Music

Showcase for the best of the domestic jazz scene: this week’s best jazz gigs

Aoife Doyle and her talented band, bassist Barry Donohue, the Bray Jazz festival and more

Andrew Csibi, Aoife Doyle, Johnny Taylor, Dominic Mullan – The Aoife Doyle Band – play the Signal Series at the Wild Duck, Dublin, on April 30th for International Jazz Day

Cormac Larkin's face
Cormac Larkin
Sat Apr 27 2019 - 05:00

TUESDAY 30

REDIVIDER/AOIFE DOYLE BAND

Wild Duck, Dublin, improvisedmusic.ie

US pianist Fred Hersch plays the Bray Jazz Festival on Friday, May 3rd; the festival runs until Sunday 5th

The Improvised Music Company’s monthly Signal Series is a showcase for the best of the domestic jazz scene, and this special edition for International Jazz Day, with free admission for all, features two strong but very contrasting ensembles. Vocalist Aoife Doyle blends the technical poise of a jazz singer with the down-to-earth authenticity of a folk singer, and her talented band includes pianist Johnny Taylor, bassist Andrew Csibi and drummer Dominic Mullan. RedivideR is a no-chords, no-holds-barred four piece of front-rank Dublin musicians, exploring the gnarly rhythmic terrain of contemporary post-bop with drummer Matthew Jacobson, trombonist Colm O’Hara, bassist Derek Whyte and saxophonist Nick Roth (see also Wednesday). See Event of the Week

PLAZA REAL

Arthurs, Dublin, arthurspub.ie

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Rising bassist Barry Donohue expresses his debt to the music of 70s fusion pioneers Weather Report – and particularly to legendary bassist Jaco Poastorius – with a first-rate group featuring South African saxophonist Chris Engel, keyboardist Darragh O’Kelly, drummer Shane O’Donovan and percussionist Eamonn Cagney.

WEDNESDAY 1

LIMERICK JAZZ WORKSHOP

Dolans, Limerick, facebook.com/LimerickJazz

Limerick Jazz celebrates 11 years of flying the flag for improvised music by the Shannon with an anniversary party upstairs at Dolans. Seven different groups, starting at 7pm with the Junior Jazz Ensemble, will feature local jazz stalwarts like bassist Peter Hanagan, drummer John Daly, saxophonist Steve Hanks and guitarist Joe O’Callaghan.

THURSDAY 2

US guitarist John Scofield’s Combo 66 play the Bray Jazz Festival on May 4th; the festival runs from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th

LINLEY HAMILTON QUARTET

Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart, flowerfield.org (Thursday); Island Arts Centre, Lisburn, islandartscentre.com (Friday); Portico Arts Centre, Portaferry, porticoards.com (Saturday); Derry Jazz Festival, cityofderryjazzfestival.com (Sunday)

Leading Belfast trumpeter Linley Hamilton has pulled together a heavyweight international line-up for a four date tour of the north, including the hugely respected drummer Adam Nussbaum, one of the most senior stick wielders on the US scene, who has performed with John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman and John Scofield (see Friday). Joining them are bassist Mark Egan, best known as one of the original members of the ground-breaking Pat Metheny Group, and top Dublin pianist and producer Cian Boylan making a rare foray out of the studio.

Darren Beckett Trio feat. George Colligan

Arthurs, Dublin, arthurspub.ie

Belfast-born drummer Darren Beckett was based in New York for two decades but since he relocated to Brighton last year, the talented percussionist has become a more frequent visitor to these shores. It was in New York that Beckett began working with senior US pianist George Colligan and they rekindle that relationship this week with a trio also featuring top Dublin bassist Dave Redmond. Colligan may not have the profile of some of his contemporaries but he is a pianist with huge resources and a composer of originality who has played with Cassandra Wilson, Ravi Coltrane and Jack DeJohnette among many others. The trio also appear at the Bray Jazz Festival on Sunday 5th (see below).

FRIDAY 3

BRAY JAZZ FESTIVAL

Various venues, Bray, continues till Sunday 5, brayjazz.com

Among Ireland’s jazz festivals, Bray stands alongside Brilliant Corners in Belfast and the Galway Jazz Festival as a true celebration of the artform, started and still run by fans of the music. Indeed, George and Dorothy Jacob have such respect for the artform that they decline to programme their own festival, calling in the experts at the Improvised Music Company, who have put together a strong international line-up for the festival’s 20th anniversary. The biggest coup is the opening solo concert at the Mermaid from American pianist Fred Hersch, a hugely respected figure in jazz, not only as a player and a composer, but also as mentor to some of the greatest pianists of the younger generation, including Brad Mehldau, Ethan Iverson and Jason Moran. Also on the bill is heavyweight US guitarist John Scofield, whose Combo 66 band includes pianist Gerald Clayton and drummer Bill Stewart, but look out too for famed UK vocalist Norma Winstone, Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson’s FIRE!, US guitarist Dan Nettles’ Kenosha Kid, and the celebrated duo of cellist Anja Lechner and pianist François Couturier. In fairness, Bray always makes room for the domestic scene too, and also worth checking out are ReDiviDeR (see Tuesday), hip-hop-meets-jazz quintet Shy Mascot, guitarist Matthias Winkler’s ÄTSCH and bands led by drummers Conor Guilfoyle and Darren Beckett (see Thursday). See Event of the Week.