A passion for the Parabola | Cheltenham Jazz Festival

"It’s time to celebrate what’s going on here in the UK,” Parabola Arts Centre programmer Alex Carrx says. “With Ezra Collective becoming the first jazz act to win a Brit Award for Group of the Year and shouting out youth programmes onstage, we equally want to reflect the exciting energy of what’s happening with youth and talent development across the country in this year’s programme at Cheltenham.” 2025 marks the first year that Carr has individually put together the programming for Cheltenham Jazz Festival’s Parabola Arts Centre (PAC). Taking over the reins from longtime promoter Tony Dudley-Evans, Carr’s mission is simple: to spotlight homegrown talent and make everyone feel welcome in the space. 

The 300-capacity indoor venue has been home to acclaimed performances by cutting-edge artists at the festival since 2012, before which they’d taken place in the less conducive Pillar Room at the Town Hall. Located in the leafy grounds of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, a few minutes’ walk away from the fanfare of the main festival’s big top programming, the PAC offers a deeper listening experience and has its own loyal audience. Over the years it’s played host to international avant garde artists such as New York downtown sax master Tim Berne, Norwegian guitar innovator Stian Westerhus, top UK talents Laura Jurd and Trish Clowes, as well as Brit jazz legends such as Mike Westbrook, and last year’s spellbinding duo of Norma Winston and Kit Downes.  

“It doesn’t have the distractions of the wider festival so you can really be enveloped in the music at the PAC,” Carr says. “It’s a beautiful place to connect with the artists playing but since it has a reputation for being a venue where often challenging music takes place, not everyone thinks it’s for them. I’m a firm believer that programming shouldn’t  isolate anyone, so this year things are going  to be different.” As part of her mission, Carr has assembled a mighty roster for the PAC’s 2025 billing, including proponents of the current London jazz scene like Banger Factory head honcho and trumpeter Mark Kavuma; Mercury Prize-nominated saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi (with electro-jazz six-piece, Brown Penny); trumpeter Poppy Daniels; and bassist Daniel Casimir, each showcasing new projects, as well as upcoming talent courtesy of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and Birmingham Conservatoire and international improvisation from Spanish pianist Marco Mezquida. “I’ve heard some beautiful music over the past year and that is essentially what I wanted to book and share with the audiences at the Parabola Arts Centre,” Carr says. “I loved Daniel Casimir’s last record Balance, which came out in 2024 and features a full big band as well as string section, so I wanted to showcase his work as a composer as well as bassist at the festival, while Mark Kavuma has long been a key proponent of what makes jazz great as a record label head and bandleader, so we needed to get him down to play the festival for the first time under his own name.  

"It’s really important to give artists a development pipeline that allows them to come back to venues and play in different groups and projects, as well as helping to expose them to new audiences and make sure they can continue to grow their career.” Carr is excited about an artist at the earlier stages of her career: vocalist Lucy-Anne Daniels who will be singing in the NYJO performance paying homage to James Baldwin’s Civil Rights text The Fire Next Time; as well as in a new vocal trio, Flight Call, alongside Georgia Cécile and Pete Horsfall. “Lucy-Anne has been part of Cheltenham for a while now, taking part in the emerging talent and jazz for schools programme, so it’s wonderful to have her playing for us this year,” Carr says.

“While we also have an international showcase with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Siena Jazz-Accademia Nazionale Del Jazz Ensembles, giving young musicians from different countries the important opportunity to play with each other, as well as to the Cheltenham audience.” Chance encounters with Marco Mezquida’s trio at the 2024 San Sebastian Jazz Festival also led Carr to book the Spanish pianist for the Parabola Arts Centre programme since she was so moved by his journeying, free improvisatory sound, while British trumpeter Byron Wallen’s programme of Peter Shenai’s ‘Hurricane Bells’ is another performance Carr had already witnessed and been taken in by, convincing her it was the perfect repertoire to be shared with an audience she hopes will be as diverse and open-minded as her 2025 programming is. 

“We ultimately just want to make the Parabola Arts Centre a place where people want to come and visit, to feel like there’s something there for them to hear and be excited about,” she concludes. “It isn’t on the fringes, it connects with the wider festival, and it truly is for everyone – families, newcomers, aficionados – you’re all welcome to come down and experience some truly special artistry.”

This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Jazzwise – Subscribe Today