Django Bates at the Cheltenham Festival

Jez Nelson presents the multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and composer Django Bates, recorded live at this year's Cheltenham Festival, including a new work specially commissioned by Jazz on 3 and Radio 3 for rising stars on the UK scene. Bates's reputation as a writer and performer of richly inventive, often humorous improvised music was forged in the 1980s as part of the Loose Tubes big band. The group's energetic, off-the-wall approach has had a lasting influence on British jazz, despite the limited availability of their recordings, and their impact is celebrated in this new commission. Bates has handpicked leading members of the latest generation of UK jazz musicians to perform it, including Shabaka Hutchings, James Allsopp and Kit Downes. The composer promises "something very groove-orientated" in his new music, while the first half of the concert features a solo piano set from Bates, revisiting music from 1994 album Autumn Fires (and Green Shoots).

Presenter: Jez Nelson
Producers: Russell Finch & Rebecca Aitchison.