7 Concerts I’m Excited About at the Reykjavík Jazz Festival 2026

This is one of my favourite weeks of the year, and it’s an Icelandic institution — the Reykjavík Jazz Festival goes back to 1990, when it began life as a Nordic radio jazz event run by RÚV and the city, and it has been held every year since. It’s the week the whole Icelandic jazz scene turns up in one place, and I start looking forward to it long before the programme comes out.

This year it runs from 25 to 30 August, spread across concert halls, churches, a swimming pool and a members’ club above Austurstræti. Most evening concerts run on an evening pass (kvöldpassi) rather than single tickets, so you buy into a whole night rather than one set — or you can just get a week-long pass like me. Here’s what I think I can’t miss.

Guitarist Andrés Þór plays a release concert for his new album Relocate. Release shows tend to be the best version of any band you’ll hear all year: the material is fresh, they’ve rehearsed it to death, and everyone in the room is on their side.

The venue is Fantasía, the event space inside Vinnustofa Kjarvals — a members’ club and workspace occupying the top floors at Austurstræti 10a, with balconies and a view straight over the city centre. It holds far fewer people than Harpa, but if that’s your thing, then that’s kind of the appeal.

Another release concert, this one for the album Hope. Pianist Ingi Bjarni Skúlason is joined by guitarist Hilmar Jensson, drummer Magnús Trygvason Eliassen and Swedish double bassist Anders Jormin — a genuinely serious guest, and one of the reasons this is the set I’d least want to miss. Lyrical, unhurried, with plenty of room left open inside the compositions.

It’s also the first of three nights I’ll be spending in Norðurljós (Northern Lights), the second-floor hall at Harpa concert hall. This isn’t the big one — Eldborg is the main concert hall downstairs — and that’s rather the point. Norðurljós is a flexible room with a portable stage and lighting built into the walls that can be tuned to whatever shade suits the evening, which makes it feel different from one night to the next. Harpa itself opened on the old harbour in 2011, and if you haven’t been, arrive early: the coloured glass façade was designed with Ólafur Elíasson, and the light coming through it changes all evening.

A Polish quartet with an unusual line-up: saxophone, bass, vibraphone and drums, no piano or guitar anywhere. They came up through jazz school together and then went sideways into hip-hop, drum & bass and whatever else stuck. Their debut Sorry, nie tu arrived in 2024. Expect the loudest, most rhythmic hour of the Wednesday, at Harpa like many of the others.

Tómas R. Einarsson is a fixture of Icelandic jazz — a bassist and composer who turned decisively towards Cuban music in the early 2000s and has been the main force behind Iceland’s Latin jazz scene ever since. Here he’s paired with Los Bomboneros, a band known for a lively stage show. Wednesday at Norðurljós (Northern Lights) starts contemplative and ends dancing.

Berlin soul-jazz, and a trio that sounds bigger than three people. Matti Klein plays Wurlitzer with his right hand and a Rhodes bass with his left, so there’s no bassist on stage; add tenor sax and bass clarinet plus drums and you have the whole thing. They’ve been touring this format since 2017. Pure groove — the easiest sell on this list if you’re bringing someone who claims not to like jazz. Catch them at Harpa too!

A concert in tribute to the great female singers of Latin America, closing out the Friday at Harpa. A late slot, a full room, and songs most of the audience will half-recognise without being able to name.

The last night of the festival moves to Iðnó, the old timber theatre on the edge of Tjörnin (the pond) — a small, warm, wood-lined room that suits a closing night far better than a concert hall would. Tu ha? Tu bjö! open the evening, and I’ll admit the name alone is most of why I want to be there.

Full programme and tickets at reykjavikjazz.is and tix.is. Several daytime events during the week are free, including concerts at Þingvellir, Hafnartorg and Fríkirkjan.

And follow along with us — we’ll be posting from the festival all week on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.