Photograph of Kev Hickman, Alice Armstrong and Elles Bailey by Pam Mann

THURSDAY AT CHELTENHAM JAZZ FESTIVAL, 01/05/2025

ALICE ARMSTRONG / ELLES BAILEY, JAZZ ARENA

Thursday evening at CJF typically features a performance by a leading contemporary blues artist at the Jazz Arena venue. In addition to my love of jazz I’m also a big fan of the blues, but with such a heavy schedule over the course of the weekend and the Bank Holiday Monday I don’t always make the trip over on Thursday to cover just one gig. Nevertheless in previous years I have enjoyed covering Thursday night performances by guitarist / vocalists Joanne Shaw-Taylor (2016) and Marcus King (2017) and their respective bands.

Tonight’s double bill featured bands fronted by two of the UK’s leading blues women, vocalists and songwriters Alice Armstrong and Elles Bailey.

I first became aware of Bailey’s music at the 2022 Cheltenham Jazz Festival when she appeared at the Jazz Arena as part of that year’s  annual Showcase event sponsored by the Oldham Foundation. She shared the bill with jazz vocalist Georgia Cecile on what was the strongest Showcase bill to date, and both Cecile and Bailey feature on this year’s main CJF concert programme.

Having been very impressed by Bailey and her band at the Showcase event I was keen to see a full length performance from them and later in the year enjoyed seeing them topping the bill at an all day blues festival held at the Robin 2 rock club in Bilston in the West Midlands, an event I attended as a paying customer. Also in that same year I caught Bailey again at Upton Blues Festival, so yes, you can say that I was definitely becoming a bit of a fan.

The 2024 Upton Blues Festival also featured a performance by Alice Armstrong, with whom I was also very impressed, so the prospect of an Armstrong / Bailey double bill at CJF was too good resist.

ALICE ARMSTRONG

Alice Armstrong – lead vocals, Olly Knight-Smith – guitar, backing vocals Josh Rigal – electric bass,  backing vocals, Kev Hickman – drums

2024 sees the Jazz Arena being converted to an all standing venue for the first time, a move that was entirely appropriate for these two blues power-houses, although I’m not yet sure how it will work for more obvious jazz acts such as James Brandon Lewis, Neil Cowley and Kim Cypher. I’ll let you know on that one.

Judging by the number of T-shirts spotted around town Armstrong has accrued a cult following rivalling that of Bailey and fans of both artists were out in force, with Armstrong’s quartet hitting the stage of a very hot Jazz Arena first.

Born into a musical family with parents who loved the music of the 1960s and 70s Armstrong has been immersed in the music of that era from an early age and its sounds inform her own very contemporary take on the blues. She paid homage to both B.B.King and Aretha Franklin during the course of tonight’s performance but to me her primary influence seemed to be Janis Joplin. Armstrong is a big lady with a big personality and an even bigger voice, an extraordinarily powerful instrument capable of singing blues and soul in a manner that combines passion and emotion with a high level of technical facility.

She was the winner of the “Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year” prize at the 2024 British Blues Awards and is also a “European Blues Challenge” winner.

Armstrong was also well served by the musicians of her usual quartet, guitarist Olly Knight-Smith, bassist Josh Rigal and drummer Kev Hickman. These three proved to be a remarkably tight and cohesive unit, displaying the kind of taut, muscular guitar / bass / drums synchronicity that distinguishes the likes of Led Zeppelin, Cream and The Who. Knight-Smith kept the solos hard, sharp and tasty, Rigal, one of Armstrong’s numerous co-writers, was a highly musical presence on the bass, as was Hickman behind the kit, a drummer capable of both extreme powerful and admirable restraint and possessed of a shrewd grasp of dynamics. Sometimes the band are augmented by the keyboards of Stevie Watts, with whose SWOT organ trio Armstrong sometimes sings.

Armstrong has released a number of singles plus a couple of EP’s “Love, Sex Death” (2023) and “Live at Area 88” (2024). Tonight’s rousing opener “Upbeat Baby” appears on both EPs and introduced the raw power of Armstrong’s voice and the lean, mean instrumental punch of her accompanists. Autobiographical lyrics referenced her blues heroes John Lee Hooker and B.B.King as Armstrong and the band got the evening off to a terrific start, the singer exhorting her fans to party.

But there’s more to Armstrong than just the hammer and tongs approach as slow blues tunes such as “Punchline”, described by Armstrong as “a blues for a love that could never be”, demonstrated. An introduction featuring just guitar, voice and cymbal shimmers (Hickman at his most delicate and atmospheric) led into a slow blues that demonstrated the deeply soulful qualities of Armstrong’s voice.

There were more confessional lyrics on the Freddie King inspired slow blues “Life I Chose”, another song from the 2024 live EP. Tonight’s performance was distinguished by more soulful and emotive vocalising and a soaring guitar solo from Knight-Smith.

Armstrong and the band picked up the pace again with the raunchy blues rock of “Good Love” with its near funk bass groove augmented by Hickman’s sturdy backbeat. This piece also featured both Knight-Smith and Rigal on backing vocals.

The darkly erotic   “Auto-Assassin” with its earthy vocals and evocative lyrics exhibited a Zeppelin-esque power and included a stratospheric guitar solo from Knight-Smith.

The first cover of the set was an arrangement of the Aretha Franklin song “Rock Steady” that combined blues with funk and featured some more fleet fingered guitar soloing from the excellent Knight-Smith.

Finally we enjoyed a B.B. King inspired song about seeing the other side of a partner,  the “other side of you” that nobody else sees. This was climaxed by a stunning unaccompanied vocal cadenza as Armstrong and her band signed off a captivating and hugely exciting performance in style. A great end to the first part of this exceptional blues double bill.

ELLES BAILEY

Elles Bailey – lead vocals, piano, tambourine, Joe Wilkins – electric guitar, backing vocals, Jonny Henderson - piano, organ, backing vocals,  Matthew Waer – electric bass, backing vocals, Matthew Jones – drums, Demi Marriner –vocals, acoustic guitar, tambourine

Bristol based Elles Bailey has amassed a substantial following on the British blues scene and beyond, her music also embracing elements of rock and pop, country and Americana.

Since making her breakthrough in 2017 with her first full length album “Wildfire” she’s recorded prolifically, following this with “Road I Call Home” (2019), the lockdown covers album “Ain’t Nothing But” (2020), “Shining In The Half Light” (2022) and “Beyond The Neon Glow” (2024). Tonight’s set was mainly focussed on material from the most recent release, Bailey’s first for the Cooking Vinyl label.

The band that Bailey brought to Cheltenham was her regular sextet, all of whom appear on the latest album. It’s a line-up that has remained essentially unchanged since 2022 when I first saw Bailey, with Marriner the newest recruit, having taken over from Andrusilla Moseley who had played the same backing vocalist / rhythm guitarist role at the Showcase event in 2022. Marriner is a songwriter and bandleader in her own right and I enjoyed a performance by her own group at the 2024 Upton Blues Festival.

Following a swift on stage turn around a recording of The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” warmed up the crowd as the members of the Bailey group wandered onto the stage to start the show with “Enjoy The Ride”, the opening track from the most recent album. Bailey herself made the ‘grand entrance’ to sing this paean to living in the moment, with Wilkins’ slide guitar a distinctive component in this rollicking blues and country hybrid.

From the same album “Leave The Light On” was a song describing the contrasting attractions of the life of a touring musician and the counter pull of home and family.

Bailey called on drummer Jones to usher in “1972”, a hymn of praise to the simpler days of the 1970s, a time that some of us in the audience could relate to first hand, but surely not Bailey herself!

Bailey got the audience involved on the lively “Over The Hill”, a cover of the John Martyn song that features on “Shining In The Half Light”. She’s a charismatic performer, prowling the stage in her trademark cowgirl hat like a kind of more bluesy and rootsy Stevie Nicks. Meanwhile the band contains two outstanding instrumentalists in Wilkins, who unleashed a series of searing guitar solos,  and Henderson, who doubled on piano and organ, the latter a ‘proper’ Hammond complete with Leslie speaker. Very 1972 when you come to think about it! The Hammond was featured prominently on “Over The Hill” and it was great to hear it, especially in the hands of Henderson, one of the best organists operating in the blues genre and who has also played with guitarist / vocalist Matt Schofield. He also doubled on ‘piano’, a Nord Stage 2 electric keyboard.

“Truth Ain’t Going to Save Us”, another song from the latest album featured the vocal harmonies of Bailey and the talented Demi Marriner. From the same album “Love Yourself” was a reminder of the importance of learning to love yourself, especially in an increasingly hate filled world, fuelled by the thoughtless excesses of social media. No wonder Bailey wants to go back to 1972!

In October 2024 the blues world was rocked by the shockingly early death at the age of twenty nine of guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Matt Long, frontman of the band Catfish, another act that I enjoyed seeing at Upton Blues Festival. Bailey spoke movingly about Long’s contribution to the UK music scene during his brief life and he was a musician who was also well known to Armstrong, having been one of the co-writers of Armstrong’s song “Upbeat Baby”. Bailey now called Armstrong and Hickman to the stage to join her band in paying tribute to Long with a rendition of the Catfish song “Better Days”, with Armstrong sharing the vocals with Bailey as Hickman rattled a tambourine. The featured instrumentalist was Henderson with a surging Hammond solo, a reflection of the fact that Matt’s father, Paul Long, played keyboards with the Catfish band.

Bailey then moved to the piano, doubling up with Henderson on Hammond for the blues power ballad “Let It Burn”.

Bailey and her band then closed the set out with the ‘good loving gone bad’  revenge song “If This Is Love” from the latest album plus a joyous romp through the audience favourite “Sunshine City”, which included a brief solo vocal spot from Marriner, who even in her brief moment in the spotlight demonstrated why she’s also a headliner in her own right. There’s clearly a lot of respect between her and Bailey.

I’m conscious that my review of Bailey’s performance is again a bit sketchy. But that’s because she’s such a charismatic performer that it’s difficult not to get totally caught up in the music. Plus taking meaningful (and legible!) notes in a standing only venue isn’t easy at the best of times.

Nevertheless between them Armstrong and Bailey got my 2025 Cheltenham Jazz Festival off to a terrific start. Not strictly speaking jazz I suppose, but with music as powerful,  vibrant and enjoyable as this who gives a monkey’s?

DOM FRANKS with the EDDIE GRIPPER TRIO, THE SUFFOLK ARMS

Dom Franks - tenor & soprano saxophones, Eddie Gripper - piano, Nick kacal - double bass, Patrick Barrett-Donlon - drums

Our evening wasn’t finished yet and after declining the offer of “Champagne with Lulu” we retired to the Suffolk Arms pub for a performance that wasn’t actually part of the official Jazz Festival concert programme, or even the “Around Town” free music strand. This truly was a “fringe event”.

Cardiff based pianist and composer Eddie Gripper runs a regular residency at the Suffolk Arms on the first Friday of the month and with the official Jazz Festival in town had decided to expand his regular residency into a mini-festival of his own. On Thursday night he and his regular trio featuring bassist Nick Kacal and drummer Patrick Barrett-Donlon hosted local saxophone hero Dom Franks. On Friday night they welcomed guitarist Nigel Price and on Saturday vocalist Emily Masser.

These events are free admission but with attendees encouraged to book a table. Dining is encouraged but not compulsory. We actually ate at the pub prior to the blues show and the food was very good. We later returned in time to catch the whole of the second set from Franks and the Gripper trio and were fortunate enough to be invited to share their table by Jane and Dave, two friends that we know from the Music Spoken here series of events in Worcester. They had seen Gripper perform at MSH in early 2024 and had been sufficiently impressed that they had travelled down to Cheltenham from the Black Country specifically for this event.

Eddie Gripper has appeared on the Jazzmann web pages on numerous occasions and his debut album “Home”, recorded with a trio featuring the 2024 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year Ursula Harrison on bass and the American born Isaac Zuckerman at the drums, is reviewed here.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/eddie-gripper-home

It was an astonishingly mature debut and also attracted the attention of the national jazz press. Gripper and the trio subsequently embarked on an extensive national tour that took them all to parts of the UK, winning the hearts and minds of audiences wherever they went. The Jazzmann has also covered a number of the trio’s live shows at a variety of venues in Wales and the Midlands.

Gripper originates from the Cotswolds town of Burford and returns to the family home for his Cheltenham dates. Such has been the success of Gripper’s regular jazz series at the Suffolk that most events are fully booked (previous guests have included saxophonist Simon Spillett), inspiring Gripper to purchase an upright acoustic piano specifically for the venue

Tonight’s show featured the locally based saxophonist and composer Dom Franks, the leader of his own Strayhorn Quartet, whose 2014 album “One Drop Love Chant” is reviewed here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/strayhorn-quartet-one-drop-love-chant

Other Strayhorn Quartet recordings include  “In Native Tongues” (2011)  “Living With Spooks” (2017) and “Duality Pt. 1” (2024), the latter featuring guitar and organ rather than the earlier combination of piano and bass. Franks is a locally based musician with a national reputation and has been featured on national radio and in the national jazz press.

The Strayhorn Quartet recordings place the focus on Franks’ original composition but tonight’s event concentrated on a well chosen collection of jazz and bebop standards selected by Franks.  This second set began with the Joe Henderson composition “Inner Urge”, featuring the fluent, authoritative tenor sax soloing of Franks. He was followed by Gripper at the piano and Kacal on bass before entering into a series of sax / drum exchanges with Barrett-Donlon towards the close. An excellent start.

The ballad “God Bless The Child”, a song indelibly associated with Billie Holiday, introduced a gentler side of the group and featured Barrett-Donlon’s delicate brush work alongside lyrical solos from Franks and Gripper.

A superb version of Hank Mobley’s perennially popular “This I Dig Of You” featured expansive solos from Gripper at the piano and Franks on tenor, with Barrett-Donlon graduated from brisk brushing to sticks as the momentum increased.

An Art Pepper blues head, even Franks couldn’t remember the actual title, provided the jumping off point for the next item. Introduced by a passage of unaccompanied tenor sax this piece included solos from Gripper, Kacal and Franks, plus a further series of exchanges between Franks and Barrett-Donlon.

Franks switched to soprano for a delightful group performance of a traditional Brazilian folk song, the gorgeous melody providing the framework for lyrical solos from Franks and Gripper in a slow burning performance that included more exquisite brush work from Barrett-Donlon.

The quartet signed off on an energetic note with a lively performance of the jazz calypso “Fungii Mama”, a tune most closely associated with the trumpeter Blue Mitchell. This included solos from Gripper and Franks plus a closing drum feature from Barrett-Donlon.

A great hour or so of straight ahead, hard swinging jazz to follow those two exceptional blues performances. What’s not to like? A great start to the Festival weekend.

My thanks to to Eddie, Dom, Nick and Patrick for speaking with me after the show and to Eddie for providing me with a review copy of his forthcoming duo album, a collection of original songs co-written and performed by the pianist and vocalist Elijah Jeffery. The album will be officially released on June 6th 2025 and I intend to take a closer look at this recording in due course.

I was disappointed not to be able to catch something of the performances by Nigel Price and Emily Masser (I’m also told that saxophonist Alex Clarke ‘sat in’ on the latter), but the ticketed events that I was covering finished later than tonight’s and in the end I was unable to do so. I shall just have to try to catch one of the regular Friday night sessions instead.

 

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