2026 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting the events of jazz in the year 2026.

Events

April 23–25 – The Jazzahead festival takes place in Bremen, Germany.^[1]
May 29–31 – The Java Jazz Festival takes place in its new venue, the Nusantara International Convention Exhibition, PIK 2.^[2]

Month	Day	Artist	Album	Label	Ref.
January	9	Dave Stryker	Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session	Strikezone Records	^[3]
March	3	John Pizzarelli	Dear Mr. Bennett	Green Hill Music	^[4]
March	6	Shabaka	Of the Earth	Shabaka Records	^[5]

January 26
- Richie Beirach, 78, American jazz pianist and composer^[6]
- Ian McDougall, 87, Canadian jazz trombonist and academic^[7]
February 2 – Ken Peplowski, 66, American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist^[8]

^ "Danish Artists ready for Jazzahead 2026". Jazz Danmark. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
^ "Java Jazz Festival 2026". Java Jazz Festival. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
^ "Blue Fire - The Van Gelder Session". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
^ Enos, Morgan (January 12, 2026). "Mondays with Morgan: John Pizzarelli – new album Dear Mr. Bennett". UK Jazz News. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
^ Flynn, Mike (January 14, 2026). "Shabaka announces new solo album Of the Earth for March 2026 ahead of Village Underground launch". Jazzwise. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
^ Amorosi, A. D. (27 January 2026). "Richard Beirach, Pianist, Composer, Early ECM Stalwart, Dies at 78". Jazztimes. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
^ "Ian McDougall obituary". Victoria Times. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
^ Norman Lebrecht: "Sudden death of top clarinet, 66". slippedisc.com, 3 February 2026. Retrieved 3 February 2026.

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