On The Record »

• Anyone for some jazz?

  April 22, 2011 @ 10:00 am | by Jim Carroll

  We’re now going to talk about jazz. It’s probably at this stage that a lot of you turn the page or click on some other link. For many, jazz is a heritage sound, a music which gave the world greats like Miles Davis and John Coltrane, but has very little to say in 2011.

  There are a handful of exceptions to this rule. You get the odd flurry of interest when someone like the late, great Esbjorn Svensson comes to the fore and sells out big rooms and you have the annual sneer when a jazz album gets a berth in the Mercury Music Prize shortlist. The rest of the time, though, jazz gets relegated to the sidelines and footnotes.

  But, in these margins, jazz is thriving because a lack of attention doesn’t equate to a lack of innovation. Every year, just as is the case with indie, rock and pop, you have a new brigade of players coming to the fore who’ve learned their trade and are ready for action. Like their peers in other genres, it’s also all about playing live because, well, there are very few labels willing to take a punt on young new jazz guns.

  And, just as SXSW, Eurosonic and the Great Escape provide opportunities to run the rule over new acts, an event like 12 Points! is a chance to re-up with new European jazz.

  It’s happening at Dublin’s Project from May 4 to 7 and you’ve a dozen new acts to check out. From the elegant tones of Swiss pianist Colin Vallon to the compelling rush of Copenhagen/London trio Phronesis, here’s proof that there’s plenty of new, exciting, thrilling life in jazz yet. Just listen without prejudice.

• Mo’ festivals

  November 18, 2009 @ 3:38 pm | by Jim Carroll

  Those interested in new music, noise and experimental jazz should check out the Bottlenote Festival which takes place in Dublin’s Twisted Pepper on December 4 and 5.

  The main sets will feature four members from the Bottlenote collective – Seán Óg, Shane Latimer, Simon Jermyn and Justin Carroll - collaborating with visiting artists from Norway, Paris, Denmark and London. Aside from two nights of double bills featuring newly commissioned music, Bottlenote will also feature Bang Hazard and Lead Soup as well as laptop sets from Estonian sound artist Alo Allik and Dublin’s Eomac. There will also be a couple of free educational workshops.

  Weekend tickets are €20 (€14 concessions) and admission per night will be €12 and €8. Full schedule for the festival here.

  Still with the jazzers, the Galway Jazz Festival runs from this Thursday to Sunday and features shows from Trygve Seim Orchestra, Rebecca Martin & Larry Grenadier, Métier, Francesco Turrisi Trio, Buckley, Stowell, Feely, Polar Bear (video below), Julia Hülsmann Trio and Matthew Berrill’s Galway Allstars. Full rundown on admission prices, dates and venues here.

  

• Inside The Fold

  March 10, 2009 @ 2:02 pm | by Jim Carroll

  Brand new space about to be launched in Dublin for improvised and experimental music. The Fold will be located in St Audeon’s, that church on High Street which DEAF used for some gigs in 2007, and will have four outings over the next couple of months.

  Fold 1 (March 26) will feaure Seán Óg, Fergus Cullen, Gavin Duffy, Karl Him and Iarla O’Lionáird. Fold 2 (April 23) has the excellent Moira (who played a very fine gig at 12 Points last month) and Rainfear, a new live yoke from David Donohoe and Peter Maybury. Fold 3 (May 21) will have Justin Carroll’s Triple Piglet and the Electronic Sensoria Band, while Fold 4 (June 4) will star fiddle maestro Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Threadpulls and an one-off spoken word jobbie from Cathal Coughlan. Bet he won’t be taking the 123 to the gig. Oh no.

  More info here or here.

• Points for Project

  January 16, 2009 @ 10:18 am | by Jim Carroll

  Now firmly established as one of the best showcases around for new European jazz acts, 12 Points! returns to the Project Arts Centre in Dublin from February 11th to 14th.

  Organised by the Improvised Music Company, the third outing for 12 Points! will showcase a dozen new exciting acts.

  Aside from giving Dublin fans a taste of the new, the event also attracts attention from international promoters, festival bookers and journalists.

  This year’s line-up features Luca Aquino (Italy), Audiofeeling (Poland), Giulia Valle (Spain), Albatrosh (Norway), Paavo (Sweden), Emile Parisien (France), Hyperactive Kid (Germany), Zapp (Holland), Magnus Fra Gaarden (Denmark), Aki Rissanen (Finland) and Curios (UK). The home reps are Dublin act Moria.

• Getting jazzy at home

  November 14, 2008 @ 8:58 am | by Jim Carroll

  Some music fans may think that Irish jazz festivals begin and end with Cork in October, but a wealth of exciting jazz events happen all over the country every year.

  Next week, the Galway Jazz Festival kicks into action. Acts heading west from November 20th to 23rd include Amsterdam’s excellent Eric Vloeimans Gatecrash Quartet, New York pianist Kenny Werner and The Thing with Japanese sonic pioneer Otomo Yoshihide.

  Back in the capital, the Made On Mondays series highlighting new Dublin jazz projects returns to JJ Smyth’s.

  Over two weeks, six new projects will be strutting their stuff, with Colm O’Hara & The Troupe, Morla and the Nick Roth Sephardic Project appearing on November 24th, with the Dave  Redmond Project, the Carpio Trio and the Sensoria Band at the Aungier Street venue on December 1st.

• The jazzman cometh

  July 25, 2008 @ 9:30 am | by Jim Carroll

  Acclaimed jazz guitarist John Abercrombie has announced an Irish tour for September.

  The ECM artist has played and recorded with a glittering roll-call of musicians down through the years, including Gil Evans, Jan Garbarek, Chico Hamilton, Billy Cobham, Joe Lovano and many more. He also led the seminal Gateway trio alongside Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette.

  For his Irish tour, Abercrombie’s band will feature Michael Buckley (tenor sax), Ronan Guilfoyle (bass) and Joey Baron (drums).

  The tour will visit Limerick (Dolan’s, September 11th), Cork (Triskel, September 12th), Belfast (Black Box, September 13th) and Dublin (Whelan’s, September 14th).

• Esbjörn Svensson RIP

  June 16, 2008 @ 12:40 pm | by Jim Carroll

  As Matt Vinyl noted in a post below, the hugely talented jazz pianist died in a scuba diving accident in Sweden at the weekend. There are pieces about the incident in the Guardian and All About Jazz.

  Svensson was the leader of EST, a jazz trio who were frequent visitors to Ireland and were easily capable of filling a venue like Vicar Street to capacity for a couple of nights in a row. An EST show was (how sad it is to have to use the past tense) an emotional tour-de-force, the three players crafting a sound which was dramatic, sensual and uplifting, taking a willing audience in many different, giddy directions, but without ever repeating a step or glancing at a map. It’s very sad and strange to realise we’ll never see Svensson at the piano again. RIP

  

• Etc

  May 2, 2008 @ 8:03 am | by Jim Carroll

  There are some shows which are selling out this weather. All tickets for funkmaster Maceo Parker’s gig at the Mermaid Arts Centre as part of the Bray Jazz Festival tomorrow night have been snapped up.

  This year’s FeileAfrica fest in Cork runs from May 22nd-25th with shows from Gregory Isaacs, Afrocelt Sound System’s N’faly Kouyate and many others.

  Master At Work Kenny Dope will spend the June bank holiday weekend in Ireland with shows at Dublin’s Tivoli (May 31st) and Limerick’s Baker Place (June 1st

• Dublin’s grassroots jazz approach points the way

  February 8, 2008 @ 9:13 am | by Jim Carroll

  After a hugely successful debut run last year, the 12 Points music festival returns to Dublin in March.
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• White Rocket blast off

  February 1, 2008 @ 9:05 am | by Jim Carroll

  On The Record readers keen to check the health of the Irish jazz constituency should make plans to see White Rocket when they tour Ireland later this month.

  Featuring Jacob Wick, Greg Felton and Sean Carpio, White Rocket came together at Canada’s Banff Centre for Jazz & Creative Music and have performed at Mexico’s Eurojazz Festival, RTÉ’s Living Music Festival and the 12 Points! Festival.

  Their Irish tour features dates at Belfast’s Sonic Lab (February 15th), Cork’s Triskel Arts Centre (February 16th), Dublin’s JJ Smyth’s (February 17th) and Galway’s Cellar Bar (February 19th).

• All that jazz

  October 26, 2007 @ 2:22 pm | by Jim Carroll

  There should be no withdrawal pangs for jazz fans after this weekend’s traditional blowout in Cork with a full dancecard of shows scheduled for the coming weeks.

  Made On Mondays is a series of Irish talent showcases at Dublin jazz haunt JJ Smyths during November.

  It kicks off on November 5 with a meeting of the minds between the Ariel Hernandez Trio and Savage Monkey.

  Other highlights include electronic composer Zoid with trad fiddler Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh (Monday 12), Awkward Silence’s Aphex Twin-inspired musings (Monday 19) and Italian pianist Francesco Turrisi’s first foray into the world of the trio (Monday 26)

  Meanwhile, one of Europe’s most promising jazz players, Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen, plays Cork’s Triskel on October 31 and Dublin’s Sugar Club on November 1.

  Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca brings his band to that same Dublin venue on November 14.

• Lieb-time

  August 3, 2007 @ 9:10 am | by Jim Carroll

  Dublin will be getting its Lieb on at the end of the month with the visit of veteran jazzer David Liebman. In addition to working with Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, Liebman has also taken a keen interest in the Irish jazz scene in recent years and has toured Europe with his Dublin Project band.

  Lieb: An Appreciation takes place in various city-centre venues from August 22nd to25th and will include concerts, collaborations and lectures.

  The highlight will be a free Coltrane Remembered concert at Meeting House Square on August 23rd, featuring a Liebman-led band of emerging Dublin jazzers.

  Full details here.