“It’s a beast!” The child exclaiming this is starting at an ice cream. Eyes aglow, joyfully dumbfounded, the sprinkles tumble down in a scene transfixing a young mind. It’s a beautiful Sunday in Cheltenham, and as the crowd makes its way to the DEYA Arena, there is a similar ‘kid in a candy shop’ feeling.

Though sunny outside, the arena marquee creates moody, dimly-lit atmosphere into which emerges the musical sprinkles of Makaya McCraven. Opening with ‘Away’, quickly a rain forest of sound is summoned into the space, drawn down by Makaya’s drumming and various percussive inclinations. Completing today’s trio, bassist Junius Paul and trumpeter Marquis Hill are soon in on the conversation. A new groove goes down between drummer and bassist with some trumpet staccato texture on top. ‘Three Fifths a Man’ is a more pensive offering with elements that would sit well within the soundtrack of an off-beat noir detective show. There’s more room here for Makaya’s drumming to shine, playing off of Junius’s bass before their joined by Marquis’s trumpet distortion, imitating something akin to a herd of jazz elephants.

Makaya explains to the crowd that the music is created “in the spirit of improvisation” which they “spontaneously compose in real time”. This philosophy is demonstrated over ‘Sweet Stuff’ (featuring a delightful xylophone/marimba lick) after which Junius is left on stage to have fun on the bass, striking the body of the instrument, sending bass tremolo across the space. The band rejoin him for ‘This Place, That Place’, chronicling their travels before ‘In These Times’ moves through various time signatures before ending with five perfectly coordinated hits across the ensemble.

Makaya holds up an item that looks like an enlarged bike pump: “I picked this thing up in Istanbul the other day; it’s my new favourite instrument”. He pushes the plunger which makes a “whoosh”, then causing a ping pong ball to “pop” out of the tube. The way Makaya looks at his new instrument is not dissimilar to the way the kid was looking at their ice cream. He speaks of “looking each other in the eye, recognizing each other’s humanity” and witnessing the way he takes pleasure in creativity, in making music, that shared humanity is clear. What a treat it is to gather at the musical beast that is Cheltenham Jazz Festival to enjoy such delights together. As Makaya observed: “when we’re here together, there’s something more, something special”.

Makaya McCraven’s new album Off The Record is out now on Nonesuch. Catch him on tour — dates here.