Written by The 41st Belgrade Jazz Festival opens today, October 22, setting Serbia’s capital resonating once again with a distinctly international pulse. Under this year’s theme, *On the Jazz Path*, the Festival presents four days of concerts that trace the evolving dialogue between European and American jazz, reaffirming Belgrade’s position as one of the most important crossroads for contemporary improvised music in the region.
Founded in 1971 and reinvigorated after its revival two decades later, the Belgrade Jazz Festival has consistently balanced tradition with discovery. The 2025 edition signals the start of a new decade for the event and continues its long-standing commitment to musical excellence and cultural exchange. Performances are hosted in the festival’s two principal venues, Dom omladine Beograda, the Belgrade Youth Center and main organizer, and the historic Kolarac Hall — both familiar stages for generations of Serbian jazz audiences.
This year’s lineup reflects the Festival’s curatorial focus on connection: between continents, between generations, and between the classic and the experimental. Among the most anticipated appearances is that of trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith, one of the central voices of American avant-garde jazz, who will perform in Belgrade for the first time. His duo with Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier promises a meeting of two powerful improvisational languages, lyrical abstraction and textural intensity, within the intimate acoustic context that defines much of Smith’s late work.
Another artist returning to Belgrade with growing international recognition is tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. Leading his quartet, Lewis brings a sound deeply rooted in the soul and spirituality of the jazz tradition yet charged with the urgency of the present. Following acclaimed performances across Europe this season, his appearance marks a continuation of the festival’s engagement with artists pushing the creative boundaries of the form.
The European contingent also stands out for its range and depth. Italian saxophonist Roberto Ottaviano brings his *Eternal Love* project, blending Mediterranean lyricism with British and Nordic influences. French clarinetist Louis Sclavis reunites with pianist Benjamin Moussay for a duo of intricate interplay and compositional clarity, while the legendary bassist Henri Texier returns to Serbia with his trio, offering reflective, melodic music shaped by his half century on the European scene. Spanish pianist Marta Sanchez, now based in New York, adds a transatlantic dimension, performing material that bridges contemporary classical technique and American rhythmic vitality.
Serbian artists remain at the heart of the program. The Radio Television Serbia Big Band, under the direction of trumpeter Stjepko Gut, opens the domestic program with a set commissioned especially for the festival. Newer projects include Bosque Sound Community, led by bassist Miloš Bosnić, and saxophonist Rastko Obradović’s quartet, joined by Danish bassist Jasper Høiby of Phronesis fame, both ensembles presenting recently released original material to international audiences.
Across four days, the Belgrade Jazz Festival continues to affirm its central role in the wider European jazz network — a gathering that listens forward while staying rooted in history. Each performance this week stands as a reminder of how the city, and this festival in particular, continues to nurture that precarious balance between discipline and freedom, where the jazz path remains open, ever changing, and vibrantly alive.
Last modified: October 22, 2025
