Photography by Dom Thompson
Last week plus weekend (23rd - 26th May) Jazz Stroud returned taking over various venues and outdoor spaces across the centre of town with a lineup packed with unique live performances, DJ sets, improvs, jams and carnival processions. One of the things the festival prides itself on, and in fact what they always do expertly well is to be at the forefront of booking the next cream of the crop of the UK’s burgeoning jazz scene, a programme filled with ‘one to watch’ solo artists and bands who might find themselves with a Mercury Award Nomination or Win of their own in the not too distant future. Their long standing relationship with d&b audiotechnik is also a big part of the festival and the ‘in the round’ concerts in the mighty Goods Shed with the world renowned audio company’s ground breaking soundscape system is a true feast for the ears.
The main evening concerts in the Goods Shed (which this year featured headline performances by Frontline Tomorrow’s Warriors, un.procedure , Ezra Collective’s Joe Armon-Jones and Stroud’s own Daniel Inzani) might be the main event but wondering into intimate sessions amongst a plethora of vinyl at Sound Records or Klang Tone Records, DJ sets inside (Rough Hands) and outside (the Yard Cafe) Coffee Shops, gigs in pubs (Ale House + Town Owl Taphouse), hotels (The Stroud), churches (St Laurence) and artist hubs (SVA John Street) creates an amazing festival experience and atmopshere whilst discovering new music (and yes not all of it is strictly Jazz but safe to say most if it is influenced by the genre in some way) at every turn.
Regular GOP Photographer Dom Thompson ventured into Stroud to capture just some of the performances from the 2024 edition of Jazz Stroud as part of our ongoing photojournal series…
