We entered with Natalie Williams’ Gospel soul wafting over the main stage, a long-standing Love Supreme Sunday tradition, then headed to the Supreme Standards stage.
James Emmanuel’s five-piece band played a laid-back, soulful groove, with the Nigerian-born and Edinburgh-based vocalist’s distinctive voice singing offstage before he appeared in a vest and shorts, talking about inner strength and busking in his hometown. When he let rip there was a touch of Tom Jones and Solomon Burke in his powerful range. The set had a 70s feel that showed off his falsetto and highlighted the beautiful backing vocals from his band.
Young Gun Silver Fox’s set was an absolute joy of soulful AOR/soft rock in the best Doobie Brothers tradition, with producer and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee on guitar and Mama’s Gun’s Andy Platts on keys, both doing their best Michael MacDonald. Soft keys, guitar and sweet West Coast harmonies with falsetto highs featured throughout, with Lenny and Stevie and Sly really hitting the spot. This was a lovely laidback treat of an afternoon set, like a musical comfort blanket, that I’d have gladly listened to all day; an hour of partying like it was 1975 on a yacht moored off Santa Monica Beach.
In keeping with the Sunday vibe, Cartoons played a fairly mellow set with great musicianship featuring solid drums and imaginative keyboards over funky basslines with sweet vocals and raps that sat perfectly with the dreamy backing.
On the main stage, husband and wife duo The War and Treaty from Nashville came on to a spoken word introduction that stated: “This is the story of Michael and Tanya”. With Michael on keys, they are both in fine voice and delivered a set of soul stompers in the vein of classic Stax duets (like William Bell & Carla Thomas) impressively backed by Memphis Horns-style punchy brass. They danced and sang together, he playing with her tasseled outfit, and after a gentle start, they got the party started with an enthusiastic arena crowd behind them all the way.
Like many other savvy fans, we arrived early for Samara Joy and listened to her polished 7-piece band warming up. It was a surprise that, at only 26 and already possibly the greatest living jazz singer in the world, she wouldn’t be on the main stage, but maybe the large indoor stage was more intimate and closer to a nightclub feel. With the packed tent brimming with anticipation and dead on showtime, the band, who all looked no older than Joy, struck up, and there were huge cheers as Samara took the stage. She began with Beware My Heart that she learned from Betty Carter’s version. As soon as she opened her mouth, it was clear this was going to be special. A long-held note that ascended to Ella highs was rapturously cheered, leading into sax and trumpet solos that let the band stretch out as Samara watched on in admiration before returning with high altitude scatting. The excellent arrangement was by trumpeter Jason Charos. After one song, it was clear we were in the presence of greatness. She sang her own lyrics to Billy Strayhorn’s U.M.M.G. with the slow introduction drawing comparisons to some of the many legends she admires, from Sarah Vaughan to Ella Fitzgerald, before an explosion that took us into swinging Big Band territory.
She was generous in giving all band members plenty of solo time, ensuring to applaud and credit each of them as the crowd cheered. A cover of Djavan’s Flor de Lis featured Brazilian rhythms with fine accompaniment from the soloists, most notably Charos on flugelhorn and pianist Connor Rohrer, with Samara taking off on ever more adventurous flights of fancy. Things sped up with The Little Things That Mean So Much, learned from Carmen McRae, with vocal pyrotechnics and thrilling solos from drums and Kendrick MacAllister on tenor sax. On I Got It Bad & That Ain’t Good, Samara gave the ballad the fully rounded Sarah Vaughan treatment from her stool, in an unusual, slow march arrangement that ended with another exceptional vocal. There really aren’t enough superlatives to describe her greatness on what, in my opinion, was the finest performance ever given in the history of the Love Supreme Festival.
Sister Sledge sounded great in the distance, with each family member getting their own chance to shine on covers of The Jacksons and Aretha. Of course, the classics were all crowd pleasers, as who could resist hearing He’s The Greatest Dancer, Lost In Music and Thinking Of You live on a beautiful day.
After Samara Joy’s spectacular performance, what could top it but more Samara in an intimate setting? Joined only by pianist Connor Rohrer and Marty Jaffa on double bass, she shared that she was singing along to We Are Family before taking the stage to a lucky couple of hundred fans in the North Supremium area. She admitted to being more nervous in front of this tiny and up-close audience, but gave an astonishing performance with Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry, again learned from Carmen McRae, a high velocity take on But Not For Me and a final blues number that cheekily dipped into Ella Fitzgerald’s improvised line “If you don’t like my peaches, baby, why do you shake my tree? The performance may have been short, but it was one that the people in attendance will never forget. Ever the professional, Ms Joy was happy to hang around and chat with fans, old and new, afterwards.
There was a fine jazz set from Joe Lovano with an excellent trio, introduced with the tenor saxophonist playing a shell shaker to ease into a deep cut with piano taking a bold, exhilarating solo that kept building with skilful uptempo support from double bass and drums while Lovano watched on approvingly from the back of the stage. He returned to solo with elements of Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders, niftily slipping in a few bars of Bye Bye Blackbird, followed by a drum solo worthy of Art Blakey with great use of cymbals, while the bass player, like many this weekend, gave a nod to A Love Supreme, as did the leader in the final piece. His lovely, soft, subtle tone shone through on the ballads, with gentle piano, bass, and drums to match. There were shades of Senor Blues from the pianist before he took off on an intricate solo, again in the Horace Silver-driven, percussive style, with Lovano returning with upper register highs and squeaks. A class act.
Gabrielle pulled a large crowd and, as we passed, she was singing Whitney’s I Want To Dance With Somebody and Luther’s Never Too Much to a great reception, with the crowd spilling outside the tent and singing along.
De La Soul’s Maseo warmed up the crowd and introduced Posdnuos, looking remarkably youthful, who came out rapping, dressed in leopard print jacket and shorts, firing up the still too quiet crowd. There was a big shout-out to the kids in attendance, with a warning of curse words to come, and Pos limiting himself to two curse words (he soon failed miserably). Eye Know featured live scratching and showcased the full live band, with the audience eating out of their hand from the get-go. Pos and Maseo, divided the crowd in half, choosing sides to play off against each other and playfully booing the O2 priority platform people, who towered over the main stage area.
Mixing Maseo’s turntables with the original samples played live worked superbly well on a setlist pulled from their near 40 year career. Me Myself and I lifted the party to a new level, another call and response pitting each side against the other. Pos actually sang confidently on a Love and Happiness cover, despite claiming “I don’t know how to sing!“. We learned that Pos has no vices, aside from collecting Spider-Man comics in foreign languages, before delivering the irresistible dancer, A Roller Skating Jam Named “Saturdays”. The sax intro to Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) received cheers then it was hands in the air, singing along and dancing as the horns and the rest of the band had a chance to shine, with both rappers clearly having as much fun as the audience. They finished abruptly at the curfew time, with the shouts for an encore proving fruitless.
As with Loyle Carner, this wasn’t jazz but a perfect headline act to send people home happy with a smile on their faces and earworms to deal with. The final day felt a slower pace, but that wasn’t reflected in the talent on offer or the exuberance of the festival goers. Overall, across the three full days, this felt like the biggest and best Love Supreme yet. Let’s hope there are even bigger thrills in store next year.
Love Supreme Festival, Sunday 5th July 2026
Glynde Place, East Sussex.
Pit photos by Fran Moore.
Super Early Bird Tickets for the 2027 festival will be available from 9:30am on Friday 10th July from lovesupremefestival.com
