Looks like the memo to add some jazz to the line-up has ended up in someone's junk mailbox at the iTunes Festival office this year. Maybe someone can fish it out.

Pity really as jazz has featured at the high profile series of concerts the tech giant puts on at the Roundhouse in London including a great night last year featuring Robert Glasper. In the spirit of being constructive rather than just carping here's what the iTunes festival could have (could still?) put on, beginning with the obvious: Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Cassandra Wilson for starters. And then there's the lesser known but just as obvious in many ways: Snarky Puppy, Gregory Porter, Brad Mehldau, Soweto Kinch, Lizz Wright, Esperanza Spalding, Courtney Pine, Jaga Jazzist, Django Bates, The Bad Plus, Phronesis, Tigran, the list goes on. The wider music industry can't just trot out the excuse that jazz is too niche any more when iTunes is so eclectic in nature and all encompassing in reach especially as festivals are the ultimate in discovering new bands. Not everything needs to be mass market, surely, as most real music fans know. There are six empty spots to be filled. Fingers crossed, eh?