JAM — Month of Jazz

JAM — the Month of Jazz — stretches a jazz festival across an entire month. Throughout April, the KIC Budo Tomović cultural centre in Podgorica becomes the capital's jazz headquarters, with concerts programmed week after week rather than compressed into a single weekend.

April is a rewarding time to hear music in Montenegro's capital. Podgorica, set on a plain where rivers meet, is coming out of winter: the evenings turn mild, the cafe terraces on the squares fill again, and the slopes of Gorica park are at their greenest. A concert at KIC sits naturally at the end of a spring day in the city, and the walk to the venue is part of the evening.

The line-ups mix international guests with the regional scene. In 2025 the festival opened with the Israeli trumpeter Itamar Borochov, setting the tone for a month of performances that range across the breadth of contemporary jazz. Alongside that year's concerts, the "Jazz Covers" exhibition celebrated the visual culture of the genre — the album art that has always been part of jazz's identity.

The month-long format gives JAM a different rhythm from most festivals: instead of festival fatigue, each concert stands as an event of its own, and April evenings at KIC become a habit for the city's music lovers. For visitors, it means that almost any trip to Podgorica in April can include a night of live jazz. There is no need to plan around a packed festival weekend — you simply check what is playing during your stay and pick an evening.

Concerts are ticketed, with the programme announced by KIC ahead of each April. The festival is annual and runs through the whole of April at KIC Budo Tomović in Podgorica, from the opening days of the month to its final evenings.