“Fearless! There was a lot of stuff that was pushing the boundaries – we’re not short of that in this country, which is great.”

Jamie Cullum’s thoughts on the music that he, Radio 1′s Gilles Peterson and Jez discovered as they listened to the BBC Introducing tracks sent in this year by unsigned and under-the-radar UK jazz acts. Well, you can be the judge this week as we present our pick of the bands recorded in the sunny Sunday afternoon surroundings of the outdoor stage at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

The event kicked off with Trish Clowes’ Tangent – Jamie Cullum’s favourite – a distinctive young saxophonist with a rhythm section some may recognise from Kit Downes’ Mercury-nominated trio. Next up was the glitchy, electronic beats of south London’s Saltwater Samurai, whose EP has already featured on Gilles Peterson’s Radio 1 show. From here the music got harder and deeper! Rachel Musson’s Skein (meaning a flock of geese in flight) presented her highly original compositions, backed up by a band featuring not one but two awesome drummers. The Edinburgh-based Discordian Trio ensured the show went out with a bang, storming the stage with a driving mix of visceral electric bass and guitar unison lines. Their energy was particularly impressive given that the group’s day had begun at 6am, southbound on the M1.

Judging from these BBC Introducing gigs, the immediate future of he British jazz scene looks to be in safe hands.

Oh and by the way – Jazz On 3 has just won the Gold award for best specialist music show at the Sony Awards. It’s a real honour so thanks to everyone who has ever worked on the show and also to you for listening!

Saltwater Samurai