A Symphony by the Sea: Inside the 23rd Annual Scarborough Jazz Festival

Executive Overview

From September 25 to 27, South Bay’s historic Victorian coastal spa transformed once again into a vibrant crucible of syncopation, improvisation, and sonic exploration for the 23rd edition of the Scarborough Jazz Festival. Over three action-packed days, the Grand Hall and surrounding venues played host to an international roster of virtuosos, boundary-pushing collectives, and legendary veterans. From soulful 1960s retrospectives and contemporary neo-soul innovations to ambitious rock-jazz crossovers and avant-garde harp excursions, the festival firmly cemented its reputation as a cornerstone of the British jazz calendar.

Despite inevitable last-minute lineup shuffles caused by sudden illnesses, the festival showcased the resilience and adaptability of the modern jazz community. Emerging talents stepped seamlessly into the shoes of established masters, while legendary ensembles delivered career-defining sets that earned rapturous standing ovations. Blending coastal charm with world-class musicianship, the 2026 installment proved that jazz in the UK remains as vital, diverse, and fiercely inventive as ever.

Detailed Chronology: A Weekend of Sonic Masterpieces

Friday: Setting the Scene in the Grand Hall

The festival burst into life on Friday morning with John Settle’s Vibe-ology, an ensemble designed to transport listeners straight to the golden age of soul-jazz. Anchored by Settle on the vibraphone, alongside Al Morrison (guitar), Bob Birch (Hammond organ), and Joe England (drums), the group delivered a scintillating repertoire. Highlights included driving interpretations of Big John Patton’s Let ’Em Roll, Wes Montgomery’s Jingles, and Lalo Schifrin’s iconic theme to the 1968 film Bullitt. The energy spiked further when woodwind maestro Alan Barnes stepped in as a special guest, handling baritone saxophone duties on Buddy Montgomery’s Bock To Bock and alto saxophone on Grant Green’s Jean De Fleur. Seamlessly weaving through Billy May’s Somewhere In The Night and concluding with Marcos Valle’s Batucada, Vibe-ology established a high-water mark for the weekend’s opening hours.

As the afternoon unfolded, the festival’s eye toward the future came into sharp focus with Orchard. This recently formed neo-soul octet, whose members crossed paths at London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music, drew heavy inspiration from luminaries like Roy Hargrove and Kokoroko. Fronted by vocalist Evie Hill—backed by Jemima Whyte (alto sax), Matt Hill (trumpet), Cat Eden (trombone), Calum Harrison (guitar), Diarra Walcott-Ivanhoe (piano), Joe Orme (bass), and Lewis Kentaro (drums)—Orchard captivated the Grand Hall with a suite of original compositions. Tracks such as Honesty, Moonlight, Everything Is Possible, Fate, and their forthcoming single Towards The Sun resonated deeply with the audience, signaling a bright future for Britain’s young jazz vanguard.

Friday afternoon also required nimble adaptation. With pianist Barry Green sidelined by a recent illness, 21-year-old Thomas Sladden—one of Green’s most promising students—stepped up with remarkable poise to front Expansion: McCoy Tyner Project. Joined by Gareth Lockrane (flute), Femke Mooren (alto sax), Oli Hayhurst (bass), and Darren Beckett (drums), Sladden navigated a formidable set of rarely aired McCoy Tyner compositions. Masterpieces like Utopia, Three Flowers, and Search For Peace (from Tyner’s 1967 landmark album The Real McCoy) were rendered with profound respect and technical acuity, culminating in a powerful reading of Tyner’s Inception and Geri Allen’s Unconditional Love.

The festival’s Friday evening programme opened with the return of Shirley Smart’s Sextet, building on the widespread acclaim of their 2025 appearance. Drawing from her deep well of multicultural experiences—performing Arabic and North African music and teaching cello at the conservatory in Ramallah—Smart led Alistair Martin (trumpet), James Arben (saxes and flute), John Crawford (piano), Marcus Penrose bass, and Demi Garcia Sabat (drums) through a magnetic set. Highlights included Saba (translating to Good Morning or Desert Wind), the Hebrew-titled Zricha (Sunrise), and Midak Alley, a piece inspired by Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo-set novel exploring the tensions between modernism and nostalgia.

Contrasting sharply in presentation was David Newton’s Trio, featuring Andy Cleyndert on double bass and Steve Brown on drums. While the music radiated a relaxed, effortless warmth, the performance sparked mild visual frustration among patrons. Newton elected to place the Bösendorfer grand piano end-on between himself and the audience, effectively rendering the pianist entirely invisible for the duration of the set. With no spoken introductions and continuous, unbroken transitions, the performance felt less like a live concert and more like an invisible soundtrack accompanying a rhythm section.

Friday night closed with the London-based Levitation Orchestra. Hailed in publicity materials as a "genre-defying" and "visionary artistic collective" drawing inspirations from Alice Coltrane and Sun Ra to Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel, the ensemble’s late-night slot proved polarizing. For some ears, the performance tilted toward the overly abstract and tuneless, while restless stage movement and intermittent chatter among band members while others soloed detracted from the musical cohesion.

Saturday: Evolution, Big Bands, and Psychedelic Fusion

Saturday morning welcomed jazz violinist Benet McLean and his newly configured quintet. Retaining pianist Liam Dunachie, the lineup now featured Ben Treacher (tenor sax), Wayne Matthews (fretless bass), and Gwilym Jones (drums). Opening with Archway—inspired by a London police siren from the 1980s—the group showcased supreme versatility through Stan Kenton’s Artistry In Rhythm and a sublime reading of Tubby Hayes’ arrangement of Young And Foolish. A playful nod to a friend named Ray birthed Ray’nd Midnight, before Alan Barnes returned as a guest soloist to ignite a blistering hard-bop finale on Jackie McLean and Freddie Redd’s O.D.

Barnes immediately returned to the stage alongside vocalist Brigitte Beraha and pianist Dave Newton for an emotionally resonant morning session. Drawing heavily from their recent collaborative album Tea For Three, the trio moved effortlessly from Tea For Two to Tom Jobim’s bossa nova standard Wave and Beraha’s original setting of a Tennessee Williams poem, We Have Not Long To Love. Beraha’s delivery of I Walk A Little Faster—a poignant meditation on enduring hope amid repeated disappointment—alongside French renderings of Autumn Leaves and Duke Ellington’s Solitude, earned the ensemble a richly deserved standing ovation.

The afternoon brought a momentary lull with tenor saxophonist Xhosa Cole, who appeared alongside Calum Gourley (double bass) and Tim Giles (drums) after pianist Pat Thomas fell ill. Stripped of a chordal instrument and suffering from travel fatigue after an overnight flight from Scotland, Cole’s reimagining of Thelonious Monk tunes felt occasionally hollow, leaving the Grand Hall audience wanting for the customary fluidity of his usual performances.

However, the energy surged dramatically on Saturday evening with Dark Side Of The Big Band: Pink Floyd Re-Worked. Co-led by guitarist Mark Roadnight and trumpeter Mark Armstrong, this colossal outfit married a high-octane electric rock band with a thunderous big band. Tackling Pink Floyd’s seminal 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon, the ensemble delivered staggering renditions of Time, The Great Gig In The Sky, Money, and Us And Them, alongside a reworked fusion track Run, Run, Run. Roadnight channeled Roger Waters with a ferocious rock vocal style, brilliantly complemented by backing vocalists Sammy Mayne and Rebecca Grayson in a performance that brought the house down.

Following a brilliant precursor set by the Trombone Assembly—led by Rory Ingham alongside an all-star brass brigade featuring Mark Nightingale, Trevor Mires, Kieran McLoud, and Andy Wood—Saturday night reached its zenith with Soft Machine. Celebrating over half a century of musical evolution, the legendary fusion pioneers featured guitarist John Etheridge (who humorously noted he joined the band 51 years ago), Theo Travis (sax, flute, keys), Fred T. Baker (bass), and Asaf Sirkis (drums). Weaving through classic cuts like Out-Bloody-Rageous (1970) and Joy Of A Toy (1968) alongside newer material from their album Thirteen, Soft Machine delivered a masterclass in progressive jazz-rock that commanded a rapturous standing ovation.

Sunday: Grooves, Harps, and Grand Finales

Sunday’s proceedings kicked off with trumpet and flugelhorn virtuoso Bryan Corbett and his Instrumental Groove Unit. Accompanied by Paul Deats (Fender Rhodes), Wayne Matthews (six-string fretless bass), and Luke Harris (drums, Corbett confessed that 95% of their set comprised original compositions designed to test their improvisational mettle. Leaning heavily into jazz-funk rather than traditional swing, numbers from their new album—including the title track IGU, Rubicon, Different Species, and Aloelina (named after the aloe vera plant)—proved that the band dug themselves out of every musical hole with style and precision.

The afternoon momentum continued with visionary harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and her HipHarp Collective, featuring the peerless Tony Kofi on saxes and flute, Menelik Claffey (double bass), Matthew Holmes (drums), and Joel Prime (percussion). Blending spiritual jazz traditions, the ensemble delivered sweeping interpretations of John Coltrane’s Alabama, Dorothy Ashby’s Soul Vibration, and Alice Coltrane’s Los Caballos. Bzhezhinska’s effortless stagecraft reached its peak when she coaxed the audience into communal hand-clapping and aisle-dancing during an unreleased preview track from their forthcoming album.

Curiously, visual staging issues resurfaced during the subsequent set by Ian Shaw and Liane Carroll. With the grand piano once again oriented end-on to the audience, and the vocalists retreating into the shadows whenever their counterpart took the keyboard, both performers were effectively rendered invisible to large portions of the hall—prompting wry complaints from attendees who noted they had purchased tickets for a live performance, not a television broadcast.

The festival’s grand finale in the Grand Hall came courtesy of the American 3D Jazz Trio. Comprising Jackie Warren (piano), Amy Shook (double bass), and Sherry Maricle (drums), the trio infused the room with infectious enthusiasm, masterful technique, and delightful humor. Traversing jazz standards like Alice In Wonderland and Midnight Sun alongside original compositions—including Shook’s Song For The Man In The Moon and Warren’s feline-inspired BT—the trio closed their triumphant set with a jubilant, swinging tribute to Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.

Supporting Context & Metrics

The 2026 edition underscored the festival’s enduring economic and cultural importance to North Yorkshire. Beyond the main stage performances in the Grand Hall, the fringe events—including two Carioca Soul sessions, intimate sets by the Tony Kofi Quartet in the Spa’s Jazz Lounge, and ongoing musical interludes by the Al Morrison Trio during all 12 weekend stage changeovers—ensured that music echoed continuously across the complex.

Official Statements and Industry Reception

Reflecting on the success of the 23rd festival, organizers emphasized the event’s commitment to balancing heritage jazz with forward-looking experimentation. Despite the logistical hurdles posed by sudden health-related cancellations—such as the last-minute replacements for Barry Green and Pat Thomas—the festival administration praised the flexibility of the artistic community.

"Jazz is, at its core, an art form rooted in spontaneous problem-solving and collective empathy," noted one festival representative in a post-weekend statement. "When key artists fell ill, our younger generation and guest artists stepped forward without hesitation, proving that the lineage of this music is in extraordinarily safe hands."

Audience feedback underscored the triumph of boundary-pushing crossovers, such as Dark Side Of The Big Band and Soft Machine, while re-affirming the deep emotional resonance of vocal-led masterclasses like those of Brigitte Beraha and Alan Barnes.

Future Outlook: Looking Ahead to 2024 and Beyond

As the final notes of the 3D Jazz Trio faded across the South Bay, thoughts immediately turned toward the future of the institution. The Scarborough Jazz Festival has long functioned as a vital cultural nexus, bridging generational divides within the genre and offering a coastal haven for cognoscenti and casual listeners alike.

With early bird weekend passes for the 24th edition already on sale through January, organizers are turning their sights toward expanding international partnerships, broadening educational outreach initiatives (such as those observed with school bands in the Spa’s Sun Court), and refining stage production layouts to ensure optimal sightlines for all ticket holders.

For jazz aficionados wishing to secure their place at next September’s gathering, bookings and further institutional updates remain accessible via the official portal at www.scarboroughspa.co.uk. As the 2026 festival proved conclusively, Scarborough remains one of the crown jewels of the European jazz landscape—a place where history, innovation, and community meet by the sea.