"I can't wait for Jazz 2012: there's more of a Festival feel than ever, and an outstanding range of live music with the best in jazz, blues and soul."

Tony Dudley-Evans Artistic Director

Listen to exclusive preview interviews and artist samples

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Artistic Director Tony Dudley-Evans' Picks of the Festival

Marcus Miller

Don’t miss this blend of funk, jazz, soul and R’n’B that’s sure to get people tapping their feet and dancing in their seats. Marcus is one of the best electric bass players in the business, having played with everyone from Miles Davis to Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross and Frank Sinatra.
TONY’S PICK FOR… People looking for a lively and fun night out with an utter jazz legend.

Paloma Faith: Artist in Residence

"I’ll never forget Paloma’s incredible finale in 2010, and we’re thrilled to bring her and Guy Barker’s orchestra together again for what’s sure to be another unmissable show. With her trademark theatricality, incredible style and vocals, Paloma embodies all that’s best about live music and I’m delighted to be working with her as Artist in Residence this year." Tony Dudley-Evans Artistic Director   Since I was last in Cheltenham I’ve been… writing my new album.  I’ve just started recording with Nellee Hooper who is a producer that I’ve admired from afar for a long time, so I am really excited about working with him.  I have also, which is really exciting for me, been the answer to a question on the TV show ‘Eggheads’, which is probably the peak of my career to date.

Performing with the Guy Barker Orchestra is great because… nothing beats the sound that all those people collectively can make, together it is kind of the closest to heaven that we have on earth.  There is so much nuance in the quiet moments and the loud moments and all the dynamics in between are mind-blowing and until you are there listening to it, there is nothing like it.  I don’t really care what is going on in my life when I am standing there. Artist in Residence means… I’ve invited some of the artists that are going to be performing at Cheltenham Jazz Festival. I am also programming a short collection of film noir films that I love, and I’ll be closing the Festival with a special one-off concert with Guy which will be showcasing all my new record in an orchestral form.  My new album… has the usual bits about love and loss and there are some positive songs about love in there too. There are also some songs that are not about anything to do with relationships because I was slightly worried that all the female artists of our generation seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on men! Even though they are a fraction of my life they are not the complete pie chart, so I have been writing some songs that are about the social observations and issues that I think need to be addressed.

Early on in life I listened to … what my parents listened to which was, in the case of my father, a lot of jazz artists: Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Al Hibbler, Archie Shepp, Ella Fitzgerald.  Then in the case of my mum it was more poppy, like The Four Tops, The Temptations and Nina Simone.  And then later when I started having a bit of rebellion in the 90s I was really in to UK garage and new jack swing, and I guess my music has become an amalgamation of the two.    This next Cheltenham concert will be special because … it is going to be the first time I have ever showcased the record with an orchestra.  It’s also going to be nice to seal the relationship that I have with Guy Barker which is actually owed to Cheltenham Jazz Festival.  I am very grateful to the Festival because now he has scored most of my new records for me, and hopefully we will be able to bring on a more theatrical element as well.  Cheltenham Jazz Festival is… different to other jazz festivals because it embraces not only the great history of jazz but also showcases artists that I know personally to be contemporary but also influenced by jazz, that maybe its audience didn’t realise were so strongly influenced by that background.   Members save 10% on Festival Tickets Join now

Behind the scenes of Jamie Cullum's Radio 2 Show

Festival favourite Jamie Cullum will be bringing his BBC Radio 2 show live to the Festival this year. We caught up with his Radio 2 producer, Karen Pearson, for a look behind the scenes.

You’ve been doing the show for almost two years now. What made you want to do it?

I first worked with Jamie in 2007 on a project for the BBC Electric Proms when I initiated a collaboration between Jamie and Japan’s Soil & “Pimp” Sessions. As well as being broadcast in the UK on the BBC, I arranged for the show to be syndicated on J-Wave FM, Tokyo’s biggest FM radio station. My relationship with Jamie grew organically from there and we started to talk about doing a possible radio show together. Jamie is so passionate and knowledgeable about music and jazz especially, and he’s a very natural presenter with a lovely warm style. He’d already presented quite a few jazz documentaries for BBC Radio 2, such as The Story of Blue Note Records and programmes on Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones, so he’d got a really good taste of the BBC radio world, and wanted to do more. BBC Radio 2 love Jamie and when they suggested the idea of a possible weekly jazz show Jamie jumped at the chance & connected up again with myself and & my company Folded Wing to produce it. Of course we were super excited about working with both Jamie and BBC Radio 2. Plus jazz is something that’s very close to my heart from my years producing the Gilles Peterson ‘Worldwide’ show for BBC Radio 1, so it was an amazing opportunity.

For someone who’s never listened to the show before, what kind of things might they be likely to hear?

The aim of Jamie’s show is to bring jazz to the Radio 2 audience in a way that’s accessible but authentic. We want to appeal to established jazz fans but also attract new listeners who might be new to jazz. So it’s a bit of a balancing act! We try and represent as wide a range of jazz music as possible, from the classic 40s big band stuff like Count Basie and Duke Ellington to exciting new artists like Mara Carlyle, Gregory Porter and Ane Brun. We also feature a strong live music element and have two BBC Maida Vale sessions a month, again featuring artists both old and new, and we take full advantage of the amazing BBC archives and pick out classic sessions from the BBC vaults to play on the show. Now that is a real privilege! We also have lots of artist interviews, with jazz legends like Dave Brubeck, Gary Bartz and Pat Metheny as well as less ‘obvious’ jazz fans like Clint Eastwood, Lars Ulrich, Eliza Doolitte and Kate Bush. So it’s a pretty broad take on what a ‘jazz’ show is and can be.

How do you go about choosing music for the show?

Lots and lots of listening! Jamie is a really big music collector and buys lots of new (and old) music every week so he’s always got loads of jazz and other types of music that he wants to play on the radio. Everyone at Folded Wing is really well connected with a wide variety of artists, record labels and pluggers so we’re always ahead of the game with new artists, new music and reissues. I then sit down with Jamie each week and we put together a rough playlist for each show, picking a balance of old and new music that flows well together and fits in with whichever live session or artist interview we have on the show that week.

You have the whole of the BBC archive to explore – where do you start?

For archive it's pretty freestyle. Both Jamie and I look at artists who were big in the 1950s/60s/70s and decide who we’d like to hear recorded in a live performance from back then. We then head to the BBC Archive database and do searches based on those names and those dates to see what comes up… it's always fascinating to see the television and radio shows that pop up from that era. Those results then lead to further searches. Sometimes we'll play a track on the show by an artist and that will prompt us to look for archived recordings of them performing live on the BBC, it's always great to hear those old BBC recordings and not only listen to the legendary performances but also to think of how audio was recorded back then.

You feature lots of guests on the show. Who were you most excited to work with and why?

Even though Jamie’s show has been on BBC Radio 2 for less than 2 years we’ve already had so many incredible guests, it’s been such a privilege. As well as doing special shows with Clint Eastwood, Dave Brubeck, Kate Bush, Pat Metheny and Lars Ulrich, we’ve been lucky enough to record Maida Vale sessions and interviews with jazz legends like Dee Dee Bridgewater, Abdullah Ibrahim, Gil Scott-Heron, Mose Allison, Jon Hendricks, Kurt Elling and Terence Blanchard. And so many more! I think my personal favourite was probably Wynton Marsalis. Jamie and I are both big fans, and I know Wynton has been a really big influence on Jamie as a musician. He’s played such an important role in jazz over the last 30 years, not just as a composer and bandleader but as an educator too. And he’s played with many of the jazz legends, from Sarah Vaughan to Art Blakey to Herbie Hancock. Seeing how excited Jamie was to do the interview was a real buzz for me, and because Jamie’s such a fan, it brought a whole new level to the interview. Jamie and Wynton really hit it off and had a great rapport, which all contributed to a really lovely show.

You’re bringing the show to Cheltenham this year, what’s special about Cheltenham Jazz Festival?

Cheltenham is one of the most important jazz festival in the UK and I always love going. Plus the Festival is very close to Jamie’s heart. Not only has he played some amazing live shows there, he’s also been guest director of the Festival and helped curate the line up. Since starting Jamie’s show in April 2010 we’ve recorded live shows from Cheltenham both years. In 2010 we featured people like Beady Belle and Polar Bear and this year we had Jason Moran, Hugh Laurie, Andreya Triana and Phronesis. Can’t wait for Cheltenham 2012!

Catch Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2 every Tuesday 7 – 8pm

bbc.co.uk/radio2/
jamiecullum.com/
foldedwing.co.uk/