‘Double Bills’ or ‘Showcases’ at Cheltenham Jazz Festival are a great way to discover new artist with getting two for the price of one. Plus the tickets are super cheap as well!
A Welsh speaker with Bajan heritage, singer-songwriter, Kizzy Crawford kicked off the Double Bill. Described as fusing soul, folk and jazz she has already been successful in gaining support from Jo Whiley at BBC Radio 2.
She expertly used her loop pedal to accompany her singing and even treated us with a little bit of rapping. I enjoyed her solo stuff but found my mind wandering after a while so was pleased to see a band come on to bring some more energy to the stage. I prefered the upbeat stuff much more and she benefited from the bass guitar, drums, electric guitar, keyboards and backing vocals.
She was followed up by Yola, a Bristolian artist, who you may recognise from her performances with Bristol icons Massive Attack and on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny last year.
Her country style jazz is soulful and reminiscent of Dolly Parton mixed with Amy Winehouse. She was accompanied by guitar, keyboard, double bass and backing vocals, not that she needed any help. She commanded the audience and put on a please performance.
Overall I wasn’t amazed by either performance, but both were pleasant to listen to and it’s always nice to discover new artists.