Love to love: Love Supreme festival returns, bringing with it the heavy-hitters of jazz to Sussex

Credit: Abu Dhabi Festival

Established in 2013, and billed as the first jazz and camping festival since the ‘60s, Love Supreme has become an established date in the festival calendar, with a reputation for high quality music that crosses over much more than just pure jazz. From funk to disco, soul to world, and from rock to hip hop, Love Supreme has over the years featured the likes of Chic, Bryan Ferry, Van Morrison, Grace Jones, Jamie Cullum and Burt Bacharach, as well as plethora of stunning acts that touch many musical bases including jazz.

Laura Mvula

Named after the iconic John Coltrane album ‘A Love Supreme’, this year’s three-day event is once again being held in the beautiful, gently undulating grounds of Glynde House. Headlining the festival’s main outdoor stage on the Saturday are The Jacksons, celebrating 50 years of show business! Today the group consists of four of the original founding members: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon. Expect all the hits, including those that featured a certain Michael Jackson. And relative newcomer Gregory Porter headlines the Sunday. Since bursting onto the scene in 2010 with his debut album ‘Water’, Gregory’s career has gone from one success to another. It was 2014 when Porter was firmly established as a soul-jazz giant by winning the Grammy for best jazz vocal album with ‘Liquid Spirit’, which has gone on to become the most streamed jazz album of all time.

Also on the main stage is UK nu-soulstress Corrine Bailey-Rae, the R’n’B jazz-pop sounds of London’s Nao, New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band – fresh from a sell out Brighton Festival gig – spiritual-jazzer Kamasi Washington, who performed an extraordinary set last year, and smooth jazz and disco legend George Benson, an artist who has enjoyed huge mainstream success, perhaps his best known song being ‘Give Me The Night’.

Visionary pianist, composer and bandleader Herbie Hancock is headlining the Big Top on the Saturday, the stage that bills itself as showcasing the cream of international and UK jazz. Hancock is a true icon of modern music, starting his career as a member of Miles Davis’ band, before embracing synthesisers and funk music for the hit singles ‘I Thought It Was You’ and ‘Rockit’. Also on this stage is jazz pianist Robert Glasper, British soul legend Mica Paris – who will be performing a set of Ella Fitzgerald songs – the new jazz-pop-soul sounds of Laura Mvula, and Canada’s extraordinary jazz-hip-hop-krautrock crossover band BadBadNotGood.

Hancock is a true icon of modern music, starting his career as a member of Miles Davis’ band

The Arena stage bills itself as a place to see some of the best newcomers as well as few leftfield gems. Brighton’s afrobeat-funksters Lakuta take to the stage on the Friday evening, while the incredible instrumental space-jazz-electronica fusion of The Comet Is Coming is a highlight for the Saturday, along with avante-jazz-punkers Sons Of Kemet and trip hop-jazz groove merchants Mammal Hands. There’s also some DJ action here courtesy of garage legend Joey Negro, and members of incognito and Brand New Heavies taking it in turns to finish off the Sunday.

Elsewhere, the Bandstand stage, situated right in the middle of the site, is a chance to see some very new jazz-based talent out in the open air, while there’s late night action in the Blue In Green bar, situated in the small patch of woodland on site, and which will once again feature the Brighton-based Tru Thoughts label providing the DJs on the Sunday night.

Love Supreme is truly a music lover’s paradise. It’s also a very family-friendly affair, with tonnes of things for children and kids to do. And it caters for those looking to stay for the weekend or just to visit on either the Saturday and/or Sunday. As befits this up-market festival, there are plenty of camping and VIP options too.

By Jeff Hemmings
Love Supreme, Glynde House, Sussex, 30 June – 2 July 2017, www.lovesupremefestival.com