Brad Mehldau, Zorn’s Bagatelles, Norma Winstone and Theo Croker among the highlights of Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024

For some years the annual Cheltenham Jazz Festival has done a splendid job of pitching big-hitting jazz headliners alongside crowd-pleasing popsters and a discreet programme of cutting edge contemporary stuff. The latter, housed in the Parabola Arts Centre (aka PAC) was curated by Tony Dudley-Evans until he announced his retirement last year, news which caused alarm amongst the jazz-minded. Could they find a replacement for Dudley-Evans’ impeccable judgment? The answer proved to be both yes, and no: while new curator Alexandria Carr clearly shares his enthusiasm for innovation and diversity he has also been prevailed upon to continue commissioning new works and collaborations. Their joint efforts ensured a satisfying series of interesting and enjoyable PAC gigs – and a collective sigh of relief.

Lukumi Project's three steel pan drummers - Photo by Tim Dickeson

So, while Sophie Ellis-Bextor and UB40 packed them in and there were big venue sell-outs for Snarky Puppy (who blasted the roof off the Big Top with a jazz-rocking solo-packed set), Courtney Pine, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Brad Mehldau, the PAC weekend kicked off with young pianist (and milliner) Sultan Stevenson’s trio. Influences acknowledged included McCoy Tyner and Beki Mseleku, most evident in Stevenson’s strong left hand, but the elaborated gospel hymn ‘He Has Made Me Whole’ also showed a fund of lyrical ideas. Drummer David Ola’s Lukumi Project – a festival commission – brought jazz horns together with a trio of steel pans for a themed suite telling the story of the African Diaspora. Held together by Emanuel Adeniro’s indefatigable bass guitar the music had an inspiring vigour sometimes at odds with more sombre themes but always a joy to hear, with Marlon Hibbert’s excellent tenor pan soloing a revelation.

Sam Eastmond presents John Zorn's The Bagatelles – Photo by Tim Dickeson

On paper there’s very little to John Zorn’s 300 Bagatelles, but Sam Eastmond’s big band arrangements conjured enthrallingly sprawling and turbulent tapestries.. Thanks to the players’ collective fearlessness the music surged between tight structures, jarring counterpoints and complete freedom while soloists persevered across the changes. Especially impressive were Asha Parkinson’s tenor, notably in frenzied dialogue with Moss Freed’s guitar, and Charlotte Keefe’s rasping trumpet interjections. There was certainly no less talent on display in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra’s collaboration with pianist/composer Nikki Yeoh (Parkinson herself being a recent NYJO graduate). Yeoh’s piece ‘Speechmik’, built on the rhythms and cadences of speech in different languages, was a clever idea providing a wide range of stylistic opportunities for individuals to shine. In a touching tribute to Yeoh’s mentor the late Ian Carr a crackling arrangement of Carr’s ‘Wardance’ provided a brilliant orchestral encore to their set.

The PAC auditorium’s intimate space was best exploited by Kit Downes and Norma Winstone’s elegant duo (pictured above - photo by Tim Dickeson), two distinctive stylists comfortably finding common ground. While Downes was given plenty of space to explore the music as a soloist his deft sensitivity as accompanist to the strength and poise of Winstone’s vocals really impressed. It all came particularly together on John Taylor’s ‘Fly The Wind’, Downe’s harmonic clarity recalling the composer’s own vivid freedom woven around Winstone’s lyrics and scat singing. They make a lovely couple. Sadly the space backfired somewhat for Dave Douglas and Trish Clowes’ Eyes Up quintet, the acoustic privilege for Joel Barford’s drums and Douglas’ trumpet at times overwhelming Clowes’ more modulated tenor sax tone. The music was fine, of course, with the drunken swagger of ‘The Night Has 500 Eyes’ especially enjoyable. Disappointment marred un.procedure’s commissioned performance with strings and wind, however, as post-Brexit rules trapped Cassie Kinoshi in Berlin. While samples took her place in the electro-acoustic flow of music and animated visuals Kinoshi’s commanding stage presence was definitely missed.

Theo Croker at Cheltenham - Photo by Tim Dickeson

And, of course, there were a few temptations beyond the PAC, with Theo Croker’s much anticipated Jazz Arena set a real pleasure. The trumpeter is an adept producer who managed that rare feat of deftly mixing electronics and samples as part of an engaging performance, helped by the brilliant piano of Idris Frederick (also deploying the latest super-fancy Fender Rhodes) and ebullient thunderstorm drummer Jeremiah Collier. They made suave and contemporary music with real character. Over on the main Town Hall stage young double bass player Felix Moseholm really caught the eye for his precise economy and lyrical turn of phrase. “He’ll go far” someone near me remarked - but surely playing with Brad Meldhau is the definition of ‘far’? Meldhau, of course, was utterly brilliant, playing to pin-drop silence as an attentive capacity audience drank in every note and were rewarded with, among other treats, his classic post-cocktail treatment of ‘Secret Love’. It was one of those gigs to be remembered for a long, long time.