Etienne Charles photo.
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Miami doesn’t always get credit as a jazz town, but those who are interested know it has deep, significant roots here. While there are events scattered throughout the year, early 2026 brings a concentrated run of programming that includes intimate theater performances, experimental collaborations, and full-scale international festivals.
Across venues like the Miami Beach Bandshell, Faena Theater, and university concert halls, jazz in Miami continues to make a space for itself, and for those who love and appreciate the art form. Absorbing Caribbean rhythms, global influences, dance, and contemporary composition while still honoring Jazz history, it’s a reflection of the city itself: diasporic and resistant to clean categorization.
Below are the best jazz events happening throughout Miami in the first months of 2026, from prestige-heavy festivals to one-night intimate performances. Whether you plan on a full weekend or pick a single date, these shows offer a variety of musical experiences and show why Miami remains an essential component of the global landscape.
Faena Theater 8th Annual Jazz Series: Catherine Russell
The Faena Theater’s annual jazz series has quietly become one of Miami’s most reliable showcases for classic, high-caliber jazz in an otherwise pop and festival-heavy concert calendar. In its eighth year, the series continues to lean into elegance and intimacy. The space offers a setting where vocals and musicianship can actually breathe.
This year’s early standout is a one-night performance by Grammy-winning vocalist Catherine Russell, a singer revered for her deep connection to jazz history and her ability to make century-old material feel alive. Russell’s repertoire pulls from swing-era standards, blues, and overlooked American Songbook deep cuts, delivered with warmth, precision, and an effortless sense of joy.
A native New Yorker and the daughter of legendary bassist and composer Luis Russell, she has clout to spare, but manages not to feel academic in her performances. Instead, they feel more conversational; playful one moment, reverent the next, making her a perfect match for Faena Theater’s plush, old-world atmosphere. For jazz fans craving something timeless rather than the cutting edge of the newest trends, this is one of early 2026’s best bets. 8 p.m. Wednesday, February 4, Faena Hotel, 3201 Collins Ave, Miami Beach; 786-655-5742. Tickets start at $70 via www.faena.com
Frost School of Music Studio Jazz Band + Peter London Global Dance Company
This one blurs the line between concert and full-scale performance. The Frost School’s Studio Jazz Band, led by trumpeter, composer, and Miami jazz powerhouse Etienne Charles, teams up with the Peter London Global Dance Company for a multimedia collaboration that pairs live jazz with newly commissioned choreography.
The program centers on Charles’ genre-defying suites Bacchanal Tuesday, As an Offering, and Green Thumb, with movement by fellow Trinidadian-born artist and acclaimed choreographer Peter London. Together, the music and dance draw from Carnival traditions, ritual, resilience, and Caribbean identity, turning the concert hall into something closer to a storytelling space than a standard recital.
The event also underscores the Frost School’s growing reputation as a national hub for cross-disciplinary collaboration. The announcement lands as Charles continues to gain major recognition for his work beyond the jazz world, including recent commissioned compositions for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Despite his continued critical and commercial success, he devotes time to mentoring the next generation of musicians right here in Miami. For jazz fans curious about where the music is stretching next, this is a great chance to see it happen live. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 5, at Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Dr, Coral Gables. Tickets start at $50 via ci.ovationtix.com.
OigoVision SuperJam
While not a jazz event in the traditional sense, OigoVision SuperJam earns its place on this list by putting improvisation, musicianship, and live collaboration front and center. Curated as a one-night, all-star jam session, the event brings together a rotating cast of Miami-based and international artists drawn from the city’s jazz, fusion, and experimental scenes.
Hosted at the Miami Beach Bandshell, SuperJam is loose by design. Expect extended grooves, spontaneous solos, and genre-hopping detours that blend jazz, funk, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, soul, and beyond. Rather than spotlighting a single headliner, the event emphasizes collective energy and musical conversation, turning the night into a living, breathing collaboration.
For jazz listeners who care less about labels and more about watching elite players push each other in real time, OigoVision SuperJam offers a distinctly Miami take on what jazz values look like outside rigid genre lines. 8 p.m. Thursday, February 19, at Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; miamibeachbandshell.com; 305-672-5202. Admission is free with RSVP.
Montreux Jazz Festival Miami
One of the most respected names in global jazz firmly planted its flag in Miami in 2024. Now a multi-day fixture on the city’s winter calendar, Montreux Jazz Festival Miami brings the legacy of its legendary Swiss counterpart (founded in 1967 and synonymous with genre-defining performances) into a distinctly South Florida context.
The festival unfolds across two very different venues. The opening nights at the Miami Beach Bandshell are more expansive and communal, pairing the oceanside setting with world-class programming. The second half shifts to the Hangar at Regatta Harbour, where the atmosphere tightens into something more intimate and club-like. The resulting spread feels more like a curated journey through jazz’s varied modern expressions.
Programming traditionally stretches well beyond straight-ahead jazz, pulling in soul, funk, global fusion, and experimental sounds while keeping improvisation at the core. It’s a format that suits Miami perfectly, given the plethora of world influences that live here. You can catch a single night or commit to the full run, either way, Montreux Jazz Festival Miami remains one of the rare local events that feels genuinely plugged into the global jazz conversation rather than orbiting it from a distance. February 27 through March 1, 2026, at The Hangar at Regatta Harbour, 3385 Pan American Dr, Miami; 786-866-9854; montreuxjazzfestivalmiami.com . Tickets start at $139 and are available via tixr.com .
Jazz in the Gardens
Despite the name, Jazz in the Gardens has never been a purist’s jazz festival, but they’re ok with that. For nearly two decades, the Miami Gardens institution has grown into one of South Florida’s most significant celebrations of Black music, culture, and legacy, using jazz as a foundation rather than a boundary.
The 2026 edition continues that tradition with a lineup headlined by Jhene Aiko and Ludacris, underscoring the festival’s long-standing commitment to R&B, hip-hop, soul, and crossover appeal. Beneath the headliners, Jazz in the Gardens typically features a deep bench of musicians whose roots trace back to jazz. That can look like live band arrangements, improvisational frameworks, or lineage ties that connect contemporary Black music to the genre’s DNA.
Beyond being simply a concert series, Jazz in the Gardens functions as a cultural gathering point. The scale is massive, the crowd multigenerational, and the atmosphere celebratory in a way few Miami festivals manage to replicate. For jazz fans interested in seeing how the music’s influence radiates outward, shaping modern R&B, hip-hop, and live performance culture, Jazz in the Gardens offers a big-picture perspective. Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8, at Hard Rock Stadium, 347 Don Shula Dr., Miami Gardens; 305-943-8000; hardrockstadium.com. Tickets cost $199 for a two-day general admission pass to $1,275 for a two-day Titanium pass and are on sale now via ticketmaster.com.
GroundUp Music Festival
If there’s one jazz event that feels like the scrappy upstarts delivering the goods, it’s GroundUp. Founded by members of genre-defying trio Snarky Puppy, the festival has grown into a three-day celebration of musicianship without borders. Jazz collides freely with funk, soul, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and experimental sounds that defy easy labels.
Set against the open-air backdrop of the Miami Beach Bandshell, GroundUp avoids glossy spectacle in favor of intimacy and intention. The programming is famously eclectic, spotlighting virtuoso players, left-of-center collaborations, and artists who treat improvisation as a shared language rather than a technical flex. It’s the kind of lineup that rewards curiosity: come for one name, leave with three new obsessions.
More than just a festival, GroundUp functions as a nexus point for musicians and serious listeners alike. Daytime workshops, spontaneous sit-ins, and an unusually engaged crowd give the weekend a communal feel that sets it apart from Miami’s more transactional music events. For anyone who likes their jazz adventurous, global, and slightly unclassifiable, GroundUp remains the city’s most essential annual pilgrimage. 1 p.m. Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15, at Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; groundupmusicfestival.com. Tickets via tickets.venuepilot.com.
Miami Jazz Booking: Where Jazz Lives Between the Big Nights
This honorable mention is for one of the few organizations helping to shape the local jazz landscape in a consistent and approachable way: Miami Jazz Booking. Not every essential jazz experience in Miami arrives as a ticketed concert or marquee festival. Thanks to Miami Jazz Booking, you can find weekly residencies and recurring concerts happening at intimate spaces around the city.
Through long-running partnerships with restaurants, hotels, and nightlife spaces, Miami Jazz Booking curates jazz-forward programming that prioritizes quality, accessible, community-oriented acts. The genres of jazz showcased run the gamut, and some of the spots you can catch them include Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, Medium Cool, Hotel Greystone, and Esmé Hotel’s rooftop. From mixing DJs and live players into hybrid sets, to more traditional showcases, early in the evening to late night jam sessions, the Miami Jazz Booking team truly is doing the heavy lifting to give the form places to live and breathe in an important way. Various Dates, multiple venues across Miami, more information can be found at instagram.com/miamijazzbooking.
