It’s now less than a week until this year’s Budvar Cheltenham Jazz Festival, which runs from Tuesday 28 April until Monday 4 May and is sponsored by Jazzwise. It kicks off the spring and summer jazz festival season with its usual eclectic mix of big names and emerging talent from mainstream to modern jazz. Headline names appearing include Jack DeJohnette, Madeleine Peyroux, Hugh Masekela, alongside leading US players Dave Douglas, Don Byron, Pat Martino and artist in residence Dave Liebman. The varied programme also includes a large cross-section of the buzzing UK jazz scene with the likes of James Allsopp’s new trio The Golden Age Of Steam, pianist Robert Mitchell’s acclaimed 3io, Mercury Prize nominated Portico Quartet, trumpeter Tom Arthurs' new Subtopia band, while Nikki Yeoh appears with John Surman and guitarist Phil Robson reprises his fine quartet with Dave Liebman who also appears with the BBC Big Band.

There’s also a series of “recession-busting” free-of-charge fringe events taking place throughout the festival period, many of these in the Budvar Marquee situated in Imperial Gardens adjacent to the Town Hall. Of these the “flash mob” dance happening sounds the most attention-grabbing, planned to take place at lunchtime on Saturday 2 May with hundreds expected to participate in a salsa-vs-jive dance clash. The Youngblood Brass Band and the Cleeve Samba band will lead a parade around Imperial Gardens on Sunday 3 May. The Jerwood and Take Five Schemes once again come into their own by championing new talent and providing a platform to launch new rising stars. This year it’s iconic drummer Jack DeJohnette who plays a special concert at the Everyman Theatre with including trumpeter Tom Arthurs, saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, alto saxophonist Nathaniel Facey, flautist Gareth Lockrane, guitarist Chris Sharkey, pianist Tom Cawley and bassist Neil Charles.