Press room

Just announced

Time for one more?

Celebrating John Cumming

Sat 16 Jul 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm

Tickets £20 – 30 plus booking fee

An eclectic selection of artists will come together at the Barbican this July to celebrate the life and musical passions of John Cumming (1948 – 2020), one of the most influential jazz promoters of our time and founder and director of Barbican Associate Producer Serious.

Also founder of the London Jazz Festival, and friend to adventurous musicians and creative types on and off stage from the 1960s until his death in May 2020, John Cumming pioneered and produced many musical happenings at the Barbican and in venues around the UK.

This concert – along with afternoon performances on Level G – is a celebration of jazz in all its forms. From the young and emerging members of Gary Crosby’s Tomorrow’s Warriors or cellist & singer Ayanna Witter-Johnson, to established artists such as Andy Sheppard, Nik Bärtsch, Guy Barker and John Surman; all these inspirational musicians were championed by John and his company Serious.

Also confirmed are Joanna MacGregor, Evan Parker & Spring Heel Jack, Yazz Ahmed, Orphy Robinson, Alice Zawadzki, Alexander Hawkins, Maciej Obara, Elina Duni, Nikki Yeoh, Dave Okumu, Jerry Dammers (DJ set) and more to be announced.

Produced by the Barbican
On sale to Barbican patrons and members on Wed 13 Apr 2022.

On general sale on Thu 14 Apr 2022
Find out more

Coming up soon

• Grouper + Coby Sey (Thu 14 Apr 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• New Rituals: Ryoichi Kurokawa + Nkisi (Sat 23 Apr 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Mica Levi: *** + Still House Plants (Fri 29 Apr 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• DJ Spoony presents: Babylon (15) with Live DJ Set and ScreenTalk with cast (Sat 30 Apr 2022, 7pm, Barbican Cinema 1)
• FIBS: Anna Meredith & London Contemporary Orchestra + Carmel Smickersgill and Tanya Auclair (Sat 30 Apr 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Eighth Grade: Live Soundtrack (15) (Sun 1 May 2022, Cinema 1, 3pm & 5pm)
• Hermeto Pascoal with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (Thu 5 May 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Luzmila Carpio (Thu 5 May 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Shards + Marina Herlop (Fri 6 May 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Hannah Peel and Paraorchestra with Charles Hazlewood (Sat 21 May 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm, also livestreamed)
• Novo Amor + Jemima Coulter (Mon 23 May 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• John McLaughlin (Sat 28 May 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• William Basinski with the London Contemporary Orchestra: The Disintegration Loops (Thu 9 Jun 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• John Waters: False Negative (Fri 10 Jun 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Arooj Aftab + Nabihah Iqbal (Fri 17 Jun 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• SFJAZZ Collective: New Works Reflecting the Moment, featuring Gretchen Parlato, Chris Potter, David Sánchez, Etienne Charles, Warren Wolf, Edward Simon, Matt Brewer, Martin Luther McCoy and Kendrick A.D. Scott (Sat 25 Jun 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Jane Birkin (Sat 9 Jul 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Ibrahim Maalouf – Capacity to Love (Mon 11 Jul 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Tigran Hamasyan (Thu 14 Jul 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Sofiane Pamart (Sun 17 Jul 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Gustavo Santaolalla (Sat 23 Jul 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm) 
• Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time – Thirty Years of The Divine Comedy (Wed 31 Aug – Sun 4 Sep 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Autechre + Zoviet France (Fri 7 Oct 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm & 10pm)
• Dave Longstreth / Dirty Projectors / s t a r g a z e: Song of the Earth (Sat 8 Oct 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Ravi Coltrane: Cosmic Music (Tue 11 Oct 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Darbar Festival 2022 (Thu 13 – Sun 16 October 2022)
• Souad Massi + Ruba Shamshoum (Sat 29 Oct 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Aoife O’Donovan + Donovan Woods (Wed 2 Nov 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Youssou N’Dour (Thu 3 Nov 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• MoodSwing: Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride and Brian Blade (Mon 14 Nov 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan Arc (Fri 25 Nov 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw (Sun 4 Dec 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm) 
• Seven Septets (Tue 6 Dec 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)  
• The Hermes Experiment & Shiva Feshareki (Thu 26 Jan 2023, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm) 
• Aldous Harding (Fri 28 – Sat 29 Apr 2023, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)