Jazz In The City

As Cape Town moves into Jazz Week this month, Jazz In The City 2026 rethinks the traditional festival format, transforming a six-block stretch of Bree Street into a walkable, one-night-only jazz circuit on Thursday 26 March.

Taking place alongside a broader moment of international jazz festivals across Cape Town and its surrounds, Jazz In The City invites audiences to rediscover the genre in the spaces where cities truly breathe: galleries, bars, fashion stores, social clubs, wine bars, hidden rooms and open public spaces. Altogether, 12 venues and pop-up performance spaces form a dynamic circuit of ticketed and free shows.

Rather than positioning jazz within a single destination, the festival disperses it across Bree Street, allowing sound to spill into the street and into unexpected corners. In doing so, it returns the genre to a more instinctive setting, where proximity, spontaneity and improvisation shape the way music is encountered.

Extending beyond its one-night format, Jazz In The City is anchored by a series of affiliate events designed to deepen engagement with the genre and its cultural context.

On 22 March, What Is Jazz? takes place at Texas in District Six — an open dialogue and listening experience bringing together an LGBTQ+ line-up including Desire Marea, Muneyi, Sky Dladla and Mishy Kope. The session explores questions of evolution, ownership and the future of jazz in South Africa and beyond.

On 25 March, Inter-Generational Conversations opens with a special musical dialogue between Steve Dyer and his son Bokani Dyer. Hosted at the Homecoming Centre, the series creates space for exchange between jazz elders and new voices, and will continue as a monthly fixture centred on mentorship, storytelling and community.

As a founding partner, The Mission for Inner City Cape Town is supporting the festival as part of its broader placemaking and urban regeneration strategy.

Tim Harris, co-founder of The Mission for Inner City Cape Town, says, “Jazz in the City is a powerful example of how culture activates public space. When streets, heritage buildings and creative hubs are filled with music and people, the city feels alive, connected and accessible. This is exactly the kind of initiative that supports our long-term vision of a safe, inclusive and vibrant inner city that works for everyone. We are proud to support a festival that not only celebrates African jazz excellence, but also demonstrates how placemaking can strengthen economic activity, tourism and social cohesion in Cape Town’s CBD.”

The line-up features emerging and established voices shaping the sound of South African jazz today, including:

Sisonke Xonti
One of South Africa’s most compelling tenor voices, Xonti’s sound blends spiritual depth with fearless improvisation. Known for his international collaborations and commanding stage presence, he represents a new generation rooted in tradition yet unbound by it.

Vuyo Viwe
An internationally celebrated vocalist, flautist and composer, Vuyo’s rich baritone and nuanced phrasing move effortlessly between jazz, soul and African idioms, bringing emotional resonance to every performance.

Yonela Mnana
An inspired pianist and composer, Mnana’s playing is introspective, poetic and expansive. His work bridges African spirituality and contemporary jazz sensibilities with striking originality.

Kujenga
A boundary-pushing collective redefining South African jazz for a new era, Kujenga merges groove, experimentation and improvisation into an electrifying live experience.

Herbie Tsoaeli
A veteran bassist and composer whose tone and depth have anchored generations of South African jazz innovation, Tsoaeli continues to shape the country’s sonic landscape.

Muneeb Hermans
A dynamic trumpeter with global reach, Hermans combines technical brilliance with bold contemporary influences, pushing the instrument into fresh territory.

Extending the experience beyond live performance and into the language of listening, the programme shifts into a more intimate, archival mode as the night unfolds. Adding a late-night vinyl pulse to the circuit, DJ Bob’s Jazz Club takes over Vault on Bree in collaboration with G-Star, spinning rare grooves, deep cuts and jazz-inflected selections that connect eras on wax.

The venues include Athletic Club & Social, Vault on Bree, Youngblood Africa, The Blue Room at Grub & Vine, the Shortmarket Street activation (in front of Rosetta Coffee), Room 91 at Chef’s Warehouse, Trade Boutique Hotel, Story Horse, Secret Gin Bar and Openwine.

From gallery walls to fashion floors, from hidden courtyards to public intersections — the city itself becomes the stage.

Tickets available at www.jazzinthecity.co.za.