“If Music is a Place — then Jazz is the City, Folk is the Wilderness, Rock is the Road, Classical is a Temple.”
― Vera Nazarian
This summer the jazz, funk, and soul festival Love Supreme (named after legend John Coltrane’s widely respected album) takes to Lewes near Brighton for its 3rd year running. Across the weekend leading Brighton-based collectives will be laying it down alongside a blend of exciting young talent and old favourites including the likes of Grace Jones and Gilles Peterson. On the surface Love Supreme appears to be an extremely forward-thinking festival, however this is not entirely the case… Aside from the event being completely family friendly, offering children under five free entry, the festival radiates a rather elegant and quaint feel. This is partly due to its chosen site in the middle of the Sussex Downs. It’s positioned in the surrounding fields of Glynde Place – and is usually home to the annual glitzy Glyndebourne opera festival. Now this to some may seem fitting for a jazz festival, and whilst the stripped-back minimal settings are certainly tasteful, there is a distinct lack of edge to a celebration of one of the most alluringly chancy genres of all time. From jazz’s explosion in the 1920’s stateside it has always carried a debaucherous image. Russian-American novelist Vera Nazarian claimed that ‘Jazz is the City’, which to me denotes to the urban, liberal, and sexual elements that once constituted jazz. When I picture jazz I envisage people jiving in a lavish, dimly lit, old-school saloon style bar, found only off inner-city side streets. With Love Supreme offering bouncy castles, a mini disco, and picnic areas, I’ve been left to wonder when the genre lost its raw magnetism.
The spirit of jazz remains strong in Brighton with the likes of Mr. Bongo’s Soundsystem, Tru Thoughts and Soul Casserole (the budding Green Door Store collective) on the bill. Love Supreme’s focus on Brighton talent is admittedly great to see, in particular them drawing attention to Tru Thoughts. The independent Brighton label is most famous for developing electronic stalwart and post-rave specialist Bonobo. After he moved on to the sunny West Coast the label seemed to a suffer dry spell, but they’ve hit a resurgence once again after signing and working with an eclectic range of talent (from UK Hip-Hop godfather Rodney P to Dub rankin Prince Fatty,) offering a new diverse showcase of nights in 2016. Tru Thoughts’ jazz driven artists are by the barrel with progressive quality such as Quantic and TM Juke; both are known for carefully crafting beats using their traditional musical training, with an electronic glaze that creates a unique fusion of either African, Eastern, or Latin sounds. The globally influenced label brings their Tru Thoughts Disco show to the Sussex Downs again this year, featuring Wrongtom & J-Felix in a set which could potentially see the likes of Hot 8 Brass Band make an appearance. The most energising thing about this label is the versatility of their widely influenced and endowed artists. Take Wrongtom, his music has flexed from free jazz all the way to dancehall educating ‘Tru’ followers to expect the unexpected…
A very reformist inclusion on the billing is London boy Swindle. After cutting his teeth with grime and garage based label Butterz, as well as dark dub label Deep Medi he is undoubtedly one of the most unconventional acts announced for June. Having said this, Swindle is no stranger to the old school having been fed BB King and Quincy Jones as a kid; by the time he was 16 he set up his own studio at home and was shifting records. His highly acclaimed ‘jazzy’ releases on Giles Peterson’s Brownswood label and Mala’s Deep Medi propelled him to fame, and helped him gain attention from Los Angeles where he now spends half his time performing and producing. His industrious production will typically include live instrumentation, a smooth sax or piano solo, tailored to a bass laden grime or dubstep beat, the best example of this for the new listener would be his first studio album ‘Long Live the Jazz’. He’s spent the last couple of years refining his live performances across the world with his six piece band, in which funnily enough includes his father as a member. Swindle’s style is the prime example of a contemporary UK interpretation of jazz, an artist transmitting real pace and energy in his music. This liberal kind of booking is exactly what I believe could bring jazz out the dark ages and it’s just crying out for a young audience to receive it.
Another name to watch especially in June (also making his name out in LA’s vibrant scene), is Kamasi Washington, an artist who’s just released his first album, ‘The Epic’ on Flying Lotus’ diverse label Brainfeeder (host to promising jazz artists such as Thundercat, Terrace Martin, and the late Piano prodigy Austin Perelta). Washington too holds the all-important liberal nature of jazz, stating: “There’s a freedom in the music; a sense of endless possibilities to it.” He also highlights how this ties in with youth and expression, as the genre in itself allows room for individuality which youths so desperately strive for. The American saxophone star managed to build up much of his younger fan base through his links to hip-hop. He made his name through supporting the likes of Lauryn Hill and Snoop Dogg on tour, and later set himself apart from many for his work on the multi-award winning To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar, widely appreciated as one of the most creative and thought provoking hip-hop albums in the twenty-tens. Washington is at the forefront of a big revival in LA jazz at the moment, which many put down to the popularity of Brainfeeder in the West coast, and to Hip-Hop in general. People are searching for more authentic sounds in hip-hop again after the new-school style of trap infused beats brought by artists such as Future have become largely clichéd in recent years.
Hip-hop of course has roots in jazz and it has always been used to lay beats, however this seems to now be slightly more in reverse as rappers are forming their style around jazz beats, in a lot more of a balanced fusion. Ghostface Killah’s collaborative album with Canadian jazz band BadBadNotGood was arguably pioneering in this sense, coming just before To Pimp a Butterfly. When it comes to jazz festivals, many have been driving the two genres together for years now, for instance Newport Jazz Festival (probably inspired by the Robert Glasper Experiments work), brought in Mos Def supported by a New Orleans band in 2009. Speaking on the festival’s recent $10million in extra funds and their plans to revamp, new artistic director Christian McBride raised this as a particularly special moment stating: “You saw this cross-cultural thing with hip-hop and New Orleans jazz. It was absolutely brilliant.” Open-minded moves like this are a great way to exhibit freedom in jazz and make it fresh again to attract youth, it would be fantastic to see the UK taking advantage of some of its own hip-hop products in the way Mouse Outfit use MC’s like Black Josh and Sparkz. It’s exciting to say that we may be on the verge of a proper jazz revival in the UK as many of its purveyors scarper to add some diversity and new ideas into their events. Traditional home of UK jazz, BBC radio 3, is trying to move away from misperceived association with the likes of Classic FM by updating their show, introducing lot’s more contemporary work and streaming it from more innovative and urban environments like carparks or clubs, this is definitely a more progressive step than choosing a site which has served as an opera house since 1934…
The best way to revive the sexual element of jazz is by amassing a young crowd. Although a more liberal and dynamic inclusion of acts is the elementary step to get the younger generations enthused, something also needs to be done to clear the air of pretentiousness that fogs the way people see and appreciate it. A more liberal attitude to audience needs to be brought in, with a focus on expensive ‘Love Supremium’ tickets and absolutely no student deals to be found, Love Supreme are doing little to help the situation. Similarly there is arguably a distinct lack of jazz festivals present in big UK cities, other than the Glasgow International Jazz Festival and London EFG (which annoyingly takes place in November), the biggest events hail from small and remote towns bearing some of the blandest, most unimaginative names I’ve seen, such as Marlborough Jazz Festival and Swanage Jazz Festival. There is an argument to say that the lack of attempt at branding is to focus on attracting purists, and whilst I somewhat understand not wanting to attract the wrong crowd, it’s this kind of elitist mentality that’s exactly what puts so many people off jazz to begin with. Love Supreme is guilty of this, there’s nothing wrong with dressing up jazz a bit when the extreme majority of other UK jazz festivals only care for open air stages, grassy lawns, and a wanky hog roast stand. Let’s at least try and bring in an urban feel somewhere and evoke more of a sense of freedom away from the typical box festival layout championed from Windsor to Scarborough.
That being said, Love Supreme is undoubtedly an exciting prospect for the UK jazz scene, it has such potential from its name down to its well-weighted lineup of old and contemporary talent. What’s more, it still respectfully pertains focus to Brighton’s own scene, which is important to encourage such a traditionally creative town that’s still buzzing with jazz cafes and clubs. Nevertheless, there’s little that excites about the festivals branding. Whilst I’m sure they’ll argue that their classy minimalist settings are to put emphasis on the music, I can’t help but feel a festival which is showcasing so many first-rate young artists is wasting itself slightly, and needs to be more dynamic if it’s hoping to spark fresh interest in this treasured genre. Love Supreme highlights a wider problem of a lack of risks taken to broaden jazz’s appeal, the lineup and festival design send out very contrasting messages. Like many contemporaries of jazz, Love Supreme reflects a need to tap in to some of the old urban, liberal and sexual elements of jazz that made it so globally appealing in the first place. Someone desperately needs to wreck Love Supremes picnic area and with that jazz’s soft 21st century identity.