Cheltenham Jazz Festival always promises a rich and varied programme and a lovely vibe, but this one had added sunshine plus one very special gig to raise it even further in the memorable stakes: the reunion, on the 30th anniversary of their formation, of the band Loose Tubes.
Members of the band – Django Bates, Mark Lockheart, Iain Ballamy, Chris Batchelor, Julian Arguelles, Eddie Parker among them – had gone on to further redefine our jazz since the Tubes loosened, seemingly irrevocably, 24 years ago, but this was the British jazz equivalent of the Beatles reforming.
There was heightened expectation in The Big Top on Saturday and Loose Tubes well and truly exceeded it. Old favourite pieces like Säd Afrika, Yellow Hill and Last Word were matched by new pieces, commissioned by BBC Radio 3, from Bates, Parker, Batchelor and Steve Berry.
The combination of great compositions, arrangements and playing, together with an anarchic sense of humour and a roof-lifting energy is all still there, now enhanced by the increased sophistication of the musicianship acquired in the intervening years.
The band is playing a week at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and at the Brecon Jazz Festival in August but then the musicians will go their separate ways again, so this really was an occasion to relish and remember.
The wide variety of jazz on offer at Cheltenham was summed up in my Saturday evening, which began with a slick set of romantic songs from around the world delivered by Chicagoan singer Kurt Elling and his American band, and was followed by Birmingham bassist Chris Mapp building a monumental sound sculpture of industrial noise out of an electric bass and a bunch of effects pedals. This was one of three experimental sets in a late-night event called The Edge.
Sunday brought a lunchtime gig of three bands, each comprising students from Birmingham Conservatoire and from Trondheim Conservatory in Norway. The ability and confidence may have varied from musician to musician but they were united, and inspiringly so, by their desire to make their own mark on this music called jazz.
