A full house, the stage at Big Top at Cheltenham Jazz Festival was set for Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra, Bettye LaVette and her band.

Met by a warm welcome, the show commenced with Bettye LaVette’s band and then a little later, the legend herself. “Sorry I’m late” she addressed the crowd. (I personally hadn’t noticed!)

From the first note of the first song Things Have Changed, Bettye had the audience lost in her soulful vocals that have barely aged. A powerhouse vocalist, LaVette owned the stage and the audience and it was clear then that seeing Bettye LaVette was worth coming to Cheltenham Jazz Festival alone.

An exceptional band playing an extraordinarily beautiful mix of Jazz, Blues, R&B and Soul, the talent on stage was second to none and you could feel every note on stage being played. Many a time I found myself closing my eyes and just taking every moment in with a nod and a toe tap completely captivated by the music. There’s a reason she is such a successful artist and has a legendary title. This is my first time seeing her live and in fact my first experience of her at all really but it certainly won’t be the last! A natural on stage, Bettye treated the audience as if they were old friends. The atmosphere, although a quiet audience, were perfect in their attentiveness and respectfulness of the music and the singing.

Playing songs mostly from her current album simply titled LaVette, she also treated us with a Nina Simone cover from her album Blackbirds which is an album dedicated to the black female singers who came before her. A beautiful moment came from her song in which she said the UK made a hit, Let Me Down Easy. This song was in fact the first song when Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra took to the stage for the first time in the show!

Temporarily leaving the stage for guest Gregory Porter to join her band and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra, Porter performed two songs including his epic original Revival! Porter never disappoints. He commands the stage and has such a strong presence that is completely mesmerising. As a guest only, he departed from the stage after Revival. A short yet highly memorable performance, Porter is headlining the Monday night close of Cheltenham Jazz Festival and fans are definitely in for a treat!

Returning to the stage for a few more numbers from her LaVette record mostly, Bettye hadn’t lost her audience in her absence as the crowd were still in awe of her every vocal! A witty lady, earlier on stage she mentioned she used her book on stage as suffers from CRS (can’t remember shit). I will have to take note of that as pretty sure that I suffer from that too!

A perfect close came from Porter and LaVette returning to the stage together to perform Everyday I Got The Blues.

What an absolutely mind blowing set! Two artists and a collection of musicians that are so astonishingly good, you couldn’t help but feel privileged to be a part of the audience. This was an experience we won’t ever forget!