Bath Jazz Weekend 9-11th January 2026

Bath Jazz Weekend is simply unique, maybe in the whole UK, as an event that presents  three  days of the highest  quality music – on the earliest weekend of the New Year!
The 6th Bath Jazz Weekend  (Friday 9 to Sunday 11 January 2026) features a remarkable line up of bands of international standing.

Friday 09.01.2026
Evening: Doors 5.00pm – programme begins 6.15pm

Film: ALL NIGHT LONG  (1962, director Basil Dearden)
Featuring Patrick McGoohan, Richard Attenborough, Charles Mingus,
Dave Brubeck, Tubby Hayes & Johnny Dankworth
Shakespeare’s Othello is transposed to the 1960s world of the Soho jazz scene in a daring yet sensitive and socially conscious staging of an inter-racial marriage, unusually augmented with performances by jazz legends and a superb cast including Richard Attenborough and an unforgettable Patrick McGoohan as the scheming drummer.

JON LLOYD QUARTET
Jon Lloyd/John Law/Nick Pini/Alex Goodyear
Saxophonist and composer Jon Lloyd is a long-time member of the UK’s first division of contemporary jazz and improvisation, with a current quartet whose recent recordings and ECM-style aesthetic have gathered increasingly appreciative attention from audiences and critics alike.

RAPH CLARKSON’S EQUAL SPIRITS
Xolani Mbatha/Raph Clarkson/Chris Batchelor/Phil Merriman/
Riaan Vosloo/Yuval Wetzler
Led by composer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist Raph Clarkson, Equal Spirits is a joyous collaboration between South African and British artists, featuring music from their debut album ‘Wise and Waiting’ which celebrates the profound and beautiful contribution made by South African musicians to jazz and improvised music in their long European exile.

Saturday 10.01.2026
Afternoon – Doors 12 midday – programme begins 1.30pm

OLIE BRICE QUARTET: ALL IT WAS
Olie Brice/ Rachel Musson/Alexander Hawkins/Will Glaser
Featuring three of bassist Brice’s closest (and most notably in-demand) colleagues the quartet play music from their debut album ‘All It Was’ combining powerful freedom and exploration with memorable melodies, driving swing and emotional intensity, all heralded by critic Richard Williams as ’The work of a truly extraordinary quartet….one of the records of the year’.

ALISON RAYNER QUINTET: ARQ
Alison Rayner/ Buster Birch/Deirdre Cartwright/Diane McLoughlin/
Steve Lodder
The much-lauded, award-winning, eclectic quintet ARQ, led by bassist and composer Alison Rayner with her pioneering colleagues guitarist Deidre Cartwright and saxophonist Diane McLoughlin, celebrate more than a decade of their uniquely crafted sound drawing on jazz, folk, pop and Latin influences.

Saturday Evening – Programme begins 6.45pm

ROBERT MITCHELL solo piano
Polymath Mitchell – composer, pianist, band leader, professor and poet – whose quintet True Think has electrified previous Bath Jazz Weekend programmes on a record three annual occasions – synthesises his remarkable breadth of experience into the ultimate musical crucible of a solo performance for the 2026 Weekend.

LOUIS SCLAVIS clarinets & BRUNO DUCRET cello
Maestro amongst maestri, giant of French and European jazz, ECM alumnus and incomparable genius of clarinet, bass clarinet and soprano saxophone Louis Sclavis honours a long-standing friendship in this unique visit together with cellist Ducret whose musical lineage aligns perfectly with Sclavis and the finest European traditions.  Incroyable – un privilège unique pour le Bath Jazz Weekend.

NICK MALCOLM & OUT FRONT
Nick Malcolm/Jason Yarde/Jake McMurchie/Olie Brice/Dave Smith
Trumpeter and composer Nick Malcolm presents music from Buried Webs, the 2025 debut album from his quintet Out Front, a collection of original compositions in a musical world rich in interplay, abstraction, and deep emotion captured by some of our most distinctive improvisers.

Sunday 11.01.2025
Doors 12 midday – programme begins 1.00pm

REBECCA NASH piano & ALEX MERRITT saxophone
Pianist Rebecca Nash and saxophonist Alex Merrit weave influences from the ethereal harmonies of John Taylor, the vivid colours of Messiaen, and the shimmering textures of Debussy, exploring the interplay of light and shadow, tension and release, a love of the spontaneous, alongside an appreciation for composition, silence and space.

ELLIOT GALVIN: THE RUIN
Elliot Galvin/Mandhira de Saram/Ruth Goller/Corrie Dick
The Ruin marks a new departure for trailblazing pianist and composer Elliot Galvin, focussing on music from his eponymous album inspired by bleak yet beautiful personal memories, flowing freely between serpentine piano and modular synth lines, ephemeral vocalisations, groove-heavy percussion and intricate improvisations from a quartet of inimitable British jazz alumni.

EMILY TRAN QUINTET
Emily Tran/Mali Sheard/Holly Reinhardt/Joe Steyn/Christ-Stéphane Boizi
The London scene fostered by Tomorrow’s Warriors provides this year’s programme with yet another inspirational young generation band led by pianist and composer Emily Tran and including saxophonist Mali Sheard who made a lasting impact on our audience in 2024.  The 2026 Bath Jazz Weekend ends once again with an enticing view of future jazz horizons!

Tickets available now from:

Tickets Candy
Eventbrite online
Bath Box Office online
or by phone on 01225 463362 & in-person at Bath Box Office
  Get tickets for the whole Weekend, single days or single sessions
+ discounts for WSC members
+ Under 11s go free…
or visit the Bath Jazz Weekend 2026 website