Jazz Across Continents brings global rhythms to Abuja

The second edition of the Jazz Across Continents festival drew musicians and jazz enthusiasts to the Transcorp Hilton Abuja, where soulful melodies, African rhythms and international influences filled the venue, according to Africanews.

Jazz has long found a receptive audience in Nigeria, a country with a deep tradition of blending imported genres with local sounds. That tradition is most visibly associated with figures such as Fela Kuti, whose Afrobeat movement fused jazz, funk and Yoruba musical elements into a distinctly Nigerian art form that continues to shape the country’s contemporary music scene. Modern Nigerian artists have continued to draw on jazz as both an influence and a point of departure, weaving brass-driven improvisation into hip-hop, highlife and contemporary gospel.

The Transcorp Hilton Abuja, one of the Nigerian capital’s largest hotel and conference venues, has hosted a growing number of cultural events in recent years. Jazz Across Continents fits within a wider wave of festivals, art exhibitions and literary gatherings that have used Abuja as a stage for pan-African cultural exchange, positioning the city alongside Lagos and Port Harcourt as hubs of the country’s creative life. The festival’s name reflects an ambition to use jazz — a genre with global reach but recognisable African foundations — as a bridge between performers and listeners from different backgrounds.

For musicians and audiences alike, the gathering offered an opportunity to experience that exchange directly, with performers drawing on traditions from across the African diaspora and beyond. As Africanews reported, the event served as a reminder that jazz, often described as America’s original art form, carries deep African roots and continues to evolve through cross-continental collaboration.

Sources

This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.

• Africanews — Jazz bridges cultures at Abuja's 'Jazz Across Continents' festival