Archie Shepp replaces Sun Ra Arkestra at Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Monday, April 27, 2015
The organisers of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival have announced that due to unforeseen circumstances the Sun Ra Arkestra has had to cancel its headline appearance at the festival on Saturday 2 May.
However they have managed to line up a suitably heavyweight replacement in the form of saxophone giant Archie Shepp and his quartet, who make their festival debut at 1.30pm in the Big Top venue on 2 May. The 77-year old saxophonist has been on fine form of late – headlining the 2013 EFG London Jazz Festival at the Barbican with his Attica Blues Orchestra to great acclaim – where he celebrated the legacy of his classic 1972 Impulse! album of the same name via blues, gospel and civil rights inspirations capped by his fiery free bop playing and impassioned vocals.
Shepp joins a packed international line up for the festival, which runs from 29 April to 4 May, which includes an opening performance by blues/jazz legend Van Morrison on 29 April, with a major concert in the Big Top venue. Morrison last performed at Cheltenham in 2013 when he played the closing night, and this year he arrives hot on the heels of his new album, Duets, released in late March on Sony/RCA. Other jazz headliners include Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz & Dave Douglas Quintet, Gregory Porter, Kurt Elling, Medeski, Martin & Wood with Jamie Cullum, Phronesis, John Scofield with Pablo Held Trio and GoGo Penguin with Gilles Peterson, together with soul stars including Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Average White Band, Alice Russell and Natalie Williams.
Running alongside the main concert programme, detailed in full in Jazzwise’s April issue, there is a vibrant strand of talks and workshops at the Take Five Tent at the festival site in Montpellier Gardens, including Musical Encounters with Jasper Høiby, Kit Downes and Matthew Bourne and Jonathan Stockdale (2 May, 2pm, free); When Britain Banned Jazz (2 May, 3.30pm, free); Artist Interview: Joe Lovano (2 May, 5.15pm); Jazz Meets Pop (3 May, 2.30pm, free); The Live Review with music critics (6 May, 6.45pm); Live Music Photography Workshop with Jazzwise’s Tim Dickenson (4 May 12.30pm); and The Music That Inspired Me: Gregory Porter (4 May, 2pm).
In addition there’s an exhibition of Mal Dean’s imaginative jazz artwork, which appeared in Melody Maker, Jazz News and Time Out; a series of Classic Album Playbacks, Jazz In A Box solo performances, children’s events, late night jam sessions at the Hotel du Vin and a festival fringe at bars and pubs throughout the town.
– Mike Flynn / Jon Newey
– Photo by Tim Dickeson
Jazzwise is the festival’s jazz media partner and all ticket information is available from www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz