Liverpool International Jazz Festival returns for 2022

Liverpool International Jazz Festival is back taking place from the 24th to 27th February

With an eclectic mix of performers from across the globe, organisers say this year’s Liverpool International Jazz Festival (LIJF) is the most multicultural it has ever been.

The series of events organised and hosted by Liverpool Hope University runs from Thursday 24th February to Sunday 27th February 2022.

The global pandemic meant the Festival wasn’t able to run in 2021.

But having first launched in 2013, the Jazz Festival has played host to some of the genre’s leading lights, including Courtney Pine, Denys Baptiste, Roller Trio, Impossible Gentlemen, Kit Downes, Led Bib, Philip Catherine, GoGo Penguin, Troyka, Neil Cowley Trio, and Dennis Rollins’ Velocity Trio.

One of this year’s Festival highlights – and perhaps the most accessible show for non-jazz aficionados – will see the Camilla George Band take to the stage on Saturday 26th Feb.

It’ll see Nigeria-born saxophonist Camilla George leading a funky, joyous celebration of the fusion between African and Western music.

Camilla George

And Festival organiser Neil Campbell, Venue Manager for Hope’s acclaimed Creative Campus, says audiences are in for a ethnically-diverse, mind-blowing treat.

He says: “We want to showcase innovative, instrumental jazz which crosses genre boundaries – but we also want to celebrate jazz that’s really accessible to audiences who might be new to this type of music.

“We’ve always tried to have a really international perspective to the artists we invite. And this year – more than any other year – the line-up for our long weekend is really diverse.

Duology will perform

That has almost happened accidentally. We’ve simply tried to pick the cream of the crop – and it just so happens that the most exciting performers in jazz right now come from a range of different cultural backgrounds.”

Individual show tickets are priced from £15, while you can enjoy a full weekend pass for just £50 – which Festival organisers suggest might be the perfect Christmas stocking filler.

Meanwhile you can also get involved in various after parties and alternative gigs – which link to Liverpool’s grassroots jazz scene – after each performance throughout the festival. Details of those events will be announced nearer the time.