Something for the Weekend - Global line-up for Lincoln Jazz Festival

Saxophonist and award-winning broadcaster YolanDa Brown will headline the fourth Lincoln Jazz Festival this weekend.

Hosted by Lincoln Cathedral the festival will feature 14 ticketed and free-to-enter gigs and YolanDa will get the weekend underway with her band on the Friday with a fusion of jazz, reggae and soul. The life and music of Bob Marley, who would have turned 80 this year, will be celebrated within their set. 

Saturday morning will offer something completely different as YolanDa’s Band Jam! recreates her successful CBeebies TV show for primary-aged children dubbed ‘Jools Holland for kids’. Children and adults can dance, sing and have fun discovering the joys of making music with youngsters from four local primary schools performing a song they have learned.

Heavy Beat Brass Band will get the Dean’s Green crowds moving and dancing to a New Orleans beat with a free performance for visitors.

Staying with the New Orleans theme, internationally renowned pianist-vocalist Dom Pipkin will perform a lively late afternoon set in the Cathedral Café while his audience can enjoy a bowl of Jambalaya. 

“The fourth Lincoln Jazz Festival set in the city’s spectacular Cathedral welcomes 80 superb jazz musicians, many young people just beginning their musical journeys and, of course, our audiences,” said festival Artistic director Dennis Rollins MBE.

“An exciting range of jazz styles and personalities, with ticketed and free-to-enter events, offers something for most ages and tastes. Highlights and firsts include YolanDa Brown’s child-centred Band Jam! gig, a New Orleans-style jazz supper, with pianist-vocalist Dom Pipkin kicking up a storm, an emotional homecoming finale for The Dave O’Higgins Biggish Band, 25 years on, and some guest appearances from myself!

“A massive thank you to all our sponsors whose generous support has made this year’s festival possible and, not least, to the fabulous team at Lincoln Cathedral. Here’s to a great weekend!”

Top UK jazz names will play a wide range of jazz styles over the weekend. Liane Carroll will play piano and sing with enormous emotional power, while long-time Chick Corea saxophonist Tommy Smith will create exciting musical conversations with his protégé pianist Peter Johnstone. 

The Edgar Macias Quintet will re-interpret the Buena Vista Social Club musical and Chris Ingham’s impressive Steely Jazz quintet will explore Steely Dan’s songbook, created by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, in a small jazz group format.

Many of the best East Midlands-based musicians will appear in a variety of musical settings, from Lincoln’s fine big band Sounds Easy, to Matt Ratcliffe’s Hammond organ-led Unity quartet, blending soul-jazz, blues and 70’s funk and groove, followed by exciting new compositions from Electric Gumbo, a nine-piece band led by Simon Paterson. 

The festival’s climax will feature a 10-piece ensemble returning 25 years after they first came to Lincoln as ‘The Squad’, a group of young, mostly unknown musicians promoting live jazz in the regions. That original band returns as The Dave O’Higgins Biggish Band, now an all-star group of award-winning jazz greats – including Dennis Rollins - for the finale.

See listings in the What’s On Guide