‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – ‘LOVE SUPREME’, GLYNDE PLACE, GLYNDE 2.7.23
Europe’s biggest outdoor jazz festival ‘Love Supreme’ returned to the beautiful countryside setting of Glynde Place in the South Downs from June 30th – July 2nd 2023 for its 10th anniversary. The annual three day Love Supreme Jazz Festival highlights the best of Jazz, Funk, Soul and Blues.
This year’s event included headline shows from Little Simz and Grace Jones. Also on the line-up for the acclaimed three-day festival were UK artists Emeli Sandé, Pip Millett, Greentea Peng and Courtney Pine. Other artists such Candi Staton, Shalamar, Gabriels, Tower Of Power, Jazzmeia Horn, Marcus Miller and Thundercat, to name a few, arrived from different parts of the world adding a global perspective to the festival.
There were too many acts to cover in just one article, so we have split them up in date order. This article refers to artists who were covered only on Sunday 2nd July. Part 1 on the acts that performed on Friday 30th June can be found HERE and Part 2 on the acts that performed on Saturday 1st July HERE.
So here goes, sit back and enjoy…
Sunday 2nd July:
There was no sign of festival fatigue setting in on the final day of the Love Supreme weekend. People making the most of the Sussex summer sunshine, with many picnic chairs and rugs across Glynde Place. Given the number of people attending, it was good to see the festival site was almost totally free of litter. The friendly atmosphere of the previous days had carried over to the Sunday, as people discussed their favourites they’d seen so far (Little Simz for many) and those they just had to see on the last day (Grace Jones in most cases).
TOWER OF POWER
NORTH DOWNS STAGE 3:45pm – 4:45pm
My third day at Love Supreme started with Californian funk big band Tower Of Power. Formed way back in 1968, Tower Of Power were celebrating 55 years as a band. Founder members Emilio “Mimi” Castillo (on tenor saxophone) and Stephen “Doc” Kupka (on baritone saxophone) are still in the band. Their fun soulful sound had a 70s disco vibe to it. Or as vocalist Mike Jerel eloquently put it, “Tower Of Power like to get funky like a bowlegged monkey.” One track in their set ‘You Ought To Be Havin` Fun’ summed up their performance from its title and sound. It was a fun and enjoyable set.
MULATU ASTATKE
SOUTH DOWNS STAGE 4:30pm – 5:50pm
Known as the father of Ethiopian jazz, Mulatu Astatke was next on across at the South Downs Stage. Mulatu created an interesting sound which combined his jazz and Latin interests with traditional Ethiopian music. Mulatu played vibraphone (basically a xylophone with metal instead of wooden bars). A brass section of saxophone and trumpet added a middle eastern feel on some songs, while the whole sound was underpinned by double bass, cello and bongos. Early in the set Mulatu’s vibraphone was a little drowned out by the rest of the band, but the balance improved after a few songs.
www.instagram.com/astatkemulatu
CANDI STATON
NORTH DOWNS STAGE 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Soul queen Candi Staton was performing at the Love Supreme festival as part of her last ever run of UK shows. Expecting a large audience for Candi Staton, the message went out to remove picnic chairs and rugs from the main area in front of the main stage.
Candi started with ‘Nights On Broadway’ a Bee Gees song, after which she announced she was “a covers woman”. Almost all of Candi Staton’s set was made up of cover versions. Next up was ‘Stand By Your Man’ by Tammy Wynette. Candi told stories between songs, name checking people in her long career and reminiscing about old times. She told how ‘I’d Rather Be An Old Man’s Sweetheart (Than A Young Man’s Fool)’ was originally written for Aretha Franklin. There were also two back-to-back Elvis Presley songs ‘In The Ghetto’ and ‘Suspicious Minds’. Her biggest hits ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ and ‘You Got The Love’ were the finale to her set. She explained how the latter had taken on new meaning during her recent battle with cancer. There was a big cheer, when she announced she was now cancer free.
Candi really knew how to entertain the crowd. Her timeless hit songs cut across generations, with children, adults and grandparents seen dancing along. All of Candi’s band and backing singers wore matching t-shirts from her merchandise range. During the set, Candi and one of her backing singers threw some of this merchandise into the crowd, as Candi said she wanted to leave something for her audience. Whether or not people were lucky enough to catch a t-shirt, everybody was left totally entertained by her and her band.
EMELI SANDÉ
NORTH DOWNS STAGE 7:15pm – 8:15pm
Following Candi Staton on the main stage was four-time Brit Award winner Emeli Sandé. Early on, Emeli announced she had a set full of love for the Love Supreme crowd. Emeli’s powerful voice coped well with the windy condition at Glynde Place. She wasn’t the only one on stage at that time with a great voice. Before singing ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ she explained without Labrinth (with whom she recorded the song) her backing singer Suzie would sing his part. Her voice matched Emeli’s quality. However, the slower numbers later in the set were not as well suited to the open-air venue, and the windy conditions took the sounds off towards Polegate. From the applause during and at the end of the set, the audience clearly enjoyed today’s Emeli performance.
THUNDERCAT
SOUTH DOWNS STAGE 8:00pm – 9:15pm
Pioneering bassist and singer Thundercat (real name Stephen Bruner) from Los Angeles was on many people’s must-see list judging by how crowded the South Downs tent was for his performance. There were many people watching from outside the tent too. Before his own projects, Thundercat first came to prominence as a member of crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. There was still a rock influence in Thundercat’s music style, but combined with other genres such as funk, soul and jazz.
Thundercat was joined on one side by a drummer and the other by a keyboard player. There was a fast freestyle feel to the performance. At times it seemed as if the musicians were competing against each other as well as working together. What appeared like organised chaos worked very well. They were very good at changing the tempo within the songs, building them up and slowing them back down. From the dancing and applause, Thundercat were enjoyed by pretty much everybody inside the tent, and several outside too. If you’re wondering, the name Thundercat does refer to the cartoon he has loved since childhood.
GRACE JONES
NORTH DOWNS STAGE 9:00pm – 10:30pm
Following her much talked about headline set in 2016, the iconic and totally unique Grace Jones returned to close Love Supreme 2023 on Sunday. Singer, songwriter and actress Grace Jones is one of the most unforgettable artists to emerge from New York City’s hedonistic Studio 54 disco scene of the late 1970s.
The main stage (where else could accommodate Grace Jones) had huge black drapes at the front of the stage like theatre curtains. The two huge screens either side announced “Next On Stage Grace Jones”, not that anybody needed reminding, who was headlining. There was a real buzz of anticipation and excitement as the crowd waited for her. When the drapes were removed, Grace performed her opening song ‘Nightclubbing’ on a small platform at the back of the main stage. She was dressed in an elaborate skull mask with spikes on the top.
Striking extravagant costumes were as much a feature of Grace Jones’ show as the music. Due to the height of her heels, Grace was assisted down the steps of the platform, and moved front and centre by the end of ‘Nightclubbing’. For the second song, a relatively new one ’This Is’ from her latest album ‘Hurricane’, she moved the skull mask up, so that it was on her forehead. Between each song there was a costume change. For those watching in black and white, her second outfit had a gold headdress that resembled a lion’s mane. (The two screens relying the performance across the field at Glynde Place were only in black and white for Grace Jones’s set.)
During her music career Grace has covered, or more accurately reimagined, several songs. Before ‘Private Life’ she thanked Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. This was followed by another costume change and ‘Demolition Man’. There was a single cymbal at the front of the stage, on which Grace did a pretty good demolition job.
Grace swapped her cap for what looked like a cloth headdress from ancient Egypt. She returned to the small platform at the back of the stage for ‘My Jamaican Guy’. There was a small railing at the front of the sub-stage, which she used as a climbing frame and piece of gym equipment while singing. Impressive in those heels and boots.
The next set of costume changes included a black and orange cape with an art deco hat and then a hooped skirt with a stylish wide brimmed hat. With the hooped skirt Grace performed a revealing Can-Can style routine. Unlike Grace with the Love Supreme audience, I’ll leave that to your imagination! For ‘Love Is The Drug’ Grace wore a sparkly bowler hat. A clever piece of stage lighting with a single overhead spotlight onto her hat created a disco mirror ball effect. Grace was quite chatty during her set, and on one occasion was very direct with the audience, saying “I know you can sing mother f*ckers”.
Announcing “New York here I come” was a clue to the next track. The traffic sound effects and bassline was a give away that it was ‘Pull Up To The Bumper’. There was an even more obvious clue to the next song, when Grace appeared with a hula-hoop and joked “I’ll be doing this for the rest of my life”. She hula-hooped through an extended version of ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ and introductions of her band. As well as generations of families attending Love Supreme, Grace’s son was on percussion.
Looking at the time, some people wrongly thought that ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ was the last song of the set and started to leave to avoid the traffic queues. Grace pointed out “We’ve got ten minutes left. You want more; I want more”. Appearing in another extravagant outfit, which she described as “like getting married at a witches brew wedding.” The new hat, I’d lost count of the hats by this point, had a big horn from the front, which arched over her head. Before the final song, Grace warned “I hope I remember the words. We’ve not rehearsed this. I may have to do it a cappella.” The song ‘Hurricane’ was another great performance by Grace and her band to close out the show.
With a “Good Night Love Supreme”, Grace got the band and crew to the front of the stage to take a bow. A nice touch that was very much in keeping with the whole Love Supreme festival vibe.
It was a great finale to Love Supreme 2023. Grace didn’t disappoint with a spectacular show both in terms of sound and visuals. There was a real intensity and sense of drama about Grace and her stage presence. It was all very slick and professional. All the numerous costume changes were done in minutes, without detracting from the flow of her show. What surprised me, and added to the experience, were glimpses of Grace’s sense of fun and humour. After one costume change, she returned to the front of the stage, thanked her designer and costume team, and added jokingly “What have they got me wearing this time?”
www.instagram.com/gracejonesofficial
My first time at Love Supreme was a totally enjoyable weekend with a quality and varied selection of Jazz, Funk and Soul music, in a beautiful setting and friendly atmosphere.
Links to the reviews of Friday at the Love Supreme weekend will appear HERE and Saturday HERE.
Love Supreme will be returning to Glynde on Friday 5th to Sunday 7th July 2024. You can find more information HERE.
