It’s going to be so cool

Anniversaries can be pretty important, so JazzStroud organiser Neil Walker was planning ahead for 2027 to be a bit special: “I thought it was going to be our tenth and we’d have a big year, but we’ve just realised it’s this year and we’ve missed the anniversary!” Happily, however, the 2026 programme has enough good stuff crammed into the weekend (April 9-12) to make it a fine celebration nonetheless.

Looking through the line-up the big names stand out at once: Cassie Kinoshi’s Mercury-nominated 11-piece seed. are a rare Afro-jazz treat, while contemporary trumpeter Laura Jurd and manic free-form quartet Let Spin are also both top names on the UK scene. Perhaps less well known but intriguingly original are the 15-strong Leeds-based spiritual jazz collective Ancient Infinity Orchestra, a mighty contrast to the powerful solo synth grooves of former Comet Is Coming member Danalogue or percussionist Bex Burch, the latter now very much immersed in the Berlin electronic scene. She’ll have her solo show but will also be doing a duo improvising set with Cassie Kinoshi that should be another festival highlight.

Two vocalists that really caught Neil’s ear are featured, with Allysha Joy making her third appearance at the festival. Neil remembers her debut: “She closed the festival on the Sunday night, just her and her keyboard in (small club venue) SVA. About 120 people packed into the room and we had to turn the fridges off because it was so quiet. That is probably one of my best memories of all the JazzStroud weekends.” Making her debut this year, Bel Cobain has been building her reputation on the London scene with distinctively soulful nu-jazz and poetic lyrics. For Neil these kind of acts are an important bridge for the new younger audience he has been developing over the years. “A lot of young people come for the club nights, the DJs are their main focus, but then they also come to see Allysha Joy or Bel Cobain and the younger musicians that connect to them. We hope it might open up a whole new musical world for them.”

That said, Neil feels the DJ strand is equally important: “They’re great events, those club nights, so this year we’ve extended the programme and the license at (main venue) The Goods Shed to incorporate amazing DJ stuff on Friday night. It’s a two-hour improvised set by Neffa T. He works with multipleCD decks and builds up terrific music from scratch.” Other big name DJs on offer include London’s Footshooter, Stroud-born Dubbu and Bristol reggae label Poor Man’s Friend.

The Goods Shed has one of the festival’s greatest assets, namely the astonishing Soundscape surround system created by d&b Audiotechnik, the German amplification pioneers with a base near Stroud. “The word has really got around among musicians. Once they experience that sound, they go away thinking ‘that was extraordinary’ and they immediately want to come back and play again. It’s so good for a little town like Stroud to get that bit of the festival so right.”

One interesting development for 2026 is the involvement of the WOMAD organisation who are delivering a Friday night takeover in the Goods Shed. How did that connection come about? “It didn’t just happen – it evolved over a number of years.” Neil recalls. “First we managed to get a young people’s ska collective in for a gig at (WOMAD venue) Molly’s Bar and it started from there. It grew into a regular tradition taking bands and also the Joycie DJ collective – a young women’s project that teaches DJ techniques to other young women. They did two sets at the last WOMAD in 2024.” The Friday night WOMAD-presented programme in the Goods Shed features sets from West African singer/percussionist Falle Nioke and the vibrant Cuban-inspired jazz dance band New Regency Orchestra -plus sets from the Joycie DJs, natch.

Young saxophonist Allexa Nava’s name may not yet be so widely known but it should only be a matter of time. A member of the New Regency Orchestra and a former member of the Latin jazz powerhouse Collectiva she is now emerging in her own right and Neil is pleased to have persuaded her to bring her music to the festival. “My friend was working with her and he said she was quite keen to come. She was picked for the opening week at Ronnie Scott’s new room and the gig was really good. Sadly it was too late to arrange for her whole band but she’ll be opening up in the (St Laurence) Church on Sunday. She’s already causing quite a stir, a bit like Nubya Garcia did.”

With a whole lot more crammed into the weekend – check the line-up here – Neil feels that their overlooked tenth anniversary will be well enough celebrated. “I’m especially pleased with the programme in St Laurence Church – it’s such an atmospheric venue, with great acoustics and we’ve got a really great programme there, on a par with the Goods Shed in terms of the artists profiles. There’s people we’ve been trying to get for years and finally the timing was right. We’re really happy with the programme this year – it’s going to be so cool.”

JazzStroud 2026 is at various venues in Stroud from Thur 9 – Sun 12 April