FRESH from releasing his globally acclaimed new studio album ‘Duets: Reworking The Catalogue’, which features collaborations with the likes of Gregory Porter, Michael Buble, Clare Teal and others, pop maverick Van Morrison has been confirmed to perform at the opening night of this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival. The visionary songwriter joins an already star-studded line-up that includes Gregory Porter, Beth Hart, Martha Reeves, Gilles Peterson, Jamie Cullum, Lee Konitz, Squarepusher, Laura Mvula, Sun Ra Arkestra, Tony Allen and many more.

Festival Director Ian George: “We are obviously delighted to have been able to add Van Morrison to the programme for this year’s festival. He’s universally regarded as one of the finest, most singular artists of all time and I can’t think of a better way to kick off proceedings.”

Cheltenham Jazz Festival runs from Wednesday, April 29 – Monday, May 4 and is hosted in a tented festival village in Cheltenham’s Montpellier Gardens.

Van Morrison performs at The Big Top on Wednesday, April 29.

Tickets are available to Cheltenham Festivals members on Wednesday, April 8 and then to the general public on Thursday, April 9 at www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz