Madrid's international jazz festival is now under way, spreading live music across clubs, theatres and cultural venues from 2 October to 30 November. Here is what is happening first, which bigger names are coming later, and how to plan a night without getting caught by a venue or ticket assumption.
Dates: 2 October–30 November 2026. Where: venues across Madrid, including Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa, CentroCentro, Contemporánea Condeduque, Sala Villanos and Sala Clamores. Tickets: prices and sales vary by concert, so check the official programme for the specific show. Good to know: this is a citywide festival, not one event in one building.
JAZZMADRID 2026 opened on Friday 2 October and runs until 30 November. That matters if you are in Madrid this weekend: the first cluster of shows is already happening across the city, rather than waiting for a single big opening later in the month.
The Madrid City Council's current opening-week programme covers 2–8 October. The festival combines municipal programming with associated cycles and club nights, so the useful way to plan it is by date, artist and venue, not by assuming every concert happens at one festival headquarters.
For Saturday, the published programme includes San Patricio Big Band at Sala Clamores at 12:30 and Tour-Maubourg with Nacho Marco at Sala Villanos at 23:59. They are deliberately different propositions: one is a daytime big-band session; the other pushes jazz toward house and club culture late at night.
That contrast is a useful snapshot of the 2026 approach. The City describes the first week as moving among contemporary jazz, soul, funk, electronic music and Brazilian songwriting, while the wider festival also crosses into flamenco, African rhythms and experimental forms.
The opening-week schedule continues on Tuesday 6 October with Brazilian singer-songwriter Agnes Nunes at Sala Villanos. The City says her work blends Brazilian popular music, forró and blues. On Thursday 8 October, P.H.A.T. is scheduled at Tempo Club, closing the first week highlighted in the City's preview.
Friday's opening night also shows how dispersed the programme is: it included Hans Luchs & Felipe Arce Quartet at Café El Despertar, Clarence Bekker Band with Quentin Moore at Sala Clamores, and Kraak & Smaak Soundsystem with Madame Excuse and Rayko at Sala Villanos.
If you are planning a Madrid trip later in October or November, the festival is much bigger than its opening weekend. The City Council's launch announcement highlights Kurt Elling & The Yellowjackets, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Paquito D'Rivera, David Murray, Rita Payés & Lucía Fumero, and Moisés P. Sánchez & Marco Mezquida.
Tourism Madrid also names Kenny Barron, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Shai Maestro, Richard Bona, Al Di Meola, Alfredo Rodríguez, Ibrahim Maalouf, Samara Joy, Lizz Wright, Andrea Motis, Judith Hill, Mark Guiliana, Nate Smith and Camilla George. With that many moving parts, use the live programme rather than a static list copied weeks earlier.
One thread running through the 2026 edition is the centenary of the births of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Tourism Madrid lists projects including Emmet Cohen's Miles & Coltrane at 100, James Carter's Trane: A Centennial Supreme, Jason Miles' 100 Miles for Miles Davis and Emma-Jean Thackray's Dear Miles: A Love Letter.
For visitors who like a festival to have some curatorial shape rather than just a long concert list, those tribute projects are useful anchors when browsing the programme.
The official programme uses several central cultural venues, notably Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa, CentroCentro and Contemporánea Condeduque. The wider network includes Sala Villanos, Sala Clamores and other theatres, clubs and neighbourhood programmes.
This affects practical planning. Do not simply type “JAZZMADRID” into a map app and head out. Check the exact venue shown on your ticket or programme entry, then work out your Metro, bus or walking route from there. Two concerts under the same festival umbrella can be in different parts of the city and have completely different start times.
For jazz fans, yes — but the strongest reason is the range rather than any single “must-see” concert. You can choose a traditional club set, a big international name, an experimental crossover night or a programme tied to the Davis and Coltrane centenaries. That makes JAZZMADRID easy to fit around an existing city break rather than requiring the entire trip to revolve around one festival site.
If you are only casually interested in jazz, the early club programme may be the easiest entry point. If you are travelling specifically for music, scan the full October–November calendar now and book the artist you actually want instead of assuming tickets will be available on arrival.
We checked the Madrid City Council's 2 October opening-week release, the City's 25 September festival launch, Tourism Madrid's listing, updated 1 October, and the official festival website. Programme, times and ticket availability can change, so use the live official listing before travelling to a venue.
Read the full Spanish edition.