Nothing’s certain at Cheltenham Jazz Festival

Apr 30 2010 By Peter Bacon

Peter Bacon looks ahead to the highlights of this weekend’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

In many ways this year’s jazz festival at Cheltenham is going to be a very different experience.

Of course, jazz is always different, always new, with the musicians playing this music having a pathological fear of repeating themselves.

So, even if bassist Dave Holland or guitarist John Scofield, or pianist and composer Carla Bley has played Cheltenham before, the performances this weekend will be fresh and original. And even if you’ve seen a band like Polar Bear or Trio VD fairly recently, the way in which every band ups its game for a festival means nothing can be predicted with certainty.

But, this year, Cheltenham will also feel different outside of the music. Regular festival-goers will be familiar with that well-trodden route between the major venues of the Town Hall and Everyman Theatre. But no more.

The organisers have chosen to consolidate the festival around the Town Hall and the adjoining Imperial Gardens, erecting a large Jazz Arena marquee in addition to the usual outdoor stage. There will be food and jazz market stalls in the gardens as well, and they hope to create a really concentrated festival feel in this area. They are calling it Jazz On The Square. Another new venue is the nearby Playhouse Theatre.

Why no Everyman? Well, I guess it’s a matter of plain economics, a bullet we will all just have to bite stoically upon, while trying to ignore the memory that the Everyman was one of the finest places in the land in which to hear jazz music.

So, how is the weekend going to pan out? Well, the festival actually started last night (Wednesday) with an intimate evening with musical star Elaine Paige at the Daffodil restaurant. And it continues this evening (Thursday) with more of Elaine, this time in the Town Hall, plus a Funk & Soul Night with DJ Craig Charles at the University of Gloucester’s Park Bar, and rockabilly singer Imelda May inaugurating the Jazz Arena programme.

Friday night is always Music Night, courtesy of one of the festival’s big supporters, BBC Radio 2, and this year Ol’ Blue Eyes is the man being celebrated. Elsewhere, there is some blues from Eric Bibb in the Jazz Arena and Trio VD doing their damnedest to shake up your late night at the Town Hall Pillar Room.

Meanwhile, over at The Playhouse Theatre, there is the first of three sessions dedicated to free improvisation called Stewart Lee’s Freehouse, hosted by comedian Stewart Lee.

He will also be talking about his interest in avant garde jazz on Sunday.