Brecon Jazz Festival
Brecon Beacons, Wales
HHHHH

IN its heyday Brecon Jazz was one of the UK’s greatest jazz festivals, with international and legendary performers descending on this small, beautiful town in the heart of Wales. In recent years valiant enthusiasts have worked hard to resuscitate the festival left for dead a decade ago. By no means what it once was, it’s showing promising signs of life, with diverse names from the contemporary British jazz scene.

Jazz is not loved by corporate capitalism, because it’s far from easy money. Even the most established and celebrated jazz festivals feel it necessary to have pop/rock stars headlining, stretching even generous boundaries of jazz. This year’s Montreux Jazz has Lionel Richie and Neil Young. Last year the Antibes Jazz Festival had Toto.

Jazz is not a money spinner, so festivals dedicated to promoting virtuoso, underpaid musicians are to be treasured and supported.

This year the warm, sunny streets brought many visitors, without the fierce allegiance of jazz fans, to enjoy the celebrations. Pop-up street bars, street food and craft stalls, have little to do with jazz directly. Nor, arguably, does the Brecon Jazz Fringe. But all Brecon’s community have embraced it. Pubs, cafes and pop up venues host live music, not necessarily related to jazz and DJs fill the evening with latin, world music, and jazz funk rhythms.

The Market Hall, which has hosted greats like Wynton Marsalis, Lionel Hampton and Gregory Porter, today hosted revered saxophonist and rapper Soweto Kinch. Always an exciting prospect, this is the first time Kinch has played in Wales since his participation in the one off jazz/installation event celebrating riots throughout Welsh history in 2023.

Kinch played tracks from an upcoming album Soundtrack To Apocalypse, switching tenor, alto and digital saxes, making full use of technology to offer a bigger sound than his trio could produce acoustically. His raps were indictments, angry but melodic, citing genocide and “navigating tyranny.” But his set was not pessimistic: he explained that the original meaning of the word “apocalypse” was an “unveiling.”

And in Morning Rise he described the unveiling of the world we want to see. Kinch peppered his new compositions with classic tunes, including the playful Thelonious Monk’s Boo Boo’s Birthday and Strayhorn’s Noirish theme Passion Flower. Finishing off with the epic and anthemic polemic Corsica, this was a performance to be ranked alongside those other legendary Brecon Jazz greats.  

For more information see: breconjazzfestival2025.co.uk