If you are dreaming of attending a music industry event; a saxophone festival, workshop or masterclass; a jazz festival or even a jazz cruise – here is your 2022 saxophone calendar.
Hearing live music and immersing yourself in an event with like minded people all passionate about saxophone, jazz, blues, or music in general can be super inspiring, as well as really entertaining and lots of fun. Our saxophone calendar will help you plan a sax-filled year.
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Planning Ahead
Over the last couple of years many of the musical events that usually take place on an annual basis have been cancelled or restricted due to the current pandemic. We are all hoping that the situation will improve during 2022 and many event organisers have plans in place for amazing events 2022 and beyond.
Whether or not you feel ready to travel in 2022, it is good to be aware what sort of events are available that you may want to attend at some time in the future.
Look out for performances or masterclasses that may be available to watch through an online platform, YouTube or other social media. Sax School Online of course holds its own regular masterclasses and spotlight sessions to inspire you.
Join Events Online
Some of the larger jazz festivals have an archive of performances, workshops and tutorials you can view online anytime for free.
The Newport Jazz Festival, which is scheduled to take place at the end of July in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, has a great archived collection of free educational workshops, tutorials, conversations, and performances including some from saxophonists Grace Kelly, Clint Bleil and Nubya Garcia.
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival, has a tentative date of October 14-23 for 2022. It also holds the MIJF Congress in December, a summit for jazz and improvised music. Many of the talks, masterclasses and panels hosted in previous years are available to view on their website.
Events for 2023
Some event organizers are already focused on hosting incredible events, but not until 2023.
The 19th World Saxophone Festival and Congress is scheduled to take place in Kurashiki, Japan from July 26 to the 30, with a pre-congress festival July 23-25, 2023.
The Jazz Cruise, which normally features over 100 jazz musicians and big band players has postponed the 2022 sailing until January 6-13, 2023, when it plans to take it’s onboard jazz festival on a round trip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida with ports of call in Mexico and The Bahamas.
Similarly Eric Marienthal’s Smooth Jazz Cruise is planning for a comeback with two sailings in 2023 – January 20-27 and January 27 – February 3rd, cruising around Florida, Grand Cayman & Mexico. The lineup is expected to include Boney James, Candy Dulfer, Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair and Vincent Ingala in addition to Eric himself.
Below is a little taster of a few of the events that are currently scheduled to take place during 2022 in your saxophone calendar. (of course, they are all subject to change as the situation with Covid-19 may dictate).
2022 Saxophone Calendar and Music Events
February 2022
Feb 12 1:00 PM RCM Chamber Festival: The Saxophone – London, UK
A varied programme inspired by the invention of the saxophone by Belgian innovator, Adolphe Sax. Details here:
Feb 27 Liverpool Sax Day – Liverpool, UK
Workshops and masterclasses from Xhosa Cole & Dean Masser and ensembles hosted by Andy Scott. Find out more here.
March 2022
March 17 – 20 Daytona Jazz Weekend – Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
Hosted by Mindi Abair, with Rick Braun, Eric Darius, Adam Hawley, Vincent Ingala, Keiko Matsui, Nathan Mitchell, Kayla Waters, Kim Waters, Lindsey Webster and Peter White. Find out more here.
March 26 Blue Ridge Saxophone Festival – Appalachian State Uni., Boone, NC, USA
A full day of targeted classical or jazz saxophone instruction (clinicians Dr. Ben Still and Ernie Watts) including the opportunity to play in a large ensemble with all of the festival participants. Details here.
April 2022
April 2 – 9 Zürich International Saxfest, Zurich, Switzerland
Sax concerts, masterclasses and workshops. Find out more.
April 29 – May 9 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival – New Orleans, USA
One of the world’s largest jazz festivals. Details here.
May 2022
May 3 – 8 Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival – Albufeira, Algarve. Portugal
Resort & Spa hosts “Soul, Funk & Jazz Party at the Atlantic Ocean”. Find out more here.
May 14 & 15 Love Supreme Jazz Festival Japan – Chichibu Muse Park, Japan
New Japanese offshoot of the popular UK Love Supreme Jazz Festival. More details here.
May 13-20 & May 20-27 Dave Kos and Friends at Sea – Netherlands and UK cruise
This year’s cruise from Dave Koz and Friends sails from Amsterdam with Ports of call in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. The line up of sax players includes: Dave Kos, Kirk Whalum, Eric Darius, Vincent Ingala. Darren Rahn, Marcus Anderson and Adrian Crutchfield with a host of other fabulous musicians. Find out more.
June 2022
June 3-5 NAMM plus Summer NAMM combined – Anaheim, California, USA
The music industry’s largest trade show exhibiting the latest products in music, sound and entertainment technology. Details here.
June 3 -5 Chicago Blues Festival – Chicago, IL, USA
“The largest free blues festival in the world”, the Chicago Blues Festival treats fans to three days of live music across four stages. Find out more.
June 24 -July 7 Copenhagen Jazz Festival – Copenhagen, Denmark
This festival envelops the Danish capital – live jazz on the city’s streets, in its clubs, cafés and concert halls, and at open-air night venues. The first headliner to be announced for 2022 is Herbie Hancock. Details here:
June 30-July 9 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal 2022 – Montréal, Canada
This huge iconic jazz festival has been running for almost three decades. Find out more.
July 2022
July 1-3 Love Supreme Jazz Festival – Glynde Place, East Sussex, UK
Long weekend of jazz and soul. Details here.
July 29 – 31 Newport Jazz Festival – Newport, RI, USA
This annual “granddaddy of all music festivals” has been celebrating jazz since 1954. Find out more.
October 2022
Oct 14-23 Melbourne International Jazz Festival – Melbourne, Australia
Details for 2022 still to come.
Oct 31 – Nov 6 Mallorca Smooth Jazz Festival – Sa Coma, Mallorca, Spain
Week long Soul, Funk & Jazz Party at 5* resort near the beach. Includes performances by Michael Lington, Eric Marenthal, Tom Braxton and Phil Denny. Find out more.
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We hope you have found this Saxophone Calendar inspiring as you’re planning for the year ahead.
Don’t forget you can find out more about what Sax School has to offer to inspire you and help you become a better player in 2022. Get started with Sax School!