Soon, we’ll reach the season when citygoers are ready to emerge together towards one giant nonstop party, while Gent Jazz Festival mellows out the masses with spiritual, tech-savvy fusions within the genre. Collaboratively-oriented solo and group pioneers follow their bliss in establishing their ranges of rhythmic mashup patterns and harmonious jam sensibilities worldwide, and now are headed to the greens of the Bijloke area this July! Expect pieces that channel drum/bass/hip hop impulses, along with untraditional melodies, blazingly memorable signature looks and cadences that gush pizzazz.
Shabaka
10.07.2026
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Shabaka leads his band of Ancestors with a breadth of group-member and renowned collaboration experience.
Free to morph sonic influences from several additional genres among the leagues of soca, calypso, and acid house, prior lineup curations containing flute, sax, and reggae-poetry vocalisations reveal his fruitful tenures in British and Barbadian jazz scenes.
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Tomoki Sanders
10.07.2026
Timbred with raw heartfelt exclamation and accelerated note-hitting works, Tomoki Sanders oozes aesthetic artistry through adjacent dancers and striking lighting taste while performing live. Their momentum-jolting saxophonic shrieks are personally styled with accessories of mystique from head to tapping toe. All this to say- never a dull show!
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Gala Dragot
12.07.2026
The inner machinations of Gala Dragot are made apparent by her transportative, romantically vulnerable lyrics accompanied by melancholically modern rhythms delivered with a sharply high range. Once representing Belgium in their Eurosong contest and now a seasoned online platformer, she will soon serve the public with idyllic instrumentally enhanced songs and raps in a cosier setting.
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Snarky Puppy
16.07.2026
Blissfully rich tones emit in fuzzy reverberative depth and expressively sassy notes that gush and linger through the audience from Snarky Puppy, which is evocatively named as a dynamic group proficient at swift leaps between heavy synth with flightly shimmering uptempo acoustics into more funky lows.
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Darkside
16.07.2026
Darkside can be characterised by its uniform ecclesity via isolated whirs and danceable, club-friendly yet stripped echoes of mildly sung chants. Their jazz draws from psychedelic rock tendencies for all with the tenderest touch, crafting a stream of consciousness realm for all ears to pick through.
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<div class="editorial-banner"> <div class=“editorial-credits”>Gent Jazz<br>02.07 till 18.07.2026<br>@gentjazz<br>gentjazz.com<br><br>Cover: Gala Dragot</div>
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