Gregory Porter, Jamie Cullum, Saving Grace ft Robert Plant, James Bay, Paloma Faith, Emeli Sandé, Tom Odell, Nubya Garcia, Gabrielle and Nitin Sawhney Amongst Names Announced for 25th Cheltenham Jazz Festival, April 27-May 2, 2022
Following a two-year break, Cheltenham Jazz Festival returns with its milestone 25th edition, incorporating large-scale concerts, intimate club shows, world premieres, masterclasses, family-friendly shows and an array of free events.
Among the names announced for this year’s event are star US vocalist Gregory Porter, who returns as the Festival’s Artistic Curator, legendary Led Zeppelin rocker Robert Plant with his Saving Grace project, Golden Globe-winning pianist, singer and broadcaster Jamie Cullum, multi-million-selling BRIT Award winner Emeli Sandé, blues pop troubadour James Bay, chart-topping pianist and singer Tom Odell, and the multi-instrumentalist and Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award winner Nitin Sawhney.
BBC Radio 2 Celebrates 25 Years of Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the 100th Anniversary of the BBC, in a special concert on Thursday, April 28, to be broadcast on Sunday Night Is Music Night. Seventy musicians, including the Guy Barker Big Band and BBC Concert Orchestra, will premiere a unique symphonic celebration commissioned by the Festival. The concert will also celebrate the past 100 years of British jazz, as well as some of the standout moments from across the Festival’s 25-year history featuring guest appearances from Gregory Porter, Paloma Faith and Imelda May.
This year’s Festival will present a series of ground-breaking collaborations including Imelda May performing an exclusive one-off show with the Ronnie Scott’s Big Band, legendary US saxophonist Gary Bartz with London six-piece Maisha, Brazilian icon Hermeto Pascoal teaming up with National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and the Dave Douglas and Joey Baron Duo.
The British jazz scene will also be heavily reflected with shows from an array of its new stars including, saxophonist Nubya Garcia, MOBO award-winning drummer Moses Boyd, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jordan Rakei, fast-emerging singer Cherise, and Mercury-nominated trumpeter Laura Jurd. Plus shows from a dazzling selection of the scene’s more established acts including Mike Westbrook, Iain Ballamy, Zoe Rahman Quintet, Neil Charles, Graham Costello’s Strata, and saxophonist Paul Dunmall in a group with Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris and Gerald Cleaver.
Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2022 is hosted in a tented festival village in Montpellier Gardens, featuring the Big Top stage, Jazz Arena, Free Stage, a programme of family activities and events and a food, drink and market area. The Festival reaches beyond the festival village into Cheltenham, bringing jazz to venues throughout the day until late into the night. These include Cheltenham Town Hall, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Parabola Arts Centre, Hotel du Vin, and The Daffodil, as well as a dynamic, free around-town programme in association with Cheltenham BID.
Tickets go on general sale from Wednesday, March 2, 2022 from cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz
Full brochure available here.
