(Reviews by Keir Shields, Rinee Sinharay & Jess Kemp)
‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – ‘LOVE SUPREME’, GLYNDE PLACE, GLYNDE 4.7.26
Europe’s biggest outdoor jazz festival, ‘Love Supreme’, returned to the beautiful Sussex countryside setting of Glynde Place in the heart of South Downs from 3rd to 5th July. The annual three-day festival highlights the best of Jazz, Funk, Soul and Blues from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.
As there was so much going on, we have split our reviews into three parts – one per day. This article takes care of matters on Saturday 4th July. Part 1 on the acts that performed on Friday 3rd July can be found HERE. Part 3 on the acts that performed on Sunday 5th July will follow over the next few days.
Each day there were six stages on the go, namely North Downs, South Downs, Supreme Standards, Bands & Voices, Blue In Green, and New Generation Jazz. There were also a number of non-music activities catering for all ages.
This year’s Love Supreme festival was led by Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective on Friday, Loyle Carner, who was making his Love Supreme debut, on Saturday, and legendary alternative hip-hop group De La Soul closed the festival on Sunday with their only full-band UK performance of 2026.
Across the weekend the line-up also featured The Temptations & The Four Tops, Sister Sledge, Gabrielle, Lemar, Free Nationals, Samara Joy, Esperanza Spalding, Courtney Pine, Jalen Ngonda, Kokoroko, Moses Boyd, Bill Frisell & Greg Tardy, Joe Lovano & Antonio Faraò, Olive Jones, The War & Treaty, Young Gun Silver Fox, Loose Ends, Annie & The Caldwells, Kofi Stone, Knats, The Bad Plus and aron! alongside a wide range of artists spanning jazz, soul, funk and R&B.
The Love Supreme Jazz Festival is an annual event and next year’s dates are already set: 2nd to 4th July 2027. Super Early Bird Tickets are on sale and are up to 25% less than final prices – Find out more HERE.
So let’s get down to business….
Saturday 4th July:
NYJO PRESENTS MILES DAVIS 100
SOUTH DOWNS STAGE 11:45 – 12:45
Tasked with shaking off the heavy heads of a lively Friday night is The National Youth Jazz Orchestra, playing a number of Miles Davis compositions. While daunting to play the work of someone so prestigious, the orchestra, comprising piano, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, trumpet, French horn, tuba, double bass, and drums, is primed to capture every texture of Davis’ discography.
With a brief intro from George, they launch straight into ‘So What’ – with light cymbal and tom work pairing with a modal call and response from piano to horns, the audience is immediately wide-eyed. There’s a saying that ‘So What’ is simple enough for beginners to learn, yet you could spend a lifetime getting to the bottom of it – the orchestra shows a very comfortable grasp already.
Between tracks, their trumpeter, also serving as their bandleader, explains the significance of each standard, with a pure sense of excitement as they pass on their love for the artist. ‘Boplicity’ is driven by the horn section, with brush-type percussion providing a mellow underpinning that allows for solos, notably from the baritone saxophonist. Picking up the pace, ‘Jeru’ gets shoulders swaying and turns an early South Downs stage into something smoky – you’re half expecting to walk outside to a pitch-black city skyline, and overhear a “these cats can play.”
With an emphasis on Davis’ seminal ‘Birth Of The Cool’ and detours into Gil Evans collaborations, it’s refreshing to see such well-worn standards get a fresh take, with some tracks even rearranged by members to be more inclusive. Nearing the end of their hour slot, ‘Footprints’ from the ‘Miles Smiles’ record is unleashed – a near ten-minute epic, with restless percussion, darts of bop-style piano and steady double bass, their drummer’s arrangement of it is vibrant and remarkable in its ability to spotlight everyone on stage. With jazz often viewed as something dated, NYJO’s take on Miles Davis standards is the perfect way to start the day: the future of jazz paying tribute to its past.
(Keir Shields)
JOE WEBB TRIO
SUPREME STANDARDS STAGE 12:45 – 13:30
Rushing from one stage to the next, I regrettably miss the first track of Joe Webb Trio – wandering into the Supreme Standards tent mid-solo on keys. Accompanied only by double bass and drums, the focus is purely on Webb’s improv abilities. ‘Like Sach’ feels like ragtime keys filtered through a cloud with meandering double bass, while ‘Lover Come Back To Me’ offers a twinkling take on a Billie Holliday classic.
With no introduction, there’s a minor-chord sombreness to ‘Uncle Paul’ that feels like a further syncopated ‘Pyramid Song’, retaining its ominous feeling while Webb plays looping interlocking melodies, with a shuffling, percussive element on hand drum and double bass lingering. With his cover of ‘Ms Dy-Na-Mi-Tee’ bridging garage and jazz via two-step, Webb’s setup is designed to let his virtuosic piano playing shine.
With two birds flying into the tent, hovering above the stage as if invited in by the blisteringly fast jaunt of ‘Tiger Rag’, Webb’s stride-style on the keys is so hypnotic that even wildlife seeks it out. “Thank you, have a great festival” signals the conclusion, with restless ‘James P’ flickering and getting heads bouncing with its stride piano, and his tight-knit trio. Following a Miles Davis Tribute, Webb honours jazz traditions while still pushing the medium forward with his own flair, despite a few audience members who are more interested in conversation than in him.
(Keir Shields)
TC AND THE GROOVE FAMILY
SOUTH DOWNS STAGE 13:30 – 14:30
The TC And The Groove Family music is actually really hard to pin down. There are all sorts in the mix. Afrobeat, hip hop, a bit of ska, funk, soul, jazz. It’s all in there and it works. This band is made of a collective of nine hugely talented individuals; among them playing the trombone, the sax, guitars held together by the impressive Tim Cook on drums. They come from around Birmingham so their music incorporates a range of influences.
Franz Von’s sing-song/rap vocals carries the message; one of unity and peace; the songs are very easy to groove along to. Tracks such as ‘Stand Strong’, and in particular, ‘We The People’, show that protest songs can also sound upbeat and celebratory. This feels like the music for the moment as well as being hugely enjoyable to listen to. A fantastic, high-energy performance!
(Rinee Sinharay)
OLIVE JONES
NORTH DOWNS STAGE 14:15 – 15:15
With a sparse North Downs stage slightly overrun by photographers in the pit, Olive Jones and her band take the stage. From the opener ‘Planes’ to the stunning harmonies with her bassist on ‘All In My Head’, Jones utilises folk techniques to lend her neo-soul a distinctive fingerstyle sound. “I just stepped off a flight from Canada”, Jones states, “What a welcome back to Blighty”, to cheers, with no cobwebs to be shaken off.
With such a lineage of greats, it makes sense that Jones also follows the weekend trend of covering a legend – opting for a spellbinding solo, acoustic version of Nina Simone’s ‘Wild Is The Wind.’ Jones feels like a folk singer who stumbled into Ronnie Scott’s, even leaning into explicitly political lyrics with anti-Brexit anthem ‘Kingdom’, laden with Herbie Hancock-type synth and bluesy punch.
“Love Supreme, are you ready to dance?” she coyly asks before jumping into the buttery guitar tones of ‘End Of Time.’ With a subtle power to her voice, Jones concludes with the pleading ‘Mary Come Home.’ Across a blisteringly hot mid-afternoon set, Olive Jones proves why she’s been featured on Gotts Street Park and has garnered millions of streams; her sound is modern yet familiar, melding enough classics to evoke the side-by-side records of Joan Baez and Anita Baker from your parents’ record collection.
(Keir Shields)
HETTA FALZON
SUPREME STANDARDS STAGE 15:15 – 16:00
This set is a calm, reflective oasis amongst the hubbub of Love Supreme. On stage were two young women Hetta Falzon at the grand piano and her friend, Polly Reinhardt on the cello. There was an attentive and appreciative hush from the audience.
Hetta was classically trained at a tender age. Now at 22, Hetta has enjoyed remarkable success, for example Young Songwriter 2021, with several festival appearances, including Glastonbury under her belt.
Hetta’s voice has been compared to Norah Jones and Joni Mitchell. Her songs are about relationships and chart changes in her life. During the set, she talks about the background to her songs and how they’ve come about, such as ‘So Great’ which came from a conversation over Christmas dinner. ‘Sobering’ is about the one that got away; which was written and sung beautifully. The piano and cello give the lyrics emotional depth, a sense of nostalgia and a timeless appeal. These are words from a lived experience and even though Hetta is still young, there is a maturity that resonates.
(Rinee Sinharay)
LOOSE ENDS
SOUTH DOWNS STAGE 15:15 – 16:15
This was another act that I thought I wasn’t familiar with, but had a vague idea that I might have heard before, they were recommended by several people. We took ourselves along and took up my preferred perching position on stage right (to the left as you look at the stage). Before leaving to catch the act, one of our team asked if they were the band from the ‘80s. It was then that it clicked for me and their 1985 hit ‘Hangin’ On a String (Contemplating)’ started playing rent free in my head as we walked towards the stage.
Memory triggered, I prepared for a nostalgic return to the ‘80s charts, which though I only have vague memories of have somehow managed to absorb and store many of the tracks of the Top Forty somewhere hiding latently for future reference.
The act themselves had gone for cohesive black and white attire. Following line-up changes in 1990, founding member Carl McIntosh continues to perform celebrating their catalogue that helped define British R&B. Their coordinated dance moves both complimented the tracks and served to make the recollection of their television appearances return even more vividly. Smooth, catchy and easy on the ears, this was the kind of pleasant easing into a festival that I like and that Love Supreme does so well.
They played the hits including ‘Hangin’ On A String’, ‘Gonna Make You Mine’ knowing full well what the fans in the audience wanted, many of whom were singing word perfect around us. Audience interaction was kept to a minimum with the group preferring to play back-to-back hits from their back catalogue. They stopped briefly to ask the audience, “How you doin’ out here? Ah, feeling good? Yeah, this is a soul tent!”, garnering raucous cheers from the crowd before playing into their much slower paced hit, ‘You Can’t Stop The Rain.’ Before the final song of the set ‘Don’t Be A Fool’ the band urged the audience to follow them on all social media. From the chilled upbeat soul stylings of Loose Ends, we made our way back to the main stage.
(Jess Kemp)
LEMAR
NORTH DOWNS STAGE 16:00 – 17:00
With a career spanning over two decades, the double Brit Award and triple MOBO Award-winning British singer and songwriter has largely been absent from the mainstream charts until his most recent 2023 album ‘Page In My Heart’. It’s easy to forget that he has had seven Top 10 singles, sold more than two million albums, and collaborated with some of music’s biggest names, including Lionel Richie, Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé, and Mariah Carey. Seemingly always in the charts during the 2000s, more recently his efforts have been turned towards acting roles, appearing in the Netflix series ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’ and in the West End Theatre production of ‘Sister Act’.
I was intrigued to see what he would offer the audience by way of a reminder of his original musical back catalogue. Opening with a cover of the Spencer Davis Group’s’ ‘Gimme Some Lovin’’then pleasing newcomers and longtime fans with a medley of his best-known tracks then offering an hour’s worth of R&B and soul.
Slick as ever, with his ever-ready smile Lamar and his live band kept the pace up segueing between tracks effortlessly, owning the stage as if he had never been off it.
While touring this year Lamar has also returned to the studio to work on new music. It’ll be interesting to see which artistic direction his career takes.
(Jess Kemp)
KOFI STONE
SUPREME STANDARDS STAGE 16:30 – 17:30
With just a DJ to back on stage, Kofi Stone initially feels like a sore thumb at a festival usually intended for live bands. Perhaps sensing this, Stone sprints onto the stage to the boom-bap of ‘Stories In Pyjamas’, bouncing arms in the air before the track has a moment to breathe. When the beat cuts out, Stone shouts “Free Congo/ Free Sudan/ Free Palestine” to huge cheers from a packed-out Supreme Standards tent.
Building on a broken ‘90s piano line with a snare-heavy beat, ‘Same Old’ reflects on the mundanities of day-to-day life and earns a crowd call-and-response of “Same old, same old.” While seemingly out of step with the rest of the festival’s bookings, Stone is a true force on stage as he tasks the audience with the parts of collaborators – even getting the audience in tune for Maverick Sabre’s chorus on the gooey-eyed, Latin-infused ‘Venice.’
With a largely boom-bap rap set, Stone’s introspective lyrics balance the bravado of tracks like ‘King David Flow’ for an assured set built on a desire to prove people wrong. “I’ve been told we need to come off, but I have two more for you”, Stone announces, “They might turn it off” as the jazzy downtempo earnestness of ‘It’s Ok To Cry’ finally arrives, allowing the men to put their arms around their pals and say they love them.
To the chagrin of an increasingly seething stage manager on the sidelines, Stone refuses to leave the set on a slow note, throwing flowers into the crowd before barrelling into the boom-bap bassiness of ‘Talk About Us.’ Coming down from the stage to the barrier so everyone can get the obligatory festival photo, Kofi Stone’s set is relentless in speed but huge on feeling, deserving to be on this bill just as much as any artist.
(Keir Shields)
COURTNEY PINE
SOUTH DOWNS STAGE 17:00 – 18:00
This man has been at the forefront of UK jazz for 40 years; a true pioneer in the jazz world. His recognition includes two gongs (CBE and OBE), a MOBO award and Jazz FM Gold Award. He released a retrospective double CD ‘Out Of The Ghetto: A Modern Day Jazz Story’ in April 2026. As well as his own material, Courtney’s set included a homage to Miles Davis.
Pine was accompanied by Romana Campbell on the drums and Rio Kai on the double bass. Initially, the set was fast paced and upbeat showcasing the formidable talent of the trio, especially Courtney Pine, who, of course, took centre stage.
He said a couple of times just how much he loved playing jazz and the sax; that was evident. The serious fast-paced music gave way to slighter slower more danceable numbers. He had fun with the crowd; towards the end he asked people to sing along to what he was playing, first the women in the crowd then he gave the men in the audience an impossible set of notes to vocally replicate. It could be argued that Pine’s slower music shows off his talent more, either way, it’s easy to see why this man is such a legend.
(Rinee Sinharay)
KNATS
SUPREME STANDARDS STAGE 18:15 – 19:15
Prefacing the unrelenting energy to come, drummer King David-Ike Elechi leaps onto the stage. With their ‘Geordie Jazz’ fresh from Jools Holland, there’s a sense of intrigue around the group, perhaps best known as Geordie Greep’s touring band.
Opener ‘Seven Bridges To Burn’ features soft-tipped percussion and lingering horns as a backdrop for a hometown ode, mentioning Newcastle staples before Cooper Robson’s bellow of ‘Magpies’ startles a tent of lingering Kofi Stone fans. From this moment, Knats have the Supreme Standards tent onboard with the jittering ‘Gainsborough Grove’ extending beyond its sub 2-minute recorded time, into something sprawling and alive. ‘Wor Jackie’ is segued directly in, driven by a restless hi-hat groove and Elechi’s use of his entire drum kit. While interlocking with rapidly metronomic bass from Stanley Woodward, the frantically sprawling rhythm becomes a backdrop for Robson’s increasingly ballistic poem, “I make ships, but I am drowning,” which is practically barked into his microphone.
Knats have mastered the feeling of freeform, while remaining disciplined – unreleased ‘G.O.D’ feels like staring into oblivion, with lyrics of “spoke to the abyss/asked if he wanted owt from the cornershop” showing a band that refuses to always take itself seriously. With unreleased tracks peppered in with cuts from the recent record ‘A Great Day In Newcastle,’ Knats glide through multiple state-of-the-nation addresses into more joyous moments – never forgetting to wander off in improvisation.
While some leave through the set, the bulk of the crowd remains and goes off the deep end with ‘Carpet Doctor’ sounding increasingly manic as it progresses, bouncing through like Buddy Rich on acid in a Sex Pistols tribute, while battling with their horn section for supremacy. The final one-two punch of ‘Big Market Scrapper’ and ‘Never Gonna Be A Boxer’ sounds wonky yet precise, with ‘Never Gonna Be a Boxer’ allowing every member their solo moment. While challenging at times, the quote “How are you ever going to be an innovator if you’re such a traditionalist” springs to mind – Knats are firmly in their own lane, bastardising experimental rock and jazz for their own scream at England, while leaving enough room for improvisation to encourage multiple listens.
(Keir Shields)
ESPERANZA SPALDING
SOUTH DOWNS STAGE 18:45 – 19:45
Bowled over by Knats, we missed the start of the Esperanza Spalding set, but I had been looking forward to seeing the excellent jazz bassist and singer, so we hot footed it over as soon as we could.
On arrival we found that the set had started later due to an extended soundcheck and re-tuning, which obviously I didn’t mind, as it meant we had missed less. When we arrived, she had already switched to her double bass. Her vocal range has been likened to Minnie Riperton’s in range, ringing out across the tent, a joy to listen to hear.
Spalding is an “eaabibacliitoti” artist, trained and initiated in the North American jazz lineage and tradition. This means she is “European-African ancestored being influenced by American cultures living in Indigenous Territories of Turtle Island”.
The set covered songs from her 2024 album in collaboration with Milton Nascimento, ‘Milton + Esperanza’, as well as other tracks from her back catalogue including ‘Thang’.
The multilingual artist sang in Portuguese, stopping to tell the audience how beautiful the lyrics were. She had said she would translate, then changed her mind heading into the track. What we saw of the set was flawless and on the tails of Knats thoroughly lifted our spirits for the day.
(Jess Kemp)
JALEN NGONDA
NORTH DOWNS STAGE 19:30 – 20:45
“I can’t believe The Temptations and Four Tops are playing today”, Ngonda admits, “They’re the reason I’m on now.” With his brand of nostalgia-baiting R&B, it’s hard to disagree with the statement made midway through his hour and 15-minute set. Everything about Ngonda, from his silk shirts and high-waisted pleats to his arrival on stage while his band is playing, seems like an homage.
From the opening notes of ‘Burning Temptation’, Ngonda’s voice is striking: heavily owed to Motown legends, it sounds exactly the same live. With a recent quote from Rolling Stone, Ngonda claims he “doesn’t listen to any music past 1972” – the forlorn despairing of ‘That’s All I Wanted From You’ with its luscious arrangement confirms this, mastering the art of a bygone era. However, this is arguably the biggest issue – Ngonda has a formula, and refuses to shift from it, and the result is something that’s enthralling for half an hour, but drags slightly at the hour mark.
‘Come Around And Love Me’ in all its Gamble & Huff glory sees Ngonda on keys, and the dancefloor filling up with the dry staccato stabs of guitar locking in with the rhythm section. With his band leaving the stage, Ngonda honours Jimmy Reed with a traditional blues take on ‘Baby What You Want Me To Do’, lending his soulful vocals to the catchy standard – with the tempo firmly in first gear, the doo-wop bob of ‘Good Good Love’ is a pure showcase of Ngonda’s voice.
“I forgot it’s a festival – we need to dance!” Ngonda announces before launching into the Curtis Mayfield-indebted ‘I Need You’, giving the feet a chance to finally move. With the viral funk jangle of ‘If You Don’t Want My Love’ sparking sing-alongs and descending into a full-band jam session, Ngonda states, “I’m sure I’ll be in your algorithm soon.” With a generational voice and an encyclopaedic knowledge of Berry Gordy’s best, Jalen Ngonda is an anemoiac star if slightly too reliant on his nostalgia for the Northern Soul formula to really fill a set over an hour.
(Keir Shields)
THE TEMPTATIONS & THE FOUR TOPS
SOUTH DOWNS STAGE 20:30 – 22:15
Having left South Downs stage briefly as it had seemed that we had plenty of time to return and take up a space. We returned to find the audience spilling out of all four entrances and being directed to head around to the far-right entrances, only to find the entry would be impossible.
Unable initially to get inside the tent ourselves as the queues to get in spilled out either side of the tent at the start of the Four Tops set. Unable to ascertain what was happening visually we were happy enough to sing-along to a medley of Motown classics including, ‘Baby I Need Your Lovin’, ‘Bernadette’, ‘It’s The Same Old Song’, ‘Loco Down In Acapulco’ ‘Reach Out, I’ll Be There’, Standing In The Shadow Of Love’, and ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)’, during which the band let the audience sing the opening bars, as it would have been impossible to be heard of the collective impromptu sing-along.
The set had been programmed as a dual performance from the Motown legends, inferring that their sets would flow into each other. Rather when the Four Tops left the stage it felt distinctly like that’s all we would be getting as the tech crew commenced a change over. A sizeable part of the audience left the tent having made the same assumption as we had leaving to take in other acts. Like everyone else we gave up and headed to the mainstage to catch some of the other headliner.
(Jess Kemp)
LOYLE CARNER
NORTH DOWNS STAGE 21:30 – 22:45
With a crowd rivalling Ezra Collective’s Friday night, Loyle Carner arrives to the youngest audience of the weekend – eschewing the usual post-GCSE Reading festival antics in favour of an East Sussex jazz festival. However, Carner’s loving and emotionally open boom-bap resonates with Gen-Z to a remarkable degree, with cheers ringing out as soon as he steps onto the North Downs stage. However, opener ‘All I Need’ has to be restarted due to someone passing out – in this gap, Carner decides to tell us a poem, possibly teasing new material with the words “Just sink don’t swim/Don’t choke.” Once started again, the sparse guitar chords build into a wall while darting around breakbeat drums, for a slightly downtrodden opening.
“Thank you for checking us out”, Carner states, “I really thought everyone would still be at The Temptations.” While following cut ‘Plastic’ is a baffling choice from such a rich discography, ‘Ain’t Nothing Changed’ brings the energy back with smoky horns, steady boom-bap and the first singalong so far. Dedicated to Tom Misch, the iconic lo-fi vibrato tones of ‘Damselfly’ linger in the air, a warm track that trusts the audience with the chorus in Misch’s absence.
Unafraid of speaking his mind, Carner introduces ‘Horcrux’ with “I love Harry Potter but f*ck JK Rowling” – the scattered rolling groove feels like Carner’s flow is chasing it, with moving lyrics about his love for his kids. Keeping the loving theme, the minimalist, floating ‘Desoleil (Brilliant Corners)’ features Sampha’s pre-recorded chorus, another missed opportunity for a guest.
With another crowd member passing out, Carner urges a packed crowd to drink more water. With the late-night pondering of ‘Homerton’ ending with an atmospheric piano solo, it flows superbly into the gospel-sampled indignance of ‘Nobody Knows (Ladas Road).’ While lacking the fury of prior live renditions, the lyrics retain their power – “You can’t hate the roots of the tree and not hate the tree/ so can I hate my father/ without hating me” cuts even deeper when shouted back to a man that felt these words so deeply. “F*ck Nigel Farage, man”, Carner spits out, purging negativity before the lullaby of ‘Lyin’ – even admitting he’s still uncomfortable singing in front of a crowd.
With lights in the air, Carner seems incredulous that he’s had this effect. With the pre-recorded vocals of Jorja Smith on ‘Loose Ends’ momentarily convincing the crowd she’s appeared, the mood of a Saturday crowd is incredibly pensive. Sensing this, Carner transitions straight into the smooth, 90s hip-hop bounce of ‘Ice Water’ – getting huge cheers and hands in the air.
“As Femi Koleoso says, we’re almost at the top of the mountain”, Carner teases, before launching into a punched-up boom of ‘Speed Of Plight’, sliced only by a siren-like piano loop, as venting lyrics provide a release. ‘About Time’ sees the mood drop slightly into a reflective mode, with bass and drums mixed higher as the crowd sings along to “it’s about time that I learned my lesson.” Dedicated to his “favourite chef”, the breezy organ of ‘Ottolenghi’ lingers in the air as the cameras find Yotam Ottolenghi himself in the photographer’s pit, visibly moved and on the verge of tears as the crowd takes Jordan Rakei’s chorus.
While this would be the perfectly sentimental closer, the dizzying confessional of ‘A Lasting Place’ sees Carner at his most self-flagellating over a looping syncopation of keys and breakbeat hi-hat rhythm; lyrics of “but I don’t wanna be an old man” signal the band to take over, and the field breaks into motion. With such introspective lyrics, the track marks a perfect conclusion for someone who wears his bleeding heart on his sleeve. While slightly hampered by a frustrating lack of guests and a rigid commitment to the same setlist, Carner’s pull and craft at confessionalism is undeniably powerful – even if it makes you want to write a diary entry, not dance.
(Keir Shields)
Author: Nick Linazasoro
Music Editor
