John Coltrane's A Love Supreme album of 1965 is considered one of the greatest jazz albums of them all, a spiritual and devotional work that also became a suprise best-seller, despite the avant-garde overtones of the music.
Love Supreme, the festival (and no 'A'), could also be considered a surprise, in that from the outset it was perceived as a big risk to formulate a 'jazz' festival, the first proper UK outdoor festival (ie, in a field, with camping) of its kind for decades. For sure, the organisers have thrown a tonne of money at it to see what sticks, but it seems that enough is sticking to make this a long-term viability, a successful re-invention of the wheel as it were. Certainly, the timing and location were right; festivals have proliferated over the years, particularly those that cater for, how should I say this… a slightly more well-heeled demographic…? Like Vintage Festival and Wilderness, Love Supreme is full of people who don't do festivals; there were plenty of folding chairs, ice buckets, champagne flutes and blankets on hand. And Glynde Place is an apt up market setting for an event of this kind. But, the punters are almost invariably music lovers, who need to party and relax just like anyone else, and this is why it always had a chance to succeed, especially if the programming was right…
By and large, it has been right, more right this year than the first two when decisions to book the likes of Bryan Ferry and Jools Holland didn't perhaps set the festival alight. However, mixing up jazz with disco, soul, funk and even hip hop, Love Supreme is not afraid to cater for the karaoke in us (via sing-a-long acts such as Candi Staton and Chaka Khan) or the chin-strokers who like nothing more than adventurous, and abstract music that many just wouldn't 'get'. Not that I saw any actual chin-stroking. And, thankfully, there doesn't seem to be hardly any jazz goatees theses days. And no one says 'nice' like the wickedly funny Louis Balfour character of The Fast Show… But, almost invariably the music and musicianship is of a very high standard. There are no indie bands who can barely play, nor singer songwriters who can barely write. Instead, spread over the three main stages, plus a couple of smaller stages and a late night, outdoor club environment, there was a plethora of quality acts throughout the weekend.
Noticeably, too, there was less of a 'corporate' feel this year; gone was the Grand Marnier tent for instance. Instead there was the excellent addition of the late night clubbing sessions, that took place in the small wooded area, where local labels Mr Bongo (Friday), and Tru Thoughts (Saturday) provided some much needed DJ only action until the small hours. The Bandstand was re-situated in the centre of the site, a fine place to relax on the grass (no pun intended), and listen to the surprisingly vibrant local jazz scene, including the post-bop grooves of The Eddy Myer 5tet, and the more progressive jazz-rock flavours of newcomers Vels Trio.
Much like Meadowlands Festival, which was situated on the same site for a few years until 2013, Love Supreme also works in that Friday is when you can set up, and get ready for the weekend's main action. Although there was some DJ action (plenty of 'mature' adults frugging away to disco, soul and funk classics in the Arena tent on Friday night), and the small Bandstand stage, organised by Brighton's The Verdict jazz venue, featured a few local jazz acts on the Friday evening, Saturday is when it properly kicks off and the main music stages come to life. The Bad Plus Joshua Redman were an appropriate way to start off, some 100% pure jazz to remind you that is is actually more a jazz festival than anything else. A recent collaboration (check out this year's self-titled album) their set featured a mix of instrumental compositions from all the four players; on grand piano, drums, double bass and Redman's beautiful sax playing, the band fluidly moving from mildly intense bouts of experimental cacophony to more simple, gentle grooves, each player employing a rhythm and working around a motif before wandering off on their own path, but always within the park, as it were. Despite the early start (12.30), Redman is in the zone, eyes closed, yelping his appreciation at times, seemingly involuntarily. A true jazzer…
Love Supreme, the festival (and no 'A'), could also be considered a surprise, in that from the outset it was perceived as a big risk to formulate a 'jazz' festival, the first proper UK outdoor festival (ie, in a field, with camping) of its kind for decades. For sure, the organisers have thrown a tonne of money at it to see what sticks, but it seems that enough is sticking to make this a long-term viability, a successful re-invention of the wheel as it were. Certainly, the timing and location were right; festivals have proliferated over the years, particularly those that cater for, how should I say this… a slightly more well-heeled demographic…? Like Vintage Festival and Wilderness, Love Supreme is full of people who don't do festivals; there were plenty of folding chairs, ice buckets, champagne flutes and blankets on hand. And Glynde Place is an apt up market setting for an event of this kind. But, the punters are almost invariably music lovers, who need to party and relax just like anyone else, and this is why it always had a chance to succeed, especially if the programming was right…
By and large, it has been right, more right this year than the first two when decisions to book the likes of Bryan Ferry and Jools Holland didn't perhaps set the festival alight. However, mixing up jazz with disco, soul, funk and even hip hop, Love Supreme is not afraid to cater for the karaoke in us (via sing-a-long acts such as Candi Staton and Chaka Khan) or the chin-strokers who like nothing more than adventurous, and abstract music that many just wouldn't 'get'. Not that I saw any actual chin-stroking. And, thankfully, there doesn't seem to be hardly any jazz goatees theses days. And no one says 'nice' like the wickedly funny Louis Balfour character of The Fast Show… But, almost invariably the music and musicianship is of a very high standard. There are no indie bands who can barely play, nor singer songwriters who can barely write. Instead, spread over the three main stages, plus a couple of smaller stages and a late night, outdoor club environment, there was a plethora of quality acts throughout the weekend.
Noticeably, too, there was less of a 'corporate' feel this year; gone was the Grand Marnier tent for instance. Instead there was the excellent addition of the late night clubbing sessions, that took place in the small wooded area, where local labels Mr Bongo (Friday), and Tru Thoughts (Saturday) provided some much needed DJ only action until the small hours. The Bandstand was re-situated in the centre of the site, a fine place to relax on the grass (no pun intended), and listen to the surprisingly vibrant local jazz scene, including the post-bop grooves of The Eddy Myer 5tet, and the more progressive jazz-rock flavours of newcomers Vels Trio.
Much like Meadowlands Festival, which was situated on the same site for a few years until 2013, Love Supreme also works in that Friday is when you can set up, and get ready for the weekend's main action. Although there was some DJ action (plenty of 'mature' adults frugging away to disco, soul and funk classics in the Arena tent on Friday night), and the small Bandstand stage, organised by Brighton's The Verdict jazz venue, featured a few local jazz acts on the Friday evening, Saturday is when it properly kicks off and the main music stages come to life. The Bad Plus Joshua Redman were an appropriate way to start off, some 100% pure jazz to remind you that is is actually more a jazz festival than anything else. A recent collaboration (check out this year's self-titled album) their set featured a mix of instrumental compositions from all the four players; on grand piano, drums, double bass and Redman's beautiful sax playing, the band fluidly moving from mildly intense bouts of experimental cacophony to more simple, gentle grooves, each player employing a rhythm and working around a motif before wandering off on their own path, but always within the park, as it were. Despite the early start (12.30), Redman is in the zone, eyes closed, yelping his appreciation at times, seemingly involuntarily. A true jazzer…
Moving on to the main stage, there's one of the more adventurous, and outside of the normal Love Supreme comfort zone bookings, in the big form of Rag'n'Bone Man. A Sussex boy through and through, and new to most here, he claims that he is a little hoarse today, still getting over Glastonbury from the previous weekend, and admits to have made a faux pas when he tells the crowd how his girlfriend had called him up earlier in the day to inquire as whether or not he had forgotten something… He's forgotten her! It was her birthday, too! She's here though, the anecdote serving me to emphasise that he has the big personality to match his growling, deep, and controlled blues-soul-gospel voice. With a band that wouldn't look out of place at Download, he shows his true musical colours that includes that love of vintage blues, gospel and soul, slipping in a cover of the old gospel song What Have You Done? (Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens), in-between his originals, all typically short and classically structured, and usually dark and brooding; numbers such as Lay My Body Down and Bitter End, plus signature tune, Hell, Yeah. Although sometimes veering dangerously close to MOR territory, it seems that here we have an antidote to all that X Factor clean-cut froth, in the shape of this big, bearded, pierced and tattooed man. Impressive. Another local resident, and back again following his appearance last year, is Omar, a smooth soul man to the bone, still dining off his most famous song, There's Nothing Like This: 'Sip a glass of cold champagne wine, the rug that we lie on feels divine,' lyrics that neatly sum up many of the revellers here, champagne bottles a-plenty. He sings some of his more recent stuff too, including the title track of his last album, The Man, a great slice of soul, his voice still in fine fettle.
The appearance of Neneh Cherry is another example of the festival's increasing appetite for good music, full stop, wherever it comes from and whatever it does (except indie bands and solo singer songwriters, of course). Despite the fact her step-father is the renowned jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, and she guested on early abstract noise-jazzers Rip, Rig & Panic albums in her teens, Neneh has very little to do with jazz – in fact she comes from the punk and hip hop tradition – her current repertoire mostly involving tracks from her last album Blank, and the 2013 collaboration with London duo RocketNumberNine, made up of the brothers Page, Tom and Ben, who are her only musicians on stage today, on synths/keys and electric drums, making a kind of techno-soul sound. It's a long way from the sound she first came to notice with on tracks like Buffalo Stance and Manchild, both hits of late 80s. However, still with trademark trainers on, she dons a makeshift turban to perform those classics, but in the style she is now accustomed to… She's still an upbeat hippy-bohemian at heart though, as she relays her recent 'deep journey' to Ornette Coleman's funeral and the rather cliqued 'hope' speech, that musicians are prone to indulge in when given the spoltlight. Still, we can forgive her those transgressions; she's super-engaging throughout, and it seems being on stage, in the great outdoors, on glorious July days like this, it can't help but bring out the positivity in people… Almost at polar opposites, recent Mercury Music Prize nominees GoGo Penguin still look a little non-plussed, what with all this attention recently heaped on them, a large crowd giving a great reception for this outwardly dour instrumental trio. Indeed, the music they make together is outstanding and immensely satisfying, the quietly grinning faces of many punters here betraying the rapture that is bubbling under the surface. Love Supreme audiences don't do wild, but they know a good band when they hear one, the telepathic playing, gorgeous grooves and melodies is accessible, never trying to be too clever. Drummer Rob Turner is a highly creative, rather than always rhythmic, player, while double bass virtuoso Nick Blacka provides the deep undertow to enable pianist Chris Illingworth to tastefully, yet forcibly embellish. They finish off with the gentle, trip-hoppy grooves of Hollopanna, a lovely antidote to the many driving rhythms of much of their set, seemingly upping the musical pulse for this special festival set. A fantastic performance from a phenomenal trio, by three still very young men.
Funk and disco continue to play a part in the festival, if only to give some of the less musically adventurous punters something they can really latch onto. Ex-Sly & The Family Stone slaptastic bassist Larry Graham does just that with his Graham Central Station band, all wearing fetching turquoise numbers, as they oil up the audience via their respectful versions of Dance To The Music, Higher and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), although why they decide to do Prince's 1999 – beyond the fact that it's a damn good song – is anybody's guess… Still, it's 100% fun(k), performed like the skilled and seasoned entertainers they are.
Then there's Chaka Khan… When Chic played the first Love Supreme festival in 2013, it proved to be a highly inspired booking, Nile Rodgers and crew simply blowing everyone away with their incredible songs, and still stylish stage show. Unfortunately, Chaka Khan couldn't repeat that. Of course, the hit list is less longer than Chic and Rodgers, but her band were too middle of the road, a little too safe, and Khan herself didn't do jazz-lounge classic My Funny Valentine the justice it deserves, somewhat over-reaching herself in the vocal department. The women seemed to love it more than men (hardly surprising when her biggest hit was 'I'm Every Woman') but the overall crowd reaction was generally subdued, looking for the spark of energy to real bring it into life… As predicted, Sunday brought some heavy early morning rain, but this started to clear up in the early afternoon as the Hackney Colliery Band put on a brave face in trying to rally the hardcore punters, before the up and coming American soul star Jarrod Lawson took to the stage with his band of three, and two highly expressive backing vocalists, thoroughly enjoying an appreciative audience (it seems that almost everyone was having a gas on stage) on what must be one of his first festival appearances here in the UK. A sophisticated soul singer and terrifically inventive and melodic pianist, the Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway influenced Lawson delivered a masterclass in sunshine soul music, positivity to the fore, but with a firm grasp of dynamics, creating space where needed, and allowing others to shine, including one song written by his female backing vocalist, and performed by just those two alone.
At the other end of age spectrum, and now in the twilight of his career, Ginger Baker has been drumming professionally since the early 60s, most famously with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce in Cream, but also with the eclectic likes of Public Image Ltd and Hawkwind. Sounding frail, but still able to play the drums with power and precision, a mix of a less wild (of course) Keith Moon and the jazz greats he grew up with, Baker has also enjoyed an enduring love affair with afro-jazz, that started in the early 70s when he first lived in Nigeria, playing with the likes of Fela Kuti. With his Jazz Confusion band, that includes Pee Wee Ellis (ex-James Brown saxophonist), Alec Dankworth on bass, and Abass Dodoo on percussion, who often double tracks Baker's playing, their amazingly instinctual playing is something to behold, if it is to be believed that they don't practise… Baker has a fearful, even horrible, reputation as a curt, cantankerous and egotistical artist, but there is no doubting jazz is where is heart is, and it's a masterclass. I only caught a couple of songs by Taylor McFerrin – son of Bobby – a young DJ, producer and keyboardist who attracted one of the younger, hipper crowds of the weekend. Like Jarrod Lawson, his music is infused with overt love and positivity, that while it may make some of the more pessimistic out there cough and retch, his Bonobo-meets-psychedelic soul is warm, laid-back, and enveloping; just him and a drummer plus the odd guest vocalist. One to watch. As are the extraordinary neo-soul radical experimentalists Hiatus Kaiyote (whose equally extraordinary looking lead singer/guitarist Nai Palm, sang on McFerrin's debut album of last year), another inspired Love Supreme booking and, again, one for the younger crowd, who showed their admiration for the band by forming a very long queue at the post-gig signing session.
Back to the old school, and the songs you will almost certainly know, there could only be Candi Staton. Responsible for Young Hearts Run Free, a true disco classic that cannot fail to lift spirits, especially with Staton's excellent band at the helm. Although her set is littered with covers (In The Ghetto, Stand By Your Man et al), there is a lot of love for Staton, particularly as she is the voice behind the club classic You've Got The Love, which drives the crowd as care-free as they get all weekend… However, it was Hugh Masekela who delivered the set of the festival. Within the packed Big Top, this South African jazz, world and pop legend may be in his mid-70s, but his one-two-three killer combination of man, trumpeter and storyteller could hardly be bettered, some members of the audience driven to tears as he performed some of his classic songs, including a glorious and as-always highly emotional Stimela, which sees Masekela tell the story of life in the mines of southern Africa, whilst vocally deploying the sound of a steam train, and the cacophony of the 'workplace'. Once again, there are smiles all round on stage, everyone seemingly having a great time, even though the band barely made it to the festival on time (there was a serious crash on the local A27, which derailed many a timetable it seems) Masekela is a musical dilettante in the best sense, finishing off with the chart topping instrumental hit he enjoyed back in '68, Grazing in the Grass.
Finally, Van the Man took to the Main Stage to headline the Sunday slot. What could we expect from somebody who can out-grump Ginger Baker? As always there was no stage or audience banter, and when he seemingly wandered off mid-set for an extended period, his musicians starting to twitch nervously, it starting to look there might be any love Love Supreme. But, he came back, and in a festival setting, he knows how to win over a crowd not necessarily here to see him, for he wheeled out many of the old favourites including Moondance (with guest vocalist Lani Hall), Tupelo Honey, Brown Eyed Girl and the Them r'n'b classic Baby, Please Don't Go. Polished and soulful as always, there is no mistaking the sound of Van Morrison, the crowd suitably impressed to give him a rousing applause. Once again, the sun (mostly) had his hat one for the third edition of what is hopefully now a regular fixture on the festival calendar. Love Supreme seems to bring out the best in people; almost everybody was friendly, and relaxed, and there was at least one proposal of marriage, the question popped via a banner pulled along by a small plane, circling the festival site. Not long after, the response came back as an affirmative… A Love Supreme
Love was certainly in the air at Love Supreme.
Jeff Hemmings
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