester, Brighton, London and more, BLJF Presents is heading to new heights in 2025/26 with more regional stops in the likes of Bristol and Glasgow, as well as two international shows in Brussels.
Bringing together an eclectic range of genre-defying artists to play against the backdrop of some of the capital’s most renowned cultural hotspots. All the festival venues are within a short walk from the central hub at the iconic Truman Brewery space on Brick Lane, transforming the site and surrounding area into a vibrant hive of gig-hopping excitement for three days every April.
Reflecting on this fifth birthday edition Kennedy says, “From day one, Brick Lane Jazz Festival has been about shining a light on the incredible talent in London’s jazz scene. Five years on, Brick Lane Jazz Festival has grown into a landmark celebration of the UK’s underground music community. It’s been incredible to see the festival become a space where artists and audiences connect so powerfully – and this is only the beginning. Our ambition is to keep pushing boundaries and championing the next wave of talent for many years to come. We’re only just getting started!”
The first wave of 2026’s stellar line-up saw them bringing together a borderless array of artists that span jazz, alt-rap, neo-soul, R&B, neo-classical, electronic music, and more. It also included the announcement of the festival’s first headliner, jazz-funk legend and Gil Scott-Heron collaborator, Brian Jackson. Ahead of the festive break, multi-award-winning London jazz proponent Joe Armon-Jones joined Jackson as the festival’s second headliner. Armon-Jones is a significant player on the UK circuit, having earned widespread acclaim both as a solo artist with records on Brownswood and his own label AQUARii, and as a founding member of the Mercury Prize-winning band Ezra Collective, who sold-out Wembley Arena last November. In addition to all this, he has appeared on albums by everyone from Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, and SEED Ensemble, through to Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela.
The festival’s final headliner, anaiis & Grupo Cosmo, was also recently announced. Their appearance will mark the new collaborative project’s UK live debut. Having earned a BBC Radio 6 Music and Apple Music Best New Album nod, French Senegalese singer anaiis recently released a collaborative album titled “anaiis & Grupo Cosmo”, which saw her collaborating with the Brazilian outfit Grupo Cosmo. The album has been on the receiving end of plaudits from a vast array of press for their genre twisting blend of R&B, soul, and Brazilian music. In addition to the new headliners, the festival has also added a host of further exciting artists to the line-up, including Latin London outfit BONITA and Belgian Brazilian composer and singer Helena Casella, as well as beloved DJs such as Rohan Rakhit, Tina Edwards, and Tim Garcia.
In keeping with the festival's ethos of championing the most exciting new talent, the festival also recently announced that it will once again partner with jazz re:freshed and Tomorrow’s Warriors, both vital community organizations that nurture emerging talent in UK jazz. Each organisation will once again have its own stage, and will feature performances from the likes of rising tenor saxophonist Maddy Coombs, jazz-funk luminaries Resolution 88, emerging nu-jazz / UK soul artist MADELEINE, lauded percussionist Richard Spaven, the much-hyped quartet from multi-instrumentalist Genevieve Namazzi, flautist Poppy Helmer & Friends, and many more.
Alongside the new conference announcement, the festival have also announced further artists to play this years festival including hometown heroes Steam Down (playing with a 10 piece brass section from NYJO), panellist and neo-soul rising star Jgrrey, Brazilian-Norwegian jazz Charlotte Dos Santos, and more.
The full line-up so far is as follows:
A Grime Supreme • Aby Coulibaly • Alexander Flood • Alici • Amanda Whiting • Another Taste (live) • Arjuna Oakes • Bad Influence • Benji “chief” Appiah • Bibi Tanga & The Selenites • BONITA • BXL X LDN Interplay III • Charlotte Dos Santos • Celine Dessberg • Charlie Stacey • Christ-Stéphane Boizi • C-Sé Quartet • daoud • David Mrakpor • Eliane Correa • Eliana Glass • Esk (dj set) (Pro Pass required) • FERDI • Five Points Project • Footshooter (live) • Gabriele Poso (live) • Genevieve Namazzi Quartet • Haseeb Iqbal • Helena Casella • HolyBrune and Girls Of The Internet • IAMNOBODI • Jay Verma • Jembaa Groove • Jgrrey • Harrison • Kassa GJ Quartet • KAU • Kianja • Kivnzogianna • Knats • Kwame Yeboah • Kyla Kilzer & Max Noir • Kyra • Leif Kaner-Lidström • Levitation Orchestra • LEV & KingCrowney • Lucinda Chua (Pro Pass required) • Lucy Park • Maddy Coombs • MADELEINE • Marlon The Pannist • Meron T • Nídia & Valentina • Oliver Night • Poppy Helmer & Friends • Raidaa (dj set) • Resolution 88 • Richard Spaven • Robert Luis • Rohan Rakhit Presents • Rhys Baker • Ruby Rushton • Saiming • Sam Wise • SHOLTO & Finn Rees • Stella & The Longos • Steppin’ Over • Sticky Dub • Steam Down (playing with a 10 piece brass section from NYJO) • TABLE • Tanhai Collective • Tawiah • Tia Gordon • Tina Edwards b2b Tim Garcia (DJ Set) • Tomorrow’s Warriors • Yoni Mayraz • ZENA
Early bird tickets for the festival are now on sale with day passes starting from just £34.95 and weekend passes from £125.00. Payment plans are also available from just £11 per month. Tickets and more info are available here
As always, those without tickets can also enjoy free-entry spaces throughout the site, including special live performances at The Nord Zone, The Brick Lane Tap Room, the Main Bar at 93 Feet East, and Cafe 1001.
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