Music / cheltenham jazz festival
Cheltenham gets jazzed up (again)
Given how close it is to Bristol it’s great to see that the Cheltenham Jazz Festival is back with as strong and wide-ranging a line-up as we have come to expect. Running from Wednesday April 27 to Monday May 2 this year’s edition marks the 25th time the town has given itself over to what has long been recognised as one of the UK’s best jazzfests. Along with appearances by top contemporary acts, new generation rising stars and a sprinkling of bona fide legends the festival’s anniversary will be celebrated in a mighty new commissioned piece bringing together the Guy Barker Big Band with the BBC Concert Orchestra and star vocalists Gregory Porter, Paloma Faith and Imelda May.
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Of course there are plenty more big names, ranging from festival patron Jamie Cullum and famed Zeppelin pilot Robert Plant to the soulful likes of Corinne Bailey Rae and Gabrielle. The classy gospel-inspired Emeli Sandé makes her festival debut while another highlight has to be the great P P Arnold, whose career began in the 60s with the classic First Cut Is The Deepest. She went on to collaborate with the top names of the UK rock scene as well as releasing her own material and could well be an inspiration for rising R&B star Lola Young, appearing here with bassist Adeline.
Among the great jazz names probably the most qualified as a ‘legend’ is Mulatu Astatke. In the early ‘70s the Ethiopian multi-instrumentalist and composer famously brought the sounds of jazz and Latin music back to his homeland and fused them with traditional sounds to create Ethiojazz, a kind of uplifting off-beat funk that was rediscovered worldwide around the Millennium. A famously cheerful performer, his band also includes the sparkling Byron Wallen on trumpet. US saxophonist Gary Bartz has been ploughing his own exploratory furrow since featuring in Miles Davis’ awesome Live-Evil 70s band, so it’s no surprise that he has joined forces with top young UK spiritual jazz combo Maisha. Co-incidentally, that band original line-up featured a young Nubya Garcia, now a top saxophone-playing name worldwide and the headliner for Saturday’s main stage programme.
Trumpeter Dave Douglas’ duo collaboration with drummer Joey Baron represents two of the most distinctive contemporary jazz figures to emerge from the 80s No Wave scene in New York, having collaborated with the likes of John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Laurie Anderson – even David Bowie. It’s highly likely that UK superstar drummer Moses Boyd will want to catch Baron’s masterclass technique, though sadly the gig also clashes with Graham Costello’s STRATA, another young UK drumming hotshot from the vibrant Glasgow scene. Drumming fans would do well to check out Corrie Dick’s appearance with the Laura Jurd Ensemble, an 11-piece line-up combining her usual jazz quartet with the Ligeti String Quartet and a brass trio. And then there’s another New York avant garde drumming master in Susie Ibarra who comes with experimental pianist Myra Melford’s Quintet that also includes the amazing guitarist Mary Halvorson.
And finally … a quick name check for a local hero who gets two contrasting gigs at this year’s festival: Bristol-based guitarist Denny Ilett will bring his star-studded jazz-rock behemoth Electric Lady Big Band – fresh from recently packing them in at Ronnie Scott’s – on Sunday 1 while he also opens the festival programme on Wednesday 27 with a set of cool and swinging vocal numbers associated with Frank Sinatra and Nat ‘King’ Cole.
Cheltenham Jazz Festival runs from Wednesday April 27 to Monday May 2. Check the website for ticket availability.
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