Ipswich Jazz Festival decided to combine their efforts with free Global Rhythm Festival for 2022 and what a brilliant decision it was!
This free festival at Christchurch Park was across five stages with a total of 34 bands featuring blues, jazz, world and Caribbean music – a phenomenal variety of some incredible music.
Photos: Cameron Grant:
On the blues stage, there were acts which moved the soul from solo acts such as Sean Taylor to bands getting the crowd going, such as The Cadillac Kings, Ma Bessie and her Blues Troupe, Paul Lamb and the King Snakes. It was a difficult stage to move away from as each act kept you wanting more.
The Jazz stage was in the quieter corner and the jazz which was flowing through the trees was sublime and how wonderful to see young musicians playing this genre. All female group Jazz Ambassadors showed why they have their name, Laura Jurd’s Dinosaur was as silky as anything and BBC Young Jazz Musician of the year Xhosa Cole caused a buzz of excitement through the crowd.
The Martin Burley Peppery Stage was filled with delightful foot tapping global rhythms from Cajun music, dhol beats and funky horns from the Bollywood Brass Band, the rhythms of the Sabar drums from Gambia and Senegal incorporating electronic music and Wolof dance from Fofoulah and plenty of Caribbean funk, groove and African beats.
The Bowl Stage had RnB, DJ sets, rap and reggae and the energy which was coming from this stage had people dancing and joining in.
The Hive Global Village Stage was filled with amazing variety and Global Rhythm Workshops were held on site which included lots of drums for the crowd to play. As well as the broadness of the music there was a funfair on site, plenty of clean toilets dotted about the site, craft stands, loads of things for the kids to do and a huge variety of food stands to tickle the taste buds.
The crowd was mutli-cultural, multi ages, multi abilities and they were all smiling, having a great time. It was a fantastic day to showcase what cultural variety there is in the region.
Let’s hope they continue to combine these two festivals as it was an utter joy to be there.
This review appeared on GrapevineLIVE
Main Photo Credit to SasAstro