Loose Tubes, Kurt Elling and Snarky Puppy set for big Cheltenham Jazz Festival weekend
Friday, May 2, 2014
Cheltenham Jazz Festival gets into full swing today, as one of the event’s strongest line-ups in years looks set to make this a weekend packed with memorable performances.
Chief among these will be the first concert by the reformed Brit-jazz supergroup Loose Tubes (pictured), who return at 2pm in the Big Top for the time in 24 years. Grammy-winning US jazz vocalist Kurt Eilling also makes his debut at the festival at the Town Hall at 7pm as he performs music from his PassionWorld project with a brand new band. And groove-hounds Snarky Puppy bring their explosive mix of jazz, funk, fusion and global sounds also to the Town Hall on a beat-laden double bill with DJ Gilles Peterson.
Elsewhere the widely acclaimed Kairos 4Tet, whose most recent album Everything We Hold figured high in Jazzwise’s Albums of the Year 2013 poll, along with hotly tipped Armenian pianist Tigran, celebrated soul-jazz singer Roberta Flack and highly-regarded soul-jazz singer Eska complete the main concert venue line-up for this year’s Festival that kicked off on 30 April and continues until Monday 5 May. Based in the festival’s tented village in the spa town’s Montpellier Gardens, the festival encompasses the Big Top and Jazz Arena venues, the nearby Parabola Arts Centre, Playhouse Theatre and The Daffodil, this year, welcomes back the Town Hall for a number of concerts.
Festival headliners appearing this weekend also include Billy Cobham, Gregory Porter, Ambrose Akinmusire, Get The Blessing and Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. Roberta Flack will play the Big Top on 3 May while Jamie Cullum played on the opening day on Wednesday, backed by an 11-piece big band in the Big Top.
The festival, held in association with BBC Radio 2 and sponsored by Jazzwise, has also announced a Fringe programme on the Free Stage at the Montpellier Gardens festival village site featuring artists such as Ghent Youth Jazz Orchestra, Young Pilgrims, Melanie de Basio, Blues Boy Dan Owen, Melissa James, the Chris Whiter Quintet, ULV and school jazz bands from Gloucestershire among others, while local bands play free Fringe shows at various venues around the town, including The Beehive, the Tavern, Waterstones, Cowley Manor, Rise Records, the Strand and the Queens Hotel.
Within the festival village the Beyond The Band tent features a series of jazz-inspired films, including Some Like It Hot, Chicago and A Street Car Named Desire, as well as a series of talks and workshops including sessions with prominent musicians, jazz industry figures and a live music photography workshop with Jazzwise’s own Tim Dickeson.
Full bank holiday weekend concert dates are:
Friday 2 May: Eska with guest Laura Mvula (Jazz Arena, 6.30pm); Julian Siegel Quartet (Playhouse, 8pm); Friday Night is Music Night with Guy Barker Big Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra with Kurt Elling, Curtis Stigers and Liane Carroll (Big Top, 8pm); Hailey Tuck (The Daffodil, 9.15pm).
Saturday 3 May: Paul Dunmall Sextet (Playhouse, 12.15pm); Nick Mulvey (Jazz Arena, 12.30pm); Loose Tubes (Big Top, 2pm); Denys Baptiste (Town Hall, 3.45pm); Tigran (Jazz Arena 4.15pm); Michael Wollny Trio (Playhouse, 6pm); Robert Cray (Big Top, 5.30pm); Kurt Elling Quartet (Town Hall, 7pm); Tinariwen (7.15pm); The Speakeasy (The Daffodil, 10.30pm); The Edge Project (Playhouse, 10pm); Gilles Peterson and Snarky Puppy (Town Hall, 10.30pm).
Sunday 4 May: Trondheim Jazz Exchange (Parabola Arts Centre, 11.45am); Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet (Jazz Arena, 1.15pm); Jake Issac and Lake Street Drive (Big Top, 2.30pm); Iain Ballamy’s Anorak XL (Parabola, 3pm); Liane Carroll Trio, (Jazz Arena, 4.15pm); Billy Cobham at 70 (Big Top, 5.45pm); Dan Nicholls’ Strobes plus ByramArt (Parabola, 6pm); Sinatra Sings Sinatra (Jazz Arena, 7.15pm); Gregory Porter and Blue Note Guests (Big Top, 9pm); Thomas Strønen Time Is A Blind Guide (Parabola, 9pm).
Monday 5 May: Family Show: Jazz All Stars featuring Natalie Williams (Jazz Arena, 11am); London Afrobeat Collective (Big Top, 1pm); Joe Silver an Café Bohemia plus Indigo Kings (Jazz Arena, 2.30pm); Curtis Stigers (Big Top, 4.15pm); Get the Blessing and Kairos 4Tet (Jazz Arena, 6.45pm); Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra with Gregory Porter and guests (Big Top, 8.15pm).
For ticket details and further info visit www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz