Just Announced: Spring Jazz Season 2026

The spring season at Wolverhampton Arts Centre is officially launched, as we continue to bring you the best of contemporary jazz on Thursday nights.

We kick off on February 19 with a prestigious solo performance by pianist sans pareil Julian Joseph. Having accompanied Branford Marsalis and Courtney Pine in his early days, Britjazz hero Julian has issued many fine recordings of his own, and has carved out parallel careers as an engaging BBC jazz broadcaster and renowned educator. His gig marks his impending 60th birthday and the exciting release of new album Voyage Of The Faithful.

Mercurial Welsh pianist Huw Warren brings his magical, euphoric, effervescent Choro Choro Choro band to the venue on March 19. Recording star on the ECM label with reflective folk-jazz project Quercus, here Huw turns up the heat, turning up the party vibe to 11 as he tackles Brazilian classics by Pixinguinha, Hermeto Pascoal and Ernesto Nazareth with the sizzling line-up of Tori Freestone (flute), Yuri Goloubev (bass) and the 21st-century answer to Nana Vasconcelos, Adriano Adewale (percussion).

They released “the best British jazz album in 20 years” (according to Jazz Journal) and now we welcome telepathic Loose Tubes duo Steve Buckley (reeds) and Chris Batchelor (trumpet) on April 16, leading Zone-B, a supergroup featuring Rob Luft (guitars), Tom Herbert (bass) and Gene Calderazzo (drums), through some typically thrilling, off-the-cuff sounding, globally focused, eclectic, original jazz, echoing, among many other things, various African and Balkan-leaning projects they have previously graced.

On May 14 we bring you entrancing, subtle Albanian vocalist, long-time ECM artist Elina Duni, and her partner Rob Luft (you can’t have too much of a good thing!) The pair will release Reaching For The Moon, their third joint album for the iconic label, in the spring, and we catch them in a rich vein of form, Elina’s beguiling, sometimes whispering approach being accented masterfully by 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Award winner Rob’s inventive guitar lines. As if this weren’t enough, they’re joined by drummer Corrie Dick, adding extra compelling textures.

If you swoop for all four, you’ll get 20 per cent off; or purchase any three for 15 per cent off, or two for a 10 per cent saving. There are also limited £10 individual gig tickets for under-25s. Presented in association with Jazz At Wolverhampton.

Christmas is coming – you know what to do!

Steve Bradley