Liane Carroll, whose trio will be providing the grande finale at Battle Festival Jazz Day.

Five headline acts at Battle Festival Jazz Day

Battle Festival will be holding a high-profile Jazz Day on the afternoon and evening of Saturday 20 July showcasing five fascinating and very different bands featuring some of the UK’s finest jazz musicians, writes Dominika Hicks.

The event will take place in the Memorial Hall at 81 High Street. Each of the five bands will perform a 50-minute set followed by a 20-minute break to allow the Hall to be reset for the next band. The first band will begin at 3pm and the last will be finished by 8.30pm.

First up will be the Rebecka Edlund Trio who will explore the sound world of forest jazz and feisty folk music through original compositions, improvisations and favourites from the American Song Book.Rebecka is a Swedish singer and composer whose music mixes jazz, folk music and sounds from nature. Yorkshireman Owen Spafford is an award-winning fiddle player while James Kitchman is one of the most distinctive and sought-after jazz guitarists of his generation.

Robert Mitchell, front left, and True Think

At 4.10pm it will be the turn of Robert Mitchell’s True Think. Robert is an award-winning pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader and published poet who has built a formidable reputation for working across creative genres. He always has a range of projects on the go. For this session he’ll be appearing with his new electronic/song ensemble True Think (Truth inc/Truth Ink), which features Swedish vocalist and songwriter Liselotte Östblom on vocals, award-winning Zayn Mohammed on guitar, multi-genre bassist and keyboard player Tom Mason and renowned drummer and percussionist Saleel Raman.

They’ll be performing music from their new double album Hold The Light / The New Resistance, featuring powerful songs of protest, love and peace. They blend electronic, jazz, RnB, spoken word, film and folk influences together to create a unique sound.

Next up at 5.20pm will be the Jason Rebello/Orlando le Fleming Duo, featuring two of the UK’s most respected jazz musicians. Jason Rebello already had three critically acclaimed albums under his belt by the time he was 23. Five years later, in 1998, he became Sting’s keyboard player, touring the world and recording with Sting’s band for six years. He then spent another six years with guitar legend Jeff Beck’s band, while still finding time to work with artists such as Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Pee Wee Ellis, Joss Stone and Madeleine Peyroux.

In 2013, Jason decided he wanted to re-establish himself as a solo jazz artist, He has since released two albums, the most recent of which, Held, won best new CD in the British Jazz Awards.

Early in his career in London, Orlando le Fleming’s virtuoso technique, boundless creativity and powerful beat led to him touring and recording with the likes of Julian Joseph, Jean Toussaint and Ian Ballamy. Then in 2003 he moved to the United States, where he became one of the most in-demand bass players on the New York jazz scene, playing and recording with many of New York’s finest bands.

Next up at 6.30pm will be Tim Garland’s Lighthouse Trio. Tim’s first break as saxophonist was joining Ronnie Scott’s band aged 23. Later he was to join Chick Corea as a regular member of several globe-trotting projects over a seventeen-year period. Tim won a Grammy for his symphonic orchestrations on Corea’s The New Crystal Silence album from 2007.

Twenty years ago Garland launched his Lighthouse Trio, a truly unique and formidable acoustic band where interplay is paramount. 2024 has seen the 20th anniversary tour of this international trio that features pianist Gwilym Simcock and drummer/percussionist Asaf Sirkis.

At 7.40pm the grand finale will feature one of 1066 Country’s best loved bands, the Liane Carroll Trio. Liane has been a pillar of the British jazz scene for over 35 years. While we like to think of her as one of our own, she also has a huge national and international reputation. She has collaborated with such diverse artists as Paul McCartney, Gerry Rafferty, Long John Baldry, Ian Shaw, Claire Martin and drum and bass outfit London Elektricity, with whom she appeared at Glastonbury in 2017.

As a recording artist Liane has gained much critical acclaim. Her five most recent albums have all earned a four-star review in the Guardian. Seaside, her homage to her life by the coast, won the coveted British Jazz Award for Best New CD in 2015.

The other members of her trio, both very well known to the local jazz audience, are husband Roger Carey on bass and Russell Field on drums.

All in all, Battle Festival Jazz Day – part of the Battle Festival which runs until 28 July – promises to be a memorable afternoon and evening. Tickets are available from the festival website.

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