Various venues, Bray, Co Wicklow Fri-Sun brayjazz.com01-2724030
A steadfast policy of adventurous programming has put the Bray Jazz Festival firmly on the musical map over the past 12 years, with a fine mix of international innovators and local trendsetters attracting ever bigger crowds.
The festival opens tonight in the excellent Mermaid Arts Centre with Norwegian pianist and ECM recording artist Tord Gustavsen, whose sepulchral trio offer those lucky enough to have a ticket a gentle way to ease into the weekend. Heading the bill tomorrow night (and also likely sold out by the time you read this) is Peruvian singer Susana Baca (below right), who blends Latin-American and traditional Peruvian folk music with the musical savvy of a jazz singer. Sunday’s headliner is the genre-bending US clarinetist Don Byron (left), whose latest project explores the roots of jazz in gospel music.
Bray Town Hall is the venue for a couple of early evening concerts coming more out of left field: on Saturday it’s another Norwegian, singer Marie Kvien Brunvoll (above right), whose experimental blend of vocals and electronica have been compared to Björk. On Sunday it’s the turn of Austrian Mathias Loibner, the “Jimi Hendrix of the hurdy-gurdy” – yes, really.
Meanwhile, a series of double-bill matinees in the Royal Hotel will showcase the best of the local scene: on Saturday, singer Edel Meade’s intrepid Swoo-Beh project, and Nature, a new group mixing jazz with techno and dub-step; and on Sunday, guitarist Shane Latimer’s pioneering OKO and innovative young Dublin quartet, RediveR. Drummer Denis Cassidy’s hip-hop ensemble Mixtapes from the Underground provides a barnstorming finish to the weekend Upstairs at the Martello on Sunday night.
It's obviously the weekend for jazz festivals, with not one but two others kicking off tonight: Ballydehob's Jazz Festival has popular clarinetist Paddy Cole (Saturday) and steamy songstress Camille O'Sullivan (Sunday) drawing the crowds to West Cork (ballydehobjazz festival.org).
Meanwhile, as well as Van Morrison and Ruby Turner, the City of Derry Jazz Festival ( cityofderryjazzfestival.com) has a few interesting local musicians down the bill, including new projects from trumpeter Linley Hamilton and drummer David Lyttle. CORMAC LARKIN
