We lit the blue touch paper for this year’s London Jazz Festival, in our annual live broadcast from Ronnie Scott’s. It was a great party, with live performances from four top acts appearing at this year’s festival…

Getting the grooves going, and representing the eclectic London scene, tuba pioneer Oren Marshall and his Charming Transport Band. The sounds of Ghana, Afrobeat, funk and jazz were all thrown into an irresistible melting-pot by this 8-piece band of British and African musicians.

Next up, a collector’s item: the first live appearance on Jazz on 3 by US saxophonist Steve Coleman, one of the most influential musicians of the last 20 years. Along with his Reflex Trio, he hotfooted it over to Ronnie’s from another gig, so were warmed up and raring to go!

How else to follow that but with French prog-rock-jazz-fusion?! Guillaume Perret and Electric Epic may not be a band you’re familiar with yet, but they definitely left their mark on this show – this is where things got heavy.

Jez with Gregory Porter

To finish, Gregory Porter, an American singer whose star is emphatically on the rise, with a recent Grammy nomination and critics’ praise ringing in his ears. As the lights burned low, his soulful late-night set of standards was the perfect way to end a really special evening.

The Jazz on 3 team.