‘Connected’: Firenze Jazz 2025
September 2 – 16: FIRENZE JAZZ FESTIVAL 2025. Various venues. Admission ranges from free – €24 depending on the event. More information is available on the festival’s official website.
Two robots are back-to-back, enveloped by nature. But these machines are not out of place with their surroundings, they are part of them. This beautiful graphic epitomises the concept of “Connected” — the theme of this year’s Firenze Jazz Festival that represents the power of jazz, in uniting people and many different forms of music. Throughout the first two weeks of September the sound of jazz will echo throughout Florence as the Jazz Festival returns for 2025 with an exciting line up of established and emerging talent.
This year’s festival will continue to delight jazz listeners of all backgrounds and interests, with some days being devoted to free events: September 5, September 9, September 10, September 11, and September 14. Here is a guide to all the free performances and some of the unmissable paid concerts happening in venues across Florence.
The festival welcomes two very different acts, Culcchia con Li Calzi (Venue: Conventino) and Simona Palumbo Latin Quartet (Venue: Habana 500) on September 5, with the former taking inspiration from George Orwell’s dystopian classic Nineteen Eighty-Four and the latter Latin American music. On September 9 blues inspired band, Luca Gelli Organ Trio, will be joined by guest saxophonist Dario Cecchini (venue: Santa Rosa Bistrot). Electronic music fans will want to save the date on the September 10, with innovative performances from 90s DJs Feel Good Production (Venue: hu Firenze Certosa camping in town) and electronic jazz band, Francesco Cangi and the Lonely Rockets (Venue: Terrazza Forte Belvedere). This showcases the versatility of jazz. A more traditional performance will happen on September 11, with a showing by La Paranza del Geco (Venue: hu Certosa Firenze camping in town), who are inspired by the traditional dances of southern Italy, evoking medieval ritual festivals and collective memories.
The grand finale of the festival will take place at the Cascine Amphitheatre over the weekend on from September 12 – 14. September 14 will host two unmissable, free performances. First from poet, saxophonist and emerging jazz icon, Alabaster DePlume and then Geneva based Orchestre Tout Pusissant Marcel Duchamp. The Orchestre are inspired by Afrobeat, post-punk, and folk music.
Other notable, but paid entry performances will come from Alfa Mist on September 12 who blends jazz, hip-hop and soul (venue: Cascine Amphitheatre). Shady grooves, prog-pop and orchestral funk inspired pianist, Dario Bassolino and electronic dream, pop-inspired Coca Puma will be playing on September 13 (venue: Cascine Ampitheatre). Opening the jazz festival, on September 2, will be Isaiah Collier, an emerging talent on the Chicago jazz scene, whose music blends spirituality and experimentation (venue: Limonaia di Villa Storzzi).
These varied and exciting artists demonstrate that jazz is a focal point for many genres of music, epitomising this year’s theme. “Connected” is more than a theme, it is a declaration that we are all interconnected at the roots through emotions, memory and rhythm. The notes, tempo, metre, and form of music speak a universal language. For more information or to get your tickets see the Firenze Jazz Festival Website.
(Mikela Persson Caracciolo)
