This year’s Love Supreme Jazz Festival, the twelfth, saw over 60,000 people head to Glynde Place, East Sussex this weekend, as Ezra Collective, Loyle Carner and De La Soul headlined one of the festival’s biggest and most ambitious editions to date. Europe’s largest outdoor jazz festival always includes big names from the jazz world plus leading stars of soul, hip-hop and R&B and this year was no exception.
Friday night saw BRIT Award and Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective return to headline the festival exactly ten years after making their Love Supreme debut, where they were given the unique task of curating the first full day of programming on a Friday, presented under the Temple Of Joy banner, and delivered one of the weekend’s defining performances.
A gorgeous sunny day welcomed the people arriving at Glynde Place and it was straight down to business with a large queue for an Ezra Collective record signing followed by young band Beluga warming up the crowd willing to sit in the hot sun. Fronted by singer and bass player Louis Gascoyne, they paid tribute to Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in a Level 42 funk style which got people on their feet to kick off the festival in style.
Amanda (Yohannes) flexed her strong soulful voice crossing between old school and nu soul. A superb new talent with a super tight band, M J Cole’s Crazy Love garage cover was as bouncy as Amanda was playful with the crowd and her set ended with a song she co-wrote with Ezra Collective’s Femi Koleoso, with many people singing along. Definitely one to watch.
There was a full house for Ezra Collective’s Femi and James interview with The Guardian’s global music critic Ammar Kalia. They recalled the foundation of the band fourteen years ago and how each live show makes them stronger and the drive to make music to light up dance floors. They spoke of how they chose the artists for their day and bigged up Amanda’s performance. Femi highlighted the fight to keep local community centres open and to utilise underused public spaces and both spoke with great passion about the diversity and harmony of their fans, Femi comparing it to being a proud Arsenal fan. He also told a great story of studying under ‘uncle’ Tony Allen and how this changed his perspective of jazz to become more appreciative of different music styles and a hilarious tale of going to Paris on a megabus for his first lesson with the drum master.
Luke Bacchus’s set combined elements of hard bop, modal jazz, reggae and dub, with the leader aggressively pounding the piano keys as drums and double bass propelled each piece. There were big cheers when steel pan player Marlon Hibbert joined, softly accompanied by Bacchus, before the band ramped up the tempo and ferocity for an exuberant finale of original Parakeet. They ended with A Dub Supreme, a truly original take on the Coltrane classic.
LULU. opened the main stage and drew a large crowd while other punters sauntered around the site getting food and drinks. Another young soul voice to look out for, she’s already opened for last year’s headliner Olivia Dean. A cover of Bob Marley’s Is This Love was a perfect sunshine anthem that everyone got behind.
Annie & The Caldwells brought powerful gospel and Southern Soul grooves to Glynde. After a short funky warm up from the band, The Caldwells appeared; their powerful voices filling the Supremium tent before Annie entered stage left and took her place on a piano stool stage centre, her voice soaring above her family band mates on opener I Made It with its infectious ‘Pick Your Feet Up Off The Floor’ refrain, with the backing singers dancing around her. There was funky testifying on Answer Me and Annie’s husband Willie Joe Snr’s guitar kicked things up a gear with a wah-wah solo on a song that stretched to over ten minutes without outstaying its welcome. Daughters Deborah and Anjessica worked the whole stage, filling the arena with majestic voices on a spiritually uplifting set that proved the devil doesn’t have all the best songs.
Over on the Bands and Voices stage alternating musicians kept the momentum going, including Imaginary Millions, a wonderful spoken word piece from Miss Yankee. Guvna B brought a tight band to perform his rhymes with and it was hands in the air from the off. He spoke of unity and redemption and seemed genuinely surprised by the turn out for his first Love Supreme appearance. The band struck up with Bill Withers’ Lovely Day chorus sung by a female vocalist while he rapped over the much-loved melody.
Moses Boyd’s trio of vocalists made his set soulful while his four bandmates on keys, guitar, bass and tenor sax ensured the music remained rooted in the jazz realm, There’s More To Life Than This being an excellent example. Halfway through the set Moses played a dazzling solo that earned well deserved whoops and cheers before locking into a solid groove, joined by bass, guitar, keys (fresh from Kokoroko’s main stage set) and sax. New piece It’s Gonna Be Alright confirmed he’s moving in a more jazz funk/soul direction with his drumming still powerful but never overwhelming. They chose Rye Lane Shuffle, a fast and furious jet-propelled, killer piece, worthy of a Dingwall’s Sunday session, to end on.
Durand Bernarr was in full flow on the main North Downs stage, sashaying and high kicking across the stage, hitting falsetto highs and deep bass lows as his three piece band knocked out some funky modern R&B grooves. A definite crowd pleaser, holding court, sat on the front of the stage, asking everyone to check in on the person next to them. With a sultry swagger, a mischievous look in his eye and a sweet voice, he perfectly complemented the summer vibes he and the band were giving out.
On the South Downs stage, Alexandria (“call me Alex”) Isley continued the family business (her dad is Ernie of the Isley Brothers). She’s got great pipes and the large crowd lapped up every second of her nu soul/R&B set, one highlight being when she showcased her wide vocal range on a tender duet with her guitarist.
The North Downs arena was heaving long before Ezra Collective took to the stage. A big surge occurred when they appeared with Femi kicking off on his Ludwig drum kit, with the horns blasting out and Joe Armon Jones working his magic on the Fender Rhodes. Femi moved to the front to ask “are there any dancers here?” before an extended workout with bass and drums driving the rhythm with Joe’s fingers a blur, followed by blasting sax and trumpet. Next up they locked into a deep reggae groove, which seemed appropriate given the pungent weed aroma that wafted throughout the stage area. The interaction between the musicians seemed almost telepathic with each soaring on their solos and making full use of the stage. Femi took a solo to introduce one number that took off and got the whole arena jumping, returning to solo spectacularly midway through on a track that channelled Pigbag. Femi bigged up Brighton’s New Generation Jazz organisation for their excellent work and for giving the band early exposure at the festival. This triumphant set proved they are the rock stars of the jazz world and always bring the party, but as always acknowledging the people that helped them along the way. The first fully programmed Friday was a resounding success, with diverse, class acts and well attended so hopefully the organisers will carry this forward to future years with other artists curating and headlining.
Love Supreme Festival, 3rd – 5th July 2026
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