MUSIC Galway gears up for jazz festival

Galway Jazz Festival boasts stellar international line-up


THE sixth Galway Jazz Festival opens next Thursday, November 18, and it promises to be the biggest yet. The festival opens with a Galway Big Band Celebration and a tribute to trumpeter John Merrick. It takes place in the ballroom of Hotel Meyrick at 7.30pm on Thursday.
A celebration of big bands in Galway, the concert is being held in recognition of the many musicians who have been active in the Galway scene throughout the years, including Tony McDonald, Shea Nolan, Jimmy Higgins, Jimmy Reilly and Danny Healy, who founded the Black Magic Big Band back in 1994.
Trumpeter John Merrick is also being honoured on the night, having been a stalwart in the music scene in Galway for many years. Now in his late 70s, John is still going strong and playing a popular Sunday afternoon gig in the House Hotel. The Galway Youth Jazz Orchestra, Headford Youth Big Band, West Coast Big Band and Black Magic Big Band will all take part in this gala opening.
Mary Coughlan will perform in the Crane Bar on Thursday and Friday, while the Galway Jazz Festival Club in Hotel Meyrick promises a memorable end to proceedings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
The Galway Arts Centre at Nun’s Island will resonate with the melodic sounds of Luxembourg’s vibraphonist Pascal Schumacher and his quartet. Hailing from a classical background, his compositions are deft and persuasive and are brought to the fore by a team of exceptional musicians - Belgian bassist Christophe Devisscher and Germans Florian Weber (piano) and Jens Düppe on drums. The venue will also host leaders of the piano trio Phil Ware Trio. Bassist Phil Redmond, drummer Kevin Brady and piano leader Phil Ware hold the flame for the genre in Ireland and it is fitting for them to be joined by twice recipient of the BBC Jazz Award for best vocalist, Ian Shaw.
Mashing up the notions of jazz in Monroe’s Live are Danish group from Copenhagen Ibrahim Electric. Described as Europe’s funkiest organ trio and sending all audiences from every genre into a spin throughout the continent, the trio use dirty distorted sounds from the Hammond B3, afrobeat inspired guitar riffs mixed with madness and ingenuity. Bring a party attitude to this gig.
TrioVD, the Leeds trio from the LIMA collective, are at the centre of where it’s at in improvised music. Falling somewhere between Meshuggah and The Thing, the three Chris’s are a rare ‘band’ on the jazz scene. They will be hitting The Crane Bar with a bang on Saturday, November 20.
Closing the festival in the Radisson Live Lounge is Chris Potter’s Underground from New York City. The Guardian described him as ‘one of the best saxophonists on the planet’, and with a CV that reads like a who’s who of international jazz, and music awards aplenty, former Steely Dan musician Chris Potter is the undisputed champion of the great American tenor sax tradition. Underground features Adam Rogers on guitar and Craig Taborn at the Fender Rhodes – both are equally resourceful, spinning lines off the hip that continuously weave into the melodic and rhythmic loom and creating the challenging angles for Potter’s virtuoso saxophone to negotiate..
The festival also features a free jazz trail through local hotspots Busker Browne’s, Tig Neactains, Café 8, House Hotel, Artisan and Morgan’s Bar with special appearances by local musicians and festival musicians popping up around the town. Hotel Meyrick is the place to be in the evenings - unwind in the Free Festival Club and watch the magic of jazz improvisation unfurl before your ears. Musicians will unwind and have fun with music – and audiences will be invited to do the same.

For more information and full programme details, visit www.galwayjazzfest.com.