The Inaugural Durham Jazz Festival Opens Tomorrow Night — and Ronnie Scott’s All Stars Are Already Sold Out
October 23–25, 2026. A historic city, a brand-new festival, and one of the most eclectic jazz lineups in the UK this autumn.
The inaugural Durham Jazz Festival has been designed from the ground up to use Durham’s extraordinary architectural character as part of the experience. The city is compact enough to walk between venues, old enough that several of its performance spaces carry genuine historical weight, and intimate enough that the festival has a community feel despite its national-caliber lineup. The Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall, a Grade II listed building that has been the site of labor movement history for over a century, anchors the major performances. The Gala Theatre provides a more conventional concert hall setting for the big band and orchestral programming. Assembly Rooms Theatre, St Chad’s College, Fabio’s Bar, and the Claypath Delicatessen fill in the intimate and club-style end of the program. And Gallery 25 is running a parallel photography exhibition throughout the weekend, “The Space Between The Notes” by award-winning live music photographer John Lyons, which closes on Sunday alongside the festival itself.
The lineup blends national prestige with genuine range. Ronnie Scott’s All Stars opening Friday night at Redhills represents the top of the UK jazz establishment. Pete Roth Trio featuring Bill Bruford, the legendary drummer’s first live appearance in over a decade, represents the experimental edge of the program. Between those two poles, the Durham Jazz Festival has assembled big band swing, gypsy jazz, reimagined pop, avant-garde guitar, and late-night jamming in a three-day program that reflects what jazz actually is in 2026 rather than what a certain kind of festival organizer thinks it should be.
A first-year festival with the confidence of its tenth. Durham arrives in the UK jazz calendar fully formed.
Ronnie Scott’s All Stars — The Soho Songbook
The legendary Ronnie Scott’s All Stars headline opening night, taking over the stunningly restored Redhills Miners’ Hall for a soulful journey through jazz history drawn from the Soho Songbook. Ronnie Scott’s is the most storied jazz club in the UK, and its All Stars carry that lineage into every room they play. Opening night at Redhills has already sold out its ticket allocation. If you are on the waiting list, check back. If you are not, the rest of the weekend remains.
Marvin Muoneké & The Strictly Smokin’ Big Band
Jazz FM Award-nominated vocalist Marvin Muoneké joins forces with a full-force big band for an evening of powerhouse Rat Pack-style swing at the Gala Theatre on Saturday night. This is the festival’s most overtly celebratory performance, rooted in the great vocal big band tradition of Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the Las Vegas era, delivered with the energy of a band that plays this music with genuine conviction rather than nostalgia.
King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys + Olivia Cuttill Quintet
The festival closes Sunday night at Redhills in partnership with the renowned Durham Brass Festival, presenting a high-energy double-bill with King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys alongside the Olivia Cuttill Quintet. Two very different bands sharing one closing night is exactly the kind of bold programming decision that defines what this festival is attempting: broad enough to include everything, specific enough to make each choice feel intentional.
Pete Roth Trio featuring Bill Bruford
For many serious jazz and progressive music listeners, this is the performance of the weekend. Legendary drummer Bill Bruford, founding member of Yes and King Crimson and leader of his own jazz ensemble Earthworks, returns to live performance in a trio setting with guitarist Pete Roth. Bruford retired from performance in 2009 and has not appeared on newly recorded material in nearly two decades. The Pete Roth Trio’s debut live recording “Group Chat” drew critical acclaim upon release, and seeing this lineup in a room as intimate as the Assembly Rooms Theatre is a genuinely rare encounter with a musician of historic significance.
Seb Rochford’s Finding Ways, Janette Mason’s ReWired, Jo Harrop Album Launch & Late-Night Jam
The experimental and intimate end of the program is equally strong. Seb Rochford’s Finding Ways brings guitar-driven avant-garde improvisation to the weekend’s more adventurous programming slots. Janette Mason’s ReWired project reimagines tracks by David Bowie and Olivia Rodrigo through the lens of contemporary jazz, a collision of pop and improvisation that reflects the genuinely wide tent this festival has constructed. Acclaimed vocalist Jo Harrop hosts an exclusive album launch at St Chad’s College on Saturday afternoon. And from 10:30 PM Sunday through the small hours, the Radisson Blu Hotel hosts the late-night Kind of Blu Jazz Jam, a free-form session that gives the festival its most spontaneous and least formal closing moment.
The Durham Jazz Festival has been specifically designed to use the city’s architectural variety as part of the program, placing the music in rooms that range from grand restored halls to intimate basement bars:
Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall
Grade II listed. A century of labor history. Now the festival’s headline venue.
Gala Theatre
Durham’s primary performance venue. Saturday night big band programming.
Assembly Rooms Theatre
Bill Bruford and the Pete Roth Trio. A small room for a historic performance.
St Chad’s College
Jo Harrop album launch. Saturday afternoon in one of Durham’s historic colleges.
Fabio’s Bar
Django’s Tiger and gypsy jazz across the weekend. Intimate and lively.
Radisson Blu Hotel
Kind of Blu Jazz Jam from 10:30 PM Sunday. The festival’s freest final act.
Gallery 25 runs the parallel photography exhibition “The Space Between The Notes” by John Lyons throughout the festival weekend, adding a visual arts dimension to the music programming and closing on Sunday alongside the festival itself.
The Ronnie Scott’s opening night has sold out. Several Saturday peak slots are on waiting-list status. Remaining tickets across the multi-venue weekend schedule are available now through the official box office. Do not wait.
Get Tickets at durhamjazzfestival.co.ukA first-year festival that opens with Ronnie Scott’s All Stars in a historic miners’ hall, features Bill Bruford in his first live performance in over a decade, programs gypsy jazz alongside avant-garde guitar and a late-night jam session, and runs a photography exhibition alongside the music is not a cautious debut. It is a statement. The Durham Jazz Festival has arrived in the UK jazz calendar as if it has always been there, and the city that gave it a home this weekend is giving jazz audiences across the North East of England something they have not had before: their own festival, built for their city, programmed with the kind of ambition that suggests this is only the first edition of something that will matter for a long time.
The Improv Café only broadcasts live jazz, live big band, and live swing. Durham Jazz Festival this weekend is all of those things in one historic city over three nights. Tickets at durhamjazzfestival.co.uk.