Music / Jazz
Review: Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2026 – ‘Once again pulled it off’
For a jazz festival to become a big event in the wider life of a community is a great thing and the crowds in Cheltenham’s Montpellier Gardens throughout the bank holiday weekend were proof that Cheltenham’s jazzfest had once again pulled it off.
With food stalls and bars the place was thronging, helped by generally sunny weather and great free stage performances including a barnstorming set of contemporary gospel from Bristol’s The Good Stuff that was deservedly well received.
Montepelier Gardens was buzzing under the sun for Cheltenham Jazz Festival – photo: Tim Dickeson
The ticketed programme included pop-oriented acts like 10cc, Micah Paris, ABC and Joss Stone and curiosity took me into the Big Top marquee to check out Jalen Ngonda, recently awarded Jazz FM Soul Singer of the Year.
I could see the appeal of his retro-Motown style and singing jazz classic I Cover The Waterfront in his middle range I could appreciate his fine voice.
However, whether it was the strain of touring or the limitations of the PA system once he went high (and he did that a lot) it all got rather grating, sadly. But maybe that’s his style, too?
My other venture into the Big Top was for Guy Barker’s arrangement of Miles Davis’ legendary album Kind of Blue for big band and symphony orchestra.
The best part of 100 musicians crammed the stage and for them the sound was spot on, a rich and sumptuous tapestry of jazz orchestration that added something unexpected to one of the most familiar jazz records of all time. Big credit to Guy for those arrangements (and to the sound tech crew for doing right by them!)
BlackSabbath Mode deconstructed heavy rock, jazz style – photo: Tim Dickeson
In the smaller PAC theatre venue the sound was crystal clear for BlackSabbath Mode. Yes, a jazz deconstruction of those original heavy rockers by Birmingham drum and keys duo Bighead Mode that took in great numbers like Solitude, Changes and (natch) Paranoid.
Vocalist Plumm was frankly astonishing, able to throw herself into improvised breakdowns, roof-rattling howls and sweet fade-outs as required.
In an absorbing performance, vocalist Elaine Mitchener remixed poetry with musical backing – photo: Tim Dickeson
On the same stage the next day improvising supergroup Power of Four offered another amazing vocal artist: Elaine Mitchener who took snippets from poet Kai Miller and stretched, tangled, remixed and exploded them through her seemingly limitless technique, ably abetted by pianist Pat Thomas, bass player Neil Charles and drummer Mark Sanders.
When they came to the end it seemed impossible that a whole hour had passed in their company.
For those who come to the festival specifically seeking jazz the PAC is where it mostly happens. Sunday afternoon saw two excellent saxophone-led bands there, the first being alto player Camilla George’s quartet.
Born in Nigeria but raised in South London her music is steeped in West African style and influences, something well served by versatile drummer Rod Youngs on polyrhythmic tunes like Ekpe or the more soulful Long Juju Slave Route of Arochokwu.
The bandleader’s fluent playing clearly took energy from the rhythms and riffs, with flavours of John Coltrane in her emotional nuances.
Tenor player Emma Rawicz was next and her sextet took full advantage of her more intricately composed music, with free-floating solos woven between complex unison passages for flute, sax, guitar and piano – the latter introducing promising new name Scotty Thompson.
Theon Cross was one of the big names on the bill – photo: Tim Dickeson
Tuba monster Theon Cross also played in the PAC, his pumping energy locked into drummer Nate Rickets in a set that gathered pace towards an explosive finale featuring split-voice tuba, a reggae bass line and everything drenched in dub-style echo as sax, guitar and tuba wrestled their way to the end.
It was a fine way to finish on a Saturday night, while Sunday evening closed the weekend programme with the much more reflective music of trumpeter Yazz Ahmed’s electroacoustic quartet.
Trumpet player Yazz Ahmed combined unusual instruments to masterful effect – photo: Tim Dickeson
Yazz used an interesting combination of instruments – vibraphone/marimba, Middle Eastern hand percussion and a mediaeval bass horn known as a serpent – and deftly deployed electronics to reimagine La Saboteuse, her 2017 suite exploring her own Bahraini roots.
The stately theme of Io emerged from industrial electronica as vibes and trumpet wove around the groove, She Stands on A Shore developed an intense wall of sound, the serpent driving multiple effects and Yazz’ flugelhorn rising and falling in Arabic scales. It was all very atmospheric.
My one venture into the Town Hall was for US saxophonist Joshua Redman, an acclaimed star as player and composer since the mid-90s whose 2025 Words Fall Short album showed the relaxed maturity of a player who’s definitely found his voice.
The performance only emphasised that maturity and confidence, his warm-toned tenor somehow emerging from moments of quartet turbulence as coolly as ever, exchanging subtle ideas with pianist Paul Cornish on the free-er So It Goes or tight bopping unison of Legal Formalities.
It was all top class jazz, the kind of affirmation that every jazz festival needs.
Makaya McCraven: ‘beat scientist’ – photo: Tim Dickeson
One other venue was aimed at the upbeat and grooving end of things: the expanded Deya Arena, sponsored by the Cheltenham brewery, with a 900 capacity standing crowd.
Self-styled ‘beat scientist’ from Chicago drummer Makaya McCraven certainly got things past the toe-tapping stage with his trio of Marquis Hill on trumpet and Junius Paul playing bass.
Fast and tight drumming rhythms were matched with clever and tireless bass and soaring improvised trumpet lines, with occasional compelling moments of three-way improvisation.
And I rounded off the weekend in the Deya for pianist Roberto Fonseca’s Cuban show band La Gran Diversion, a straightforward tribute to the kind of classic Cuban dance music that took Europe by storm in the 1930s.
It was a splendidly crowd pleasing way to finish the festival, with percussionist Andres Coayo, trumpeter Yurisbel Hernandes and Fonseca himself all happy to indulge in as much showmanship as possible while still maintaining a flawless musical performance.
Main image: Tim Dickeson
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