Review: Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2015 (Sun)

Sunday’s forecast promised heavy rain – a potential disaster for the grassy festival site – but it never happened. In fact the day dawned bright and the music got off to a dazzling start – but more of that later. 

After Saturday’s sax battalion it was good to check guitarist John Scofield playing in a set up that he pointed out was called John Scofield meets Pablo Held Trio: ‘Make of that what you will!’ Actually it was a spot-on description of what happened as Scofield’s brand of rock-flavoured jazz guitar never really gelled with the German piano trio, possibly because of their tight-knit empathy. What resulted was a set of two halves, with Held and chums giving Scofield support to lead off in his way, then reclaiming the tune through the pianists clear restatement before building up a superb three-way improvisation between themselves and then leaving the guitarist to close the thing down at the end. Scofield was true to form, and fans were delighted with that, but the Pablo Held Trio were a discovery that will hopefully return to the UK in their own right.

Resident reed man and saxophonist Julian Arguelles brought a new septet project to the festival, a collaboration that allowed him to extend his arrangements and compose new pieces trusting that the likes of George Crowley (bass clarinet), Percy Pursglove (trumpet/flugel) and trombonist Kieran McLeod could deliver to the high standard he sets. He was right, too, and the result was a set of beautifully crafted contemporary chamber jazz that allowed every player to shine. Frustratingly – and typically – it was Arguelles own vigorous tenor that was held back as Pursglove growled and stormed and Crowley’s sonorities coloured each piece and the rich brass harmonies of the pieces  were delightful. Only in the closer Trialities did the main man loosen his tubes and let himself go, with the band clearly as delighted as the audience with his well-tempered eloquence.

That dazzling start, however, had a strong Gallic accent thanks to the festival’s developing relationship with the French jazz scene. In Bed With featured pianist Kit Downs (who was also part of Julian Arguelles band) playing electronic keyboards with Sylvain Darrifourq (drums) and Julien Desprez (guitar). They laid out their colours early: a shapeless electronic scrapbook gaining momentum until suddenly a behemoth of metal-prog riffery would break through, only to fizzle into more confusion, then reappear … It was visceral stuff, Desprez punching and scrabbling, Darrifourq snapping the drums (and electronics) in and out of beats, Downs driving a Wobble-ish bassline while boiling up his Nord and brought a long-needed breath of Motorhead to the festival.

In Bed With was the second French act of the day, however, the other being the Surnatural Orchestra who pulled off the annoying jazz festival trope of arriving as unknowns playing at lunchtime who blow away the rest of the day before it’s even started. A mighty big band on the small Parabola stage they none the less found space to provide a continuous moving spectacle, shaping and reshaping themselves into clumps and configuration while playing excellently constructed modular pieces of orchestral jazz. It was like Mike Gibbs with a rakish beret, or Frank Zappa on the Bois de Boulogne. The band was a tight-knit collective playing in a shadowy light yet each player emerged as a clear character, thanks to their chosen dress and the way they moved. The tunes varied from what sounded like Chim Chim Cheree interpreted for a fairground organ to a moody blues serenade, the musical texture shifted constantly as players changed instruments or made unlikely collaborations. At one point they left the stage and ringed the auditorium, leaving the baritone sax to explore the tune centre stage. It was a visual spectacle that never distracted from the music, however, but which drew the audience into their party: no mean feat for mid-day on a Sunday. Like Pable Held another discovery that surely must return as soon as possible.