Jazz in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia hosted its first ever jazz festival in February 2018, after two decades of concerts being banned entirely. International artists like Delfeayo Marsalis and Incognito performed, but also young Saudi musicians in fusion band Min Alriyadh, and an amateur group of North American and European ex-pats, the Dharan Big Band. Beyond a one-off festival, performance opportunities are rare, though jazz can be heard in hotels like the Riyadh Four Seasons and at foreign embassy events.

While Saudi Arabia attempts to improve its image with the relaxing of rules on women being able to drive and the lift on bans of cinemas and concerts, there is still a long way to go. The Saudi department in charge of these things, the General Entertainment Authority, was still warning against “dancing and swaying” in 2018, and in 2019 Nikki Minaj was pressured to cancel an appearance at a festival in Jeddah, over continued gender segration in restaurants, schools and universities.