The 61st Jazzaldia unveils its programme

Pat Metheny + Diana Krall + Samara Joy + Marcus Miller + David Murray + Joe Lovano + Cécile McLorin Salvant + Carmen Lundy + Charles Tolliver + Julian Lage + Louis Sclavis + Mike Stern + Bill Evans + Azar Lawrence + Nils Petter Molvær + Erik Truffaz + Antonio Lizana + Bruce Barth + Vicente Archer + Vincent Peirani + Émile Parisien + Benjamin Moussay + Benito Gonzalez + Julius Rodriguez

The 61st edition of Jazzaldia offers a programme that will bring together some of the leading artists in the world of Jazz. Alongside established names, it will also feature emerging figures and offer a fascinating overview of the best European Jazz.

Four of the events scheduled are designed to pay tribute to two of the most important figures in 20th-century music and the world of Jazz. Miles Davis and John Coltrane will be honoured in the year of the centenary of their birth, with reinterpretations of some of their most influential and memorable works, with, as well, a throw-back to their most creative periods.

Two names stand out among the stellar line-up: guitarist Pat Metheny, with the expanded, improved version of his latest project, Side Eye III+; and the best-known and most highly regarded singer in the Jazz world today, Diana Krall.

Many of the artists who will appear in this edition are also stars in their own right: saxophonists Joe Lovano, David Murray or Azar Lawrence; bassist Marcus Miller; trumpeter Charles Tolliver; pianist Bruce Barth; and singers Cécile McLorin Salvant or Carmen Lundy.

Among the emerging names, one shines particularly brightly: young singer Samara Joy, winner of five Grammys at the age of 26, a future superstar, (if she isn’t already that), trained in the school of gospel, who possesses a powerful voice and enviable technique. Among the other musicians, all young and promising, the likes of Antonio Lizana, saxophonist and singer, and Julius Rodriguez, the latter one of the most interesting Jazz piano innovators around today.

Pride of place is also given to four of the most important female vocal Jazz artists around: Diana Krall, Samara Joy, Carmen Lundy and Cécile McLorin Salvant.

European Jazz will also be showcased in this year’s programme through some of its most extraordinary artists. French clarinettist Louis Sclavis, who has had a long and exciting musical career, will be here. The French line-up also includes saxophonist Émile Parisien, and Vincent Peirani, innovative and virtuoso accordionist, both idols in their country. As well as pianist Benjamin Moussay, lyrical and capable of creating atmospheres of fabulous introspection. Swiss trumpeter, Erik Truffaz, who has undertaken the recreation of one of Miles Davis' most notable works, Sketches of Spain (1960), will also appear. As will Norwegian, Nils Petter Molvær, who will come to this year’s edition with the musical feat that catapulted him to fame, Khmer (1998).

Single and season tickets will be on sale from 16 December at 11:30 am for the concerts that will be held in the Plaza de la Trinidad, Kutxabank Kursaal Auditorioa, FCC Victoria Eugenia Antzokia and Škoda San Telmo Museoa (Cloister).

Purchases can be made both in person (at the ticket office), and online on our website, and on the Donostia Kultura website.

Over the coming months the free admission concerts of the 61st Jazzaldia will be announced.

Trinitate Plaza:

The most emblematic stage of the Jazzaldia will offer, as always, four nights that will each offer us the chance to enjoy a double bill concert.

On 23 July, we will begin with the David Murray Quartet. As a musician who has shaped the sound of modern Jazz for more than fifty years, Murray is now 70, and in better shape than ever: bold, creative, rooted in tradition, and always pushing borders. The second concert of the day, by the Paramount Quartet, will feature four superstars: maestro Joe Lovano, with his unique saxophone, warm sound and fluid musical saunters; Julian Lage, with his elegant guitar of stunning clarity; Santi Debriano, with his deep, rhythmic double bass laced with Afro-Latin influences; and Will Calhoun, with his powerful, nuanced drums.

On Friday, 24 July, the first of the concerts in tribute to Coltrane, Azar Lawrence Quartet: John Coltrane. The Impulse Era! will take place. Lawrence, who represents the purest connection between the Coltrane tradition and the new dimensions of contemporary Jazz, will honour the years when “Trane” laid the foundations for the revolution that so shook up the world of Jazz with his daring, avant-garde approach. The second will feature Cécile McLorin Salvant, who has established herself as one of the best and most unique voices in contemporary Jazz, a creative whirlwind who shoots emotions directly to our hearts.

On 25 July, there will be a double tribute: the first to Coltrane, the second to Miles Davis. The evening will begin with Charles Tolliver, one of the great trumpeters, composers and arrangers of our era, who will reinterpret Africa/Brass (1961), one of Coltrane's masterpieces, accompanied by four excellent musicians and the Musikene Big Band, in a unique concert entitled Charles Tolliver Africa/Brass Celebrating Coltrane's Centennial. The second concert of the evening will be a tribute to Miles Davis. Marcus Miller, one of the most influential musicians of our time, together with three other musicians who were also part of the band of that genius from Illinois - Mike Stern, Bill Evans and Mino Cinelu - will do the honours, with a concert entitled Marcus Miller: We Want Miles!

On Sunday, 26th July, Vincent Peirani - Living Being IV (Time Reflections) will kick off proceedings. Peirani, a virtuoso French accordionist and composer, one of the most innovative and versatile artists in European Jazz, will be accompanied by great musicians that are all exploration and creative impulse, whose performances make every concert of theirs a unique experience. The evening will conclude with New Sketches of Spain: Erik Truffaz – Antonio Lizana, a concert to celebrate and commemorate the music of Miles Davis, who, inspired by his discovery of Spanish roots music, released Sketches of Spain (1960), an album that represented a turning point in the way Jazz embraced world music.

Kutxabank Kursaal Auditorioa:

The concerts at the Kutxabank Kursaal Auditorium will begin on 23 July with a new Jazz star, performing for the first time in San Sebastian: Samara Joy. Undoubtedly one of the best voices in Jazz today, she is definitely one to watch, someone sure give us a lot to listen to in coming years.

On 24 July, it will be the turn of Nils Petter Molvær, with a reinterpretation of his first album Khmer (1998). The Norwegian musician is a key figure in contemporary European Jazz and has been weaving a language of his own in which the trumpet can breathe without difficulty between electronic, improvisation and sound exploration.

On Saturday, 25 July, Pat Metheny, one of the living legends of Jazz, one of the most influential and charismatic Jazz guitarist of recent decades will perform. In a career spanning more than half a century, he has achieved something that very few musicians can say they have truly accomplished: the constant reinvention of the sound of his instrument while remaining true to his identity. His music, luminous and complex, is a seamless back-and-forth between melodic warmth and harmonic exploration, between the freest improvisation and the most detailed composition.

Finally, on 26 July, we will get the opportunity to see and hear Diana Krall, one of the most important and beloved figures in contemporary Jazz. Her extraordinary sensitivity on the piano, her warm, evocative voice, her natural elegance and her unmistakeable, intimate tone have made her an artist whose appeal is universal.

Škoda San Telmo Museoa:

This year there will be five morning concerts in the cloister of the Škoda San Telmo Museoa.

On 22 July, Julius Rodriguez, a young American pianist who is all intense, contagious energy, exuding the kind of spontaneity that allows for easy connection with the audience, as well as seemingly endless creativity.

On 23 July, we will welcome the duo formed by pianist Bruce Barth and double bassist Vicente Archer: two of the most sought-after musicians on the international Jazz scene. Together, as a duo, they bring their vision to some Jazz classics as well as some of their own compositions.

On 24 July, Benito Gonzalez will offer a solo piano recital. As a pianist, he stands out for his personal, bold, creative and intuitive style. A pianist who transforms the heritage of Jazz, taking it towards new horizons.

On 25 July, it will be the turn of Benjamin Moussay, a keyboard wizard, a space shaper, an imaginative pianist with a sensual touch and a unique approach that is easily identifiable.

The last of the concerts in the museum cloister will take place on 26 July. We will get the opportunity to see one the most outstanding collaborations in European Jazz today, the duo formed by Émile Parisien on soprano saxophone and Vincent Peirani on accordion. The two French musicians will perform their album, Abrazo (2020), a musical proposal that transcends stylistic boundaries.

FCC Victoria Eugenia Antzokia :

For the sixth consecutive time JazzEñe will be held within the framework of Jazzaldia, at the FCC Victoria Eugenia Antzokia. It will be the twelfth edition of JazzEñe, organised by Fundación SGAE and which, as in previous years, will consist of four double bill concerts, from 22 to 25 July, in showcase format, with the best of Hispanic Jazz. The programme with the eight selected proposals will be announced in spring 2026.

In addition to JazzEñe, there will be two other concerts at the theatre. On 22 July at 6 p.m., Carmen Lundy will perform. Admired for her innovative musicality and stage presence, her captivating combination of virtuosity and emotion in her live performances place her up there among the greatest figures in contemporary Jazz. On July 26, the Louis Sclavis Quintet, one of the great sound storytellers of European Jazz and an iconic figure in French improvised music, will offer the last of the concerts being held at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre