Johan Budi
The historic coastal town of Scarborough recently played host to a landmark celebration of contemporary and classic improvised music, marking the 23rd consecutive year of the renowned Scarborough Jazz Festival. Staged from September 25 to September 27 inside the majestic Grand Hall of the South Bay’s Victorian coastal spa, the three-day musical gathering once again established its position as one of the United Kingdom’s premier fixtures on the cultural calendar. Attracting jazz enthusiasts from across the country, the festival delivered an expansive programme spanning soul-jazz revivals, boundary-pushing avant-garde ensembles, contemporary big band arrangements, and intimate acoustic showcases.
Despite logistical challenges brought on by late artist cancellations due to illness, the festival demonstrated remarkable resilience and artistic depth. Organizers curated a diverse lineup that seamlessly balanced legendary veterans of the genre with rising stars from institutions such as London’s Guildhall School of Music. As early-bird tickets for the 2027 edition go on sale, the overwhelming public response underscores the enduring vitality of live jazz performance in regional coastal venues.
Festival Chronology and Opening Highlights
The festival commenced on Friday morning with a high-energy masterclass in soul-jazz courtesy of John Settle’s Vibe-ology. Performing in the Grand Hall, the quartet—comprising bandleader John Settle on vibes, Al Morrison on guitar, Bob Birch on Hammond organ, and Joe England on drums—transported the audience back to the stylistic touchstones of the 1960s. Their repertoire included interpretations of Big John Patton’s Let ’Em Roll, Wes Montgomery’s Jingles, and Lalo Schifrin’s iconic theme from the 1968 film Bullitt. The performance gained further momentum when multi-instrumentalist Alan Barnes joined the group on baritone saxophone for Buddy Montgomery’s Bock To Bock and alto saxophone for Grant Green’s Jean De Fleur.
Following the morning overture, the festival audience was introduced to Orchard, a recently formed neo-soul octet whose members first crossed paths at London’s Guildhall School of Music. Drawing clear inspiration from contemporary innovators like Roy Hargrove and Kokoroko, the group delivered a polished set of original compositions, including Honesty, Moonlight, and their forthcoming single Towards The Sun.
As Friday progressed, the schedule faced its first hurdle when pianist Barry Green was forced to withdraw from his quintet, Expansion: McCoy Tyner Project, due to a recent illness. Stepping into the breach with admirable poise was 21-year-old Thomas Sladden, one of Green’s own piano students. Alongside Gareth Lockrane on flute, Femke Mooren on alto saxophone, Oli Hayhurst on bass, and Darren Beckett on drums, Sladden navigated a demanding programme of seldom-aired McCoy Tyner compositions, including Utopia, Three Flowers, and Search For Peace, as well as Geri Allen’s Unconditional Love.
Global Influences and Evening Performances
Friday evening introduced international and cross-cultural perspectives, beginning with the return of Shirley Smart’s Sextet. Building upon her extensive musical experiences in Jerusalem and her tenure teaching cello at the conservatory in Ramallah, Smart led her ensemble through a deeply reflective set. Drawing on Arabic and North African musical traditions, the group performed pieces such as Saba, Zricha, and Midak Alley, an atmospheric composition inspired by Naguib Mahfouz’s literary depictions of Cairo.
However, the evening also highlighted ongoing debates regarding stage production and audience engagement. David Newton’s trio, featuring Andy Cleyndert on double bass and Steve Brown on drums, performed behind a Bösendorfer grand piano placed end-on between the musicians and the auditorium. The resulting physical barrier entirely obscured the pianist from the audience’s view throughout the uninterrupted set, drawing mixed reactions from patrons who valued visual connection alongside acoustic appreciation. Similar staging criticisms arose during the late-night performance by the London-based Levitation Orchestra. While praised in promotional materials as a genre-defying visionary collective drawing inspiration from Alice Coltrane, Sun Ra, and classical luminaries like Stravinsky, the group’s chaotic stage movement and intermittent banter drew reservations from traditionalist listeners seeking a more focused musical delivery.
Saturday’s Diverse Programme: From Hard-Bop to Pink Floyd Re-Worked
Saturday’s sessions opened with jazz violinist Benet McLean and his newly configured quintet. Featuring Liam Dunachie on piano, Ben Treacher on tenor saxophone, Wayne Matthews on fretless bass, and Gwilym Jones on drums, the group showcased a repertoire rooted in British jazz history. Highlights included McLean’s composition Archway, inspired by urban soundscapes of the 1980s, an arrangement of Stan Kenton’s Artistry In Rhythm, and a tribute to Tubby Hayes. The set culminated in a hard-bop collaboration with Alan Barnes on Jackie McLean and Freddie Redd’s O.D.
Barnes remained on stage for the subsequent collaboration with vocalist Brigitte Beraha and stand-in pianist David Newton. The trio traversed a deeply emotional songbook, performing material from their collaborative album Tea For Three, alongside Antonio Carlos Jobim bossa novas and Beraha’s original setting of a Tennessee Williams poem, We Have Not Long To Love. The set concluded with a series of poignant ballads, earning the performers a spontaneous standing ovation.
Later in the afternoon, tenor saxophonist Xhosa Cole faced structural challenges performing in a trio format alongside bassist Calum Gourley and drummer Tim Giles, following the illness-related absence of pianist Pat Thomas. Without a chordal instrument to anchor the complex harmonic structures of Thelonious Monk’s repertoire, the performance struggled to maintain its usual fluidity—a difficulty compounded by Cole’s exhaustion following an overnight flight from Scotland.
Saturday evening offered one of the festival’s most ambitious crossovers: Dark Side Of The Big Band: Pink Floyd Re-Worked. Co-led by guitarist Mark Roadnight and trumpeter Mark Armstrong, the ensemble merged an electric rock band with a full big band to reimagine Pink Floyd’s 1973 landmark album, The Dark Side Of The Moon. Featuring powerful vocal performances by Roadnight, alongside backing singers Sammy Mayne and Rebecca Grayson, the spectacle galvanized the Grand Hall audience.
The evening concluded with a stellar performance by progressive rock pioneers Soft Machine. Featuring guitarist John Etheridge—who celebrated 51 years of continuous service with the band—alongside Theo Travis, Fred T. Baker, and Asaf Sirkis, the group delivered historic compositions alongside newer material from their album Thirteen, reinforcing their legendary status and securing another resounding standing ovation.
Sunday’s Final Stretch and Cultural Resonance
The final day of the festival sustained the high artistic standard established earlier in the weekend. Trumpet and flugelhorn player Bryan Corbett opened the afternoon with his Instrumental Groove Unit, presenting a jazz-funk-oriented set comprised almost entirely of original compositions. He was followed by harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and her HipHarp Collective, featuring saxophonist Tony Kofi, double bassist Menelik Claffey, drummer Matthew Holmes, and percussionist Joel Prime. The ensemble captivated the room with spiritual jazz arrangements honouring John and Alice Coltrane, alongside Dorothy Ashby’s Soul Vibration, prompting enthusiastic audience participation.
Production concerns regarding sightlines surfaced once more during the joint performance by vocalists Ian Shaw and Liane Carroll, where the positioning of the grand piano again obscured the performers from sections of the audience. Nevertheless, the American 3D Jazz Trio—featuring pianist Jackie Warren, bassist Amy Shook, and drummer Sherry Maricle—restored energetic equilibrium with a vibrant, good-humored set of jazz and blues standards, capped by a playful tribute to Dolly Parton with 9 to 5.
Broader Economic and Cultural Implications
Beyond the primary ticketed events in the Grand Hall, the 23rd Scarborough Jazz Festival successfully integrated fringe programming, including Carioca Soul sessions, intimate sets by the Tony Kofi Quartet in the Spa’s Jazz Lounge, and continuous musical interludes by the Al Morrison Trio. These ancillary events played a crucial role in maintaining festival-wide engagement and supporting local hospitality and tourism sectors.
Industry analysts note that regional festivals of this scale serve as vital economic drivers for coastal municipalities outside the traditional summer peak season. By blending legacy jazz acts with contemporary genre explorations, the Scarborough Jazz Festival continues to attract a demographically diverse audience, ensuring the preservation of live improvised music performance within historic civic venues. Early-bird ticket sales for the 24th edition, running through January via the official Scarborough Spa portal, reflect sustained consumer confidence and institutional stability for the event’s ongoing future.
