In short
- The festival opens on Thursday 12 with Kurt Elling and the Yellowjackets and closes on Sunday 22 with Michael Mayo: seven nights in the Sala Multiusos of the Auditorio, spread across two weekends.
- Isaiah Sharkey is no longer on the line-up: he cancelled his European tour and Friday 13 goes to Sketches of Latin Miles, Pepe Rivero's tribute to Miles Davis.
- Each concert costs between €38 and €43 on the Ibercaja ticketing site, with the same price for a table or an unreserved chair; there are also full-festival and weekly passes.
- Kurt Elling, Paquito D'Rivera and James Carter are also playing at other jazz festivals this month, so Zaragoza is one of several possible stops to see them.
Zaragoza joins November's string of jazz festivals with seven concerts in a week and a half. The 43rd edition of the Festival de Jazz de Zaragoza takes place from 12 to 22 November in the Sala Multiusos of the Auditorio Princesa Leonor, with Kurt Elling, the Yellowjackets, Chris Potter, James Carter and Paquito D'Rivera as the biggest names. Tickets are already on sale.
Festival de Jazz de Zaragoza 2026 programme, night by night
All concerts are in the Sala Multiusos. The first week has four consecutive nights, from Thursday to Sunday; the second has three, from Friday to Sunday.
- Thursday 12, 20:30. Kurt Elling and the Yellowjackets revisit the repertoire of Weather Report, the band of Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. The Yellowjackets still feature Russell Ferrante, Will Kennedy and Bob Mintzer and released their latest album, “Fasten Up”, in 2025.
- Friday 13, 21:00. Sketches of Latin Miles, led by pianist Pepe Rivero, explores the music of Miles Davis in his centenary year in a Latin bebop style. It replaces Isaiah Sharkey, who cancelled his European tour.
- Saturday 14, 21:00. James Carter Organ Trio presents “Trane: A Centennial Supreme!”, its tribute to John Coltrane on the centenary of his birth.
- Sunday 15, 20:00. Haydée Milanés and Javier Colina, with Luis Guerra on piano, bring Cuban trova and song to jazz, with the repertoire of Pablo Milanés at its heart, in “A mi manera”.
- Friday 20, 21:00. Chris Potter Trío, with Matt Brewer on double bass and Kendrick Scott on drums.
- Saturday 21, 21:00. Double bill: first, the Thomas Kretzschmar and Romain Vuillemin quartet, with jazz manouche in the vein of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli; then Paquito D'Rivera with Pepe Rivero on piano and Sebastián Laverde on vibraphone.
- Sunday 22, 20:00. Michael Mayo closes the festival with his quartet, featuring Andrew Freedman on piano, Kyle Miles on bass and Robin Baytas on drums.
The first week looks mainly to the past: three of its four nights are tributes to Weather Report, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and the fourth revives the songs of Pablo Milanés. The second leaves more room for original projects, with Potter's trio and the voice of Mayo, who combines improvisation with live loop pedals.
For families there are two Jazz for Kids / Jazz en Familia sessions, with musicians aged 10 to 18 directed by Dani Escolano: on Saturday 21 at 18:00 and Sunday 22 at 12:00.
Tickets: €38 to €43, with a table or chair
Tickets are sold on the Auditorio de Zaragoza website, which links to the Ibercaja ticketing site, and at the Auditorio's own box office. On the Ibercaja ticketing site, checked on 6 November, the prices per concert were as follows:
- €43: Kurt Elling and the Yellowjackets (12) and the Paquito D'Rivera night (21).
- €41: Sketches of Latin Miles (13), James Carter (14), Chris Potter (20) and Michael Mayo (22).
- €38: Haydée Milanés and Javier Colina (15).
New this year, buyers choose between the table area and unreserved chairs when purchasing, at the same price. The City Council also announced full-festival and weekly passes, but their price did not appear on the sales pages for each concert.
Elling, D'Rivera and Carter's other stops this November
Several of these concerts are part of tours that pass through other cities in the same weeks. Kurt Elling and the Yellowjackets arrive in Zaragoza the day before their concert at the Teatro Ortega for Jazz Palencia and are also at the Festival de Jazz de Málaga and JAZZMADRID. Paquito D'Rivera plays Zaragoza the day before his concert in Madrid, after opening the Festival de Jazz de Lugo, and James Carter's trio stops in Lugo, Madrid and Málaga.
Before Zaragoza gets under way there is still jazz this weekend: Jazz Xixón ends on Saturday 7 in Gijón and AlmeriJazz on Sunday 8 in Almería. The Cartagena Jazz Festival continues through November with Kenny Barron and Samara Joy.
Outside the Auditorio, throughout November the festival is also running educational concerts for primary and secondary schools in the Sala Luis Galve, comics at CaixaForum, the Jazz de Película film season at the Filmoteca de Zaragoza and the photography exhibition “Esencia Sincopada” in the foyer of the Sala Multiusos.
Sources: Zaragoza City Council (presentation of the 43rd Festival de Jazz de Zaragoza); Auditorio de Zaragoza, individual concert pages; Ibercaja ticketing site, checked on 6 November 2026.
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