MIL:
Milano Jazzin' Festival - Where the City's Cobblestones Swing to a Global Beat

The autumn air in Milan takes on a different rhythm every October. As the fashion crowds disperse and the first crisp evenings arrive, the city surrenders to a different kind of passion - the sultry, unpredictable love affair between Milan and jazz. The Milano Jazzin' Festival, now in its 43rd year, transforms the metropolis into Europe's most sophisticated jazz laboratory from October 1-31, 2024.

This isn't your grandfather's jazz festival. The 2024 lineup reads like a United Nations of musical genius:

• Kamasi Washington reimagines Coltrane in the gilded halls of Teatro Dal Verme
• Cécile McLorin Salvant brings her Grammy-winning vocals to a candlelit 15th-century cloister
• Hiromi's Sonicwonder turns the Museo della Scienza into a futuristic sound lab
• Local legend Enrico Rava celebrates his 85th birthday with a midnight jam at Blue Note Milano

But the real magic happens in the pop-up venues that appear like musical mirages across the city. An abandoned tram depot becomes home to "Jazz on Tracks" where musicians improvise to the clatter of passing trams. The Navigli canals host floating quartet performances at sunset. Even the San Bernardino alle Ossa bone chapel (yes, the walls are made of skulls) hosts a one-night-only "Requiem Jazz Mass" that's already the most talked-about ticket in Europe.

For U.S. Travelers: PrestigeFly's "Jazz & Java" package includes Business class flights with instrument transport services

"In Milan, even the espresso machines swing." - DownBeat Magazine