Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024 Announces Lineup
Cheltenham Jazz Festival will return this spring featuring some of the biggest names from the worlds of jazz, soul, blues, pop and beyond. One of Europe’s biggest jazz festivals with over 55,000 music fans in attendance across the week, 2024’s event will take place from Wednesday May 1 to Monday May 6 incorporating a carefully curated mix of international jazz icons, up-and-coming new artists, unique one-off performances, world premieres, masterclasses, family-friendly shows, industry talks, free events and lots more.
With a cross-generational theme that brings together jazz legends with the very latest new artists, the Festival will play host to a string of world-class artists including the legendary 100 million-selling US vocalist Dionne Warwick; Grammy-winning singer Gregory Porter – who will perform twice at the Festival, in a very special solo show and a collaboration with Blues House of Fame inducteeBettye LaVette and the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra; English dance-pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor, whose 2001 hit song Murder On The Dancefloor recently made a return to the Top 10 following its inclusion in cult film Saltburn; multi-platinum-selling reggae royalty UB40, who’ll perform a career spanning set; powerhouse South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo; the distinctive, soulful singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti; electronica/trip hop pioneers Morcheeba; Fun Lovin’ Criminals frontman and BBC 6 Music presenter Huey Morgan; and acid jazz and funk group the Brand New Heavies who’ll be joined onstage by players from the London Concert Orchestra. In a major tribute to British blues, a luminary of the scene, Robert Plant, will also perform a set that mixes his latest music with old favourites.
The Festival will once again host the most exciting and revered artists from across the contemporary jazz scene including New York collective Snarky Puppy, US piano giant Brad Mehldau, one of the most celebrated British jazz musicians of all time Courtney Pine – who’ll be marking his 60th birthday with a special edition of his Caribbean themed, dance-inducing House of Legends project – Grammy-nominated American trumpeter Theo Croker, genre-defying Scottish multi-instrumentalist and producer corto.alto, the hotly tipped saxophonist and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter Jordan Rakei, and a double bill featuring 10-piece afro-jazz outfit Nubiyan Twist and West Africa’s iconic dance band Orchestra Baobab.
Dedicated to making a positive contribution to the ongoing music festival gender divide, Cheltenham Jazz Festival is signed up to the Keychange programme and aims for an equal gender balance across the breadth of its line-up. This year’s programme is notable for its a huge array of boundary-pushing female vocalists including Malian singer and guitarist Fatoumata Diawara, MOBO award-winningZara McFarlane, the bold Newcastle-born singer songwriter Nadine Shah, much-loved UK singer and broadcaster Clare Teal, multi-Grammy Award-winning Dee Dee Bridgewater, distinguished singer and actress Elaine Delmar, rising jazz/soul star CHERISE, Brit jazz mainstay Liane Carroll, one of America’s finest vocal talents Bettye Lavette, the multi-talented Allysha Joy, and one of the all-time great jazz singers Norma Winstone. The Festival’s commitment to talent development is at the centre of the programme, with this year’s annual Showcase event featuring rising stars Amahla and Ruta Di.
2024 will also see the return of the Parabola Arts Centre programme, which is dedicated to new, innovative music from around the world. Gracing the stage this year will be British saxophonist Trish Clowes performing alongside US trumpeter Dave Douglas, rising Brit jazz pianist Sultan Stevenson, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and Nikki Yeoh together present “Speechmik Ex-Ploration”, free jazz virtuoso Charlotte Keeffe, and Mercury Music Prize nominee Kit Downes who will perform a special set with Norma Winstone.
Festival Director Ian George:
“We’ve worked incredibly hard for this year’s programme to reflect the full breadth of the jazz spectrum. We have jazz legends and crossover stars nestled between an incredible array of up-and-coming talent and it could well be our broadest line-up to date.”
Cheltenham Jazz Festival takes place in a tented Festival village in the town centre’s Montpellier Gardens, which features the Big Top stage, Jazz Arena, Free Stage, a programme of family activities and events and street food traders. The Festival also stretches beyond the central public gardens and across the town, bringing jazz to venues throughout the day and late into the night including Cheltenham Town Hall, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Parabola Arts Centre, Hotel du Vin and the vibrant, fun, and – in an exciting new partnership for the Festival – in the unique urban woodland atmosphere of Cotswolds favourite, Dunkertons Tap Room.
The full line-up for this year’s Festival is below.
Cheltenham Festivals is signed up to the Keychange programme which aims for a 50:50 gender balance across the Festival line-up.
Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024
WEDNESDAY 1 MAY
Dionne Warwick Big Top
Elaine Delmar Hotel Du Vin
THURSDAY 2 MAY
Jack Savoretti Big Top
Toby Lee Arena
Gabriella Liandu Hotel Du Vin
FRIDAY 3 MAY
Brand New Heavies with the London Concert Orchestra Big Top
Nubyian Twist + Orchestra Baobab Town Hall
Alice Russell Arena
Sultan Stevenson Parabola Arts Centre
Nikki Yeoh & NYJO present Speechmik Ex-PlorationParabola Arts Centre
Atila Hotel Du Vin
Giacomo Smith & Lucy-Anne Daniels. The Music of Lester Young & Billie Holiday Dunkertons Tap Room
SATURDAY 4 MAY
Bettye LaVette feat Gregory Porter with Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra Big Top
Jordan Rakei Big Top
Saving Grace with Robert Plant & Suzi Dian Big Top
Brad Mehldau Trio Town Hall
Dee Dee Bridgewater Town Hall
Nadine Shah Town Hall
The Showcase: Amahla and Ruta Di Arena
Allysha Joy Arena
Lakecia Benjamin Arena
Cherise Hotel Du Vin
Jo Harrop Hotel Du Vin
Giacomo Smith featuring Joplin Parnell Dunkertons Tap Room
Jazz Babies! Discovery Space
Namvula Discovery Space
Aga Serugo-Lugo Discovery Space
Conservatoire & Siena Exchange Parabola Arts Centre
Charlotte Keeffe: Right Here, Right Now, Quartet Parabola Arts Centre
David Ola and The Lucumí Project Parabola Arts Centre
Kit Downes and Norma Winstone Parabola Arts Centre
Dave Douglas & Trish Clowes Parabola Arts Centre
SUNDAY 5 MAY
Snarky Puppy Big Top
Morcheeba Big Top
Sophie Ellis-Bextor Big Top
Fatoumata Diawara Town Hall
Courtney Pine Town Hall
Huey Morgan Town Hall
Zara McFarlane Presents the Music of Sarah Vaughan Arena
The Royal Scammers Arena
Theo Croker Arena
Julien Durand’s DREAMSCAPES Parabola Arts Centre
Sam Eastmond and John Zorn’s Bagatelles Parabola Arts Centre
un.procedure plus Parabola Arts Centre
Liane Carroll Hotel Du Vin
Jay Rayner Sextet Dunkertons Tap Room
Jazz Kids! with Richard Foote Discovery Space
Family Sing! with Sara Colemon Discovery Space
Hotclub of Jupiter Discovery Space
MONDAY 6 MAY
Ladysmith Black Mambazo Big Top
UB40 Big Top
Gregory Porter Big Top
Tobago and D’Lime Arena
The Clare Teal Seven Arena
Corto.alto Arena
Alim Kamara: From Djeli to Rap! Discovery Space
Discover Flamenco! – with Ana García Discovery Space
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Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By Baxter PR
Some shows are already on sale. Tickets for the newly announced acts go on general sale on Wednesday March 6. All tickets available from cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz.
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