2026 marks the tenth anniversary of Gŵyl y Llais, the Festival of Voice, an international arts festival based at the Wales Millennium Centre. This year, Cwmwl Tystion headlined the Saturday show, the highlight of the Gŵyl y Llais festival. Cardiff Bay is, historically, a heart of British jazz. Cwmwl Tystion headlining the Saturday show is a nod to that jazz heritage. And, fittingly, Cwmwl Tystion was a poignant nod to the heritage of Welsh jazz. But has Cwmwl Tystion become a victim of its own success?
“I wanted to do something that reflected the Welsh experience”, explained trumpeter and composer Tomos Williams– and you don’t need a pre-existing knowledge of Wales to appreciate or enjoy “Cwmwl Tystion III”.
This show carried an additional weight: the fact it was a rare and one-off performance by the collective. The show served two purposes: a launch for their most recent album, Cwmwl Tystion III: Empathy, but to finish the larger project overall. For just over an hour on-stage, the group performed their latest work in its entirety.
Cwmwl Tystion III: Empathy marks the final suite of music created by Tomos. The first album, Witness, saw the group tour Wales, while the second album explored Wales’ rich history of direct action and protest, featuring contributions from the spoken word artist and jazz musician Soweto Kinch. Two themes emerge within the work of Cwmwl Tystion: one, of documenting the Welsh experience, and two, a commitment to exploring those experiences through jazz.
On stage in the Weston Studio were Welsh vocalists Nia Lynn and Eadyth Crawford, bass giant Melvin Gibbs, Irish guitarist Chris Guilfoyle and Mark O’Connor on drums. The group played an evocative and beautiful set of pieces that felt more like a live-art installation rather than a concert , which were beautifully complimented by the live visuals from Simon Proffitt. Tracks like “Welsh Not”, and the stirring “Streic y Glowyr 1984/ Miners Strike 1984” confronted historical struggles head-on, featuring archival footage of struggle from the Miners Strike. “Beth yw Maddau? / What is Forgiveness? ”, however, led by Nia Lynn was a highlight of the event “Paul Robeson yn Aberpennar/ Paul Robeson in Mountain Ash”, “Mynydd Epynt ”. The show ended with a soaring performance of “Cyrmu Cenedl Noddfa/ Wales: A Nation of Sanctuary”: a song that is becoming more and more relevant within Welsh society.
October 2026, alongside Gwyl y Llais, marks the Cardiff Music City Festival. As Cardiff’s heritage of live music is used to promote the city: how is it that jazz collectives like Cwmwl Tystion are retired on indefinite hiatus, and what does this say about the health of Welsh jazz overall? We need more Welsh jazz in society: Cwmwl Tystion is one of the most original and best critically acclaimed groups to emerge from Wales in recent decades.