Jazzcalabash (ジャズカラバッシュ), a circuit-style jazz festival, takes place on Monday, November 23, 2026 (national holiday). About 80 professional musicians gather to play live at 10 venues in Osaka's Kita area. The organizing committee members are musicians themselves and book the performers, putting together a program that conveys the current state of jazz in Kansai.
Professional musicians from their 20s to their 90s take part, centered on young players active in the Kansai region. Twenty-two bands, from duos to large ensembles and in a variety of styles, present the appeal of jazz. This year the regular program JAMcalabash has six slots. Each is an improvised session by a one-day-only lineup, where visitors can experience the give-and-take and energy unique to jazz up close, and it is a popular part of the festival. At AZUL TERRACE, a new venue this year, six pianists also perform on a solo piano stage.
Beyond the performances, the festival offers a record market in collaboration with record shops, limited-edition food from Osaka restaurants, and craft beer with an original label. The day combines jazz with a stroll around Osaka.
Event Overview
- Event: Jazzcalabash (ジャズカラバッシュ)
- Date and time: Monday, November 23, 2026 (national holiday), doors open at 11:00 AM, performances end at 9:00 PM
- Venues: 10 live houses and halls in the Umeda and Kitashinchi areas of Osaka, including NEW SUNTORY5 (ニューサントリー5), a well-known venue for New Orleans jazz, and the long-established club NOON (see Venues below)
- Tickets: Advance free pass ticket (valid at all venues)
- General: ¥6,000
- 22 and under: ¥3,500
- Junior high school students and younger: free (preschool children may enter)
- A one-order minimum applies to each program (halls excluded)
- Organizer: 一般社団法人Jazzcalabash
An Urban Jazz Festival in Osaka's Kita Area
This urban circuit festival connects the jazz clubs and halls scattered across Kita, the gateway to Osaka. It is an unprecedented project in Osaka's jazz history, which stretches more than 100 years from the Taisho era to the present.
The name "calabash" is the English word for a gourd (瓢箪, hyotan). Since ancient times the gourd has been regarded as a good-luck charm that wards off evil. It was also the battle standard of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and is the motif of the Osaka Prefecture emblem. The festival started in 2021, when the music scene as a whole had been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was named with the aim of getting past the pandemic and energizing the Kansai jazz scene.
A Program Showing Kansai Jazz Today
Professional musicians from their 20s to their 90s, centered on young players active in Kansai, gather for about 50 programs covering a wide range of jazz, including traditional, bebop, and contemporary styles.
Because it is a circuit-style festival where one ticket gives access to every venue, visitors can drop in on jazz spots more casually than at a regular jazz live show and enjoy many performances in a single day. Some venues have kids' spaces, creating an environment where parents and children can enjoy jazz together.
To shake off the old image of jazz, the pamphlet and posters are carefully designed. The pamphlet is more than a simple program. It also covers the history of the jazz clubs used as venues and the personalities of the musicians.
Venues
- umeda ALWAYS (梅田オールウェイズ): 6-8 Nozakicho, Kita-ku, Osaka, B1F
- NEW SUNTORY5 (ニューサントリー5): 2-10-15 Sonezaki, Kita-ku, Osaka, 5F
- JAZZ ON TOP (ジャズオントップ): 15-17 Doyamacho, Kita-ku, Osaka
- CRESCENT (クレッセント): 1-3-11 Sonezakishinchi, Kita-ku, Osaka, 2F
- Pile Driver (パイルドライバー): 1-2-2 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka, Osaka Ekimae Dai-2 Building (大阪駅前第2ビル) B2F
- AZUL TERRACE (アズールテラス): 4-4 Chayamachi, Chayamachi Garden Building (茶屋町ガーデンビル) 5F
- NOON+CAFE (ヌーンプラスカフェ): 3-3-8 Nakazakinishi, Kita-ku, Osaka
- COOKPARK (クックパーク): 1-5 Komatsubaracho, Kita-ku, Osaka, ibis Osaka Umeda (イビス大阪梅田) 1F
- BREEZÉ PLAZA Small Hall (ブリーゼプラザ・小ホール): 2-4-9 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka, Breeze Tower (ブリーゼタワー) 7F
- Dolce Art Hall Osaka (ドルチェ・アートホール・オーサカ): 2-7 Kakudacho, Kita-ku, Osaka, B1F
Performers
Performers are listed in no particular order.
今西佑介セクステット / CHAKA / 村上和帆カルテット / 唐口一之クインテット / 本川悠平 The 3Tenors / 田中ヒロシトリオ / 小柳淳子カルテット with 川嶋哲郎 / Otsuka Megumi Pangaea / 永田右京カルテット / 大塚善章トリオ with 竹田一彦 / Miki Hirose V-JUG / 柏谷淳クインテット / 升本しのぶ&牧知恵子 / TRÊS TRIO / 溝口恵美子トリオ / いぶきさらさ / MITCH＆小林創 / 西山瞳 / asobiyoshi / ユーゲンス / 平光広太郎 / 松本圭使 / 安田皓誠 / 杉山悟史 / 木畑晴哉 / 岩佐康彦
Official Website and Social Media
- Website: https://jazzcalabash.com
- X: https://twitter.com/jazzcalabash
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazzcalabash/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jazzcalabash
