Love Supreme Jazz Festival Report by Hilary Seabrook

The Love Supreme Festival was first held in 2013. The brainchild of record executive, Circo Romano, it is held annually over the first weekend in July and has established itself as one of the world’s premier jazz festivals. In this report, The Riff’s Associate Editor, Hilary Seabrook, reviews the highlights of Saturday’s performances.

Love Supreme: Saturday 

Wandering between marquees in the shadow of Glynde Place brings a real sense of joy, as each stage offers up its own musical delights. Love Supreme never disappoints and 2024 was certainly one of the finest selections of jazz artists – of every sub-genre imaginable.

Sitting in the heart of the UK’s South Downs, the Glynde Estate seems to have its very own climate, so Saturday 5 July was sunnier than most of the UK, albeit so windy that a few of the marquees had to close and schedules were rapidly rearranged.

For over a decade, Love Supreme has prided itself on being the largest greenfield jazz festival in the UK, with everything from funk, soul, blues and hip-hop to swing, bebop and free jazz.

I missed Friday’s outings from Meshell Ndegeocello and Mahalia in conversation with Jazz FM’s Tony Minvielle. But Saturday had more than enough on offer – my day began with Joel Culpepper (and a guest appearance from Tom Misch) on the main North Downs Stage and ended with a laid-back performance from Dionne Warwick in the smaller South Downs Stage. They could not have been more different, and yet both artists delighted the huge crowds and together encompassed the huge range of music that comes under the umbrella of jazz.

One of my newest discoveries of this year’s festival was incredible guitarist and singer Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram who warmed the North Downs Stage audience up nicely for Sananda Maitreya (formerly Terence Trent D’Arby). The former was an unknown delight for most of us, with original and engaging songs and blazing solos – some played with his teeth a la Jimi Hendrix. His band was as amazing as that behind Maitreya, who had an equally engaging set of originals, alongside some of his classics from the late 1980s.

Saturday afternoon and evening included brilliant sets from Trombone Shorty and then Olivia Dean on the main stage and Fergus McCreadie in the more intimate Supreme Standards marquee.

But for me, the two sets that absolutely blew my Saturday away were from Billy Cobham and Dionne Warwick.

Billy Cobham brought a stellar band that included Brazilian percussionist Marco Lobo, the UK pianist Gary Husband and Swedish sax genius (on tenor sax and NuRAD) Bjorn Arko. I had to pinch myself – Cobham himself has played with everyone from Horace Silver and Miles Davis to the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Lobo has appeared with similarly notable bands, including Gilberto Gil and on Marcus Miller’s ‘Afrodeezia’: Husband is equally adept on drums as on keyboards and has worked with the Syd Lawrence Orchestra, Level 42 and John McLaughlin. The ‘Spectrum 50’ band is really extraordinary and kept the whole audience stood transfixed for a whole set.

The final set choice for Saturday evening was Olivia Dean or Dionne Warwick and I opted for a bit of old-school R&B/soul. Despite a voice ravaged by years of smoking, the 83-year-old put on a great show, bolstered by her son David Elliott, who is something of a singer-songwriter with his own career. It was a joyous end to the day, largely thanks to an audience who knew all the words to an era-defining setlist. Warwick and Cobham both proved that age is no barrier to entertaining a crowd.

Hilary Seabrook