Executive Overview
From September 25 to 27, South Bay’s historic Victorian coastal spa transformed into a vibrant epicenter of modern and classic syncopation for the 23rd annual Scarborough Jazz Festival. Over three action-packed days, the Grand Hall and surrounding venues played host to an eclectic international roster of genre-defying collectives, legendary veterans, and fiery up-and-coming talent.
Marked by sweeping stylistic ranges—from deep-pocket soul-jazz and spiritual modal explorations to avant-garde fusions and grand-scale rock-jazz crossovers—this year’s edition underscored the festival’s enduring reputation as one of the UK’s premier live music celebrations. Despite occasional logistical quirks and last-minute lineup adjustments dictated by illness, the weekend delivered transcendent performances, multiple standing ovations, and a masterclass in improvisational interplay. As early-bird tickets for next year’s installment go on sale, the 2026 festival cements its place as a triumphant weekend for both traditional aficionados and progressive modernists.
Detailed Chronology: A Weekend of Sonic Exploration
Friday: Soul-Jazz Roots, Global Grooves, and Avant-Garde Frontiers
The festival’s Friday morning curtain-raiser in the Grand Hall was handled with aplomb by John Settle’s Vibe-ology. Led by Settle on vibraphone, alongside Al Morrison (guitar), Bob Birch (Hammond organ), and Joe England (drums), the quartet offered a scintillating trip through the soul-jazz sounds of the 1960s. Their energetic set blended swinging cuts like Big John Patton’s Let ’Em Roll, Wes Montgomery’s Jingles and Bock To Bock (the latter featuring Alan Barnes on guest baritone sax), and Lalo Schifrin’s iconic film theme to 1968’s Bullit. Barnes returned to the alto chair for a sublime take on Grant Green’s Jean De Fleur, paving the way for a dynamic, groove-heavy weekend kickoff.
The morning momentum continued with Orchard, a neo-soul octet whose members met at London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music. Channeling the atmospheric, contemporary idioms of Roy Hargrove and Kokoroko, the group showcased promising originals such as Honesty, Moonlight, Fate, and their soon-to-be-released single Towards The Sun. Featuring soulful lead vocals from Evie Hill and a robust horn section, the young collective captivated the Grand Hall crowd.
Afternoon sessions brought emotional resonance with Expansion: McCoy Tyner Project. Stepping in for the ailing Barry Green was 21-year-old piano prodigy Thomas Sladden, one of Green’s most promising students. Backed by Gareth Lockrane (flute), Femke Mooren (alto sax), Oli Hayhurst (bass), and Darren Beckett (drums), Sladden delivered an engrossing, mature performance of seldom-heard Tyner compositions—including Utopia, Three Flowers, Search For Peace, and a powerful closing rendition of Inception.
As evening fell, Shirley Smart’s Sextet returned to the festival following their acclaimed 2025 appearance. Smart’s compositions, heavily influenced by her pedagogical tenure in Ramallah and her immersion in Middle Eastern musical traditions, offered a magnetic start to the night. Highlights included Saba, the Hebrew-titled sunrise meditation Zricha, an Algerian street rhythm learned on the road, and Midak Alley, inspired by Naguib Mahfouz’s classic Cairo-set novel.
The evening also presented moments of visual frustration for audiences. David Newton’s Trio—featuring Andy Cleyndert on double bass and Steve Brown on drums—delivered relaxing, seamlessly woven music, but the choice to place the Bösendorfer grand piano end-on between the musicians and the audience completely obscured the pianist from view. A similar staging issue affected the late-night appearance of the London-based Levitation Orchestra. Despite an intriguing blueprint blending influences from Alice Coltrane to Stravinsky, the collective’s sprawling performance felt overly theatrical, characterized by stage wandering and contrived interactions that detracted from the music itself.
Saturday: Hard-Bop, Rock Fusions, and Big Band Powerhouses
Saturday morning shifted gears toward straight-ahead mastery as jazz violinist Benet McLean and his quintet took the stage. Featuring a fresh lineup with Liam Dunachie (piano), Ben Treacher (tenor sax), Wayne Matthews (fretless bass), and Gwilym Jones (drums), McLean bridged historical nods with modern flair. Notable moments included Archway (inspired by a 1980s London police siren), a stirring tribute to Tubby Hayes on Young And Foolish, and a hard-bop finale on Jackie McLean and Freddie Redd’s O.D., which featured a fiery guest spot from Alan Barnes.
Barnes remained on stage for the subsequent set, joining vocalist Brigitte Beraha and pianist David Newton (substituting once again for Barry Green). Their performance was an emotional tour de force, journeying from Tom Jobim’s Wave and Irving Berlin’s droll The Best Thing For You to deeply moving renditions of Duke Ellington’s Solitude and Jobim’s Falando De Amor. Beraha’s delivery of the sweetly tragic I Walk A Little Faster earned an emotional response from the audience, culminating in a well-deserved standing ovation.
Not every afternoon set went smoothly; tenor saxophonist Xhosa Cole faced an uphill battle when illness sidelined his pianist, Pat Thomas. Playing without a chordal instrument and suffering from jetlag after a red-eye flight from Scotland, Cole’s reading of Thelonious Monk compositions felt uncharacteristically sparse, highlighting the fragile reliance of modern jazz on complete, cohesive instrumentation.
Saturday evening exploded into high-voltage energy with Dark Side Of The Big Band: Pink Floyd Re-Worked. Co-led by guitarist Mark Roadnight and trumpeter Mark Armstrong, the ensemble merged a roaring big band with an electric rock outfit to reimagine Pink Floyd’s iconic 1973 album. Roadnight handled Roger Waters’ vocal duties with gritty authority, supported by spot-on backing vocalists Sammy Mayne and Rebecca Grayson in a thunderous performance that brought the house down.
Following this, the Rory Ingham Trombone Assembly delivered a masterclass in brass arrangement. Backed by a rhythm section featuring Liam Dunachie, Sam Quintana, and Kai MacRae, Ingham’s elite team of trombonists—including Mark Nightingale, Trevor Mires, Kieran McLoud, and bass trombonist Andy Wood—tackled complex arrangements like Sonny Stitt’s Eternal Triangle and a breakneck cover of Clark Terry’s Tee Pee Time.
Saturday night closed with a transcendent set by festival stalwarts Soft Machine. Featuring John Etheridge (guitar), Theo Travis (sax/flute/keys), Fred T. Baker (bass), and Asaf Sirkis (drums), the legendary progressive-jazz outfit treated the late-night crowd to cuts spanning their illustrious five-decade history, including material from their latest album, Thirteen, alongside older classics like Out-Bloody-Rageous and Joy Of A Toy. Etheridge’s reflective stage banter regarding his 51-year tenure in the band added a poignant, historic weight to another crowd-pleasing standing ovation.
Sunday: Grooves, Harps, and Vocal Dialogues
Sunday introduced eclectic rhythmic textures, starting with Bryan Corbett’s Instrumental Groove Unit. Leaning heavily into jazz-funk rather than conventional swing, Corbett (trumpet/flugelhorn), Paul Deats (Fender Rhodes), Wayne Matthews (six-string bass), and Luke Harris (drums) showcased tightly wound originals from their latest album, including the title track IGU and Aloelina, named after the aloe vera plant.
The afternoon soared to spiritual heights with leading harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and her HipHarp Collective, featuring the incomparable Tony Kofi on saxes and flute. Traversing the mystical landscapes of John Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, and Alice Coltrane, the collective transformed the Grand Hall into a sanctuary of collective joy. Bzhezhinska’s effortless crowd engagement even coaxed festival-goers into clapping along and dancing in the aisles.
Vocal pairings took center stage later in the day with Ian Shaw and Liane Carroll. While their vocal and piano artistry remained unimpeachable, recurring staging choices—specifically positioning the grand piano end-on and having vocalists walk off stage when not performing—left parts of the audience feeling disconnected from the performance.
The final official evening showcase belonged to the American 3D Jazz Trio. Pianist Jackie Warren, bassist Amy Shook, and drummer Sherry Maricle brought infectious good humor and swinging mastery to the stage, moving effortlessly from jazz standards to Shook’s original Song For The Man In The Moon, Warren’s feline-inspired BT, and a celebratory jazz tribute to Dolly Parton with 9 to 5.
Supporting Context & Metrics
The 23rd Scarborough Jazz Festival once again demonstrated its economic and cultural vitality within North Yorkshire’s coastal arts landscape:
- Duration: 3 intensive days of scheduled programming across 25–27 September.
- Venues Utilized: The primary Grand Hall, the scenic Sun Court for educational outreach, and the intimate Jazz Lounge for fringe sessions.
- Fringe Integration: 12 regular interval performances by the Al Morrison Trio, dual Carioca Soul sessions, and recurring showcases by the Tony Kofi Quartet ensured non-stop live music across the spa complex.
- Attendance Metrics: Strong weekend pass sales, matching or exceeding previous post-pandemic recovery benchmarks, with strong early-bird interest reported for the 2027 edition.
Official Statements and Festival Outlook
Reflecting on the success of the weekend, festival organizers emphasized the community-driven ethos that continues to define Scarborough’s enduring appeal:
"The Scarborough Jazz Festival has always thrived on the delicate balance between historical reverence and forward-thinking exploration. Seeing veteran masters share stages with the next generation of Guildhall and conservatory graduates this weekend proves that the genre’s future is in exceptional hands. Despite logistical hurdles, the sheer warmth and engagement of our audiences validate why this coastal spa remains a spiritual home for live jazz in the UK."
With early-bird weekend tickets for the 2027 festival already on sale through January via the official Scarborough Spa portal (www.scarboroughspa.co.uk), planners are already laying the groundwork for the 24th edition. As the coastal winds sweep over South Bay, the legacy of this year’s sonic triumphs—from the deep-soul workouts of Vibe-ology to the astral harmonies of the HipHarp Collective—will resonate within the Victorian spa walls for months to come.
