Music

Turkey and jam for Christmas: this week’s jazz highlights

Merry music-making with Charlie Moon, Organ Freeman, Ájo Arkestra and more

Guitarist Chris Guilfoyle, current artistic director of the Dublin Jazz Co-Op, is summoning the capital’s jazz musicians to the Workman’s Club for a Christmas Jam on Sunday

Cormac Larkin's face
Cormac Larkin
Sat Dec 22 2018 - 05:00

SATURDAY 22

CHARLIE MOON QUINTET
Arthurs, Dublin. 9pm €10 arthurspub.ie

Trumpeter Chet Baker may have been the sort of tragic figure of which legends and made-for-TV movies are made, but amongst musicians he is hugely respected, not only for his impeccable, Miles Davis-esque trumpet playing but also for his unique vocal style. Guitarist and vocalist Charlie Moon – son of Nigel Mooney – presents his tribute to the legendary trumpeter with a group that features trumpeter Eoin Grace, the ubiquitous Darragh Hennessy on piano (see below), bassist Barry Rycraft and drummer Sebastian Jezzi.

SUNDAY 23

CHRISTMAS JAM
Workman's Club, Dublin 8pm €10 facebook.com/dublinjazzcoop

The Dublin Jazz Co-Op has been one of the most positive developments on the live jazz circuit this year, presenting a series of thoughtful, artist-curated concerts featuring some of the most creative and hard-working musicians on the Dublin scene. Umbra guitarist and composer Chris Guilfoyle has just started an eight-week reign as artistic director of the series, and his gift for Christmas is a chance for musicians to meet up and jam, and an opportunity for the audience to check out the vitality and ever-deepening pool of talent on the current Irish jazz scene.

READ MORE

ORGAN FREEMAN
The Big Romance, Dublin 6pm Adm free facebook.com/TheBigRomanceBar

Everyone’s talking about the hip new dive bar on Dublin’s Parnell street with the funny name and the vinyl library. Enter a hip new jazz trio with a funny name to make the scene there on Sundays. Organ Freeman (ouch!) is guitarist and vocalist Charlie Moon, organist Darragh Hennessy and drummer Faolan Collins – three rising stars of the Dublin scene – summoning the hard-swinging spirit of Horace Silver, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith et al. With jazz selections on vinyl before and after, could there be a hipper way to end the week?

THURSDAY 27

CONOR GUILFOYLE OCTET
Arthurs, Dublin 9pm €12 arthurspub.ie

Legendary drum teacher Conor Guifoyle’s bands have been a breeding ground for new talent on the Dublin scene for the past three decades, and this slick eight-piece is no exception. With a repertoire that runs from Jazz Messengers and Wayne Shorter to West Coast cool, this is music from the now often-neglected jazz mainstream, impeccably delivered by a group that includes trumpeter Bill Blackmore, trombonist Paul Frost, saxophonists Yuzuha O’Halloran, Peter Dobai and Kelan Walsh, busy pianist Darragh Hennessy (see Saturday and Sunday) and bassist Barry Rycraft, all driven with forceful swing by the leader.

ÁJO ARKESTRA & FRIENDS
Sugar Club, Dublin 8pm €15/€10 thesugarclub.com

Afrofuturists Ájo Arkestra are a multi-national Dublin collective who get their name from the Yoruba word for “journey” and a reference to cosmic prophet Sun Ra’s legendary Arkestra. The band’s former name – the Dublin Afrobeat Ensemble – gives a clue as to their other main influence, the great Fela Kuti, and indeed the group have even played opposite Fela’s drummer, Afrobeat legend Tony Allen. If you know Afrobeat (and you really should), it’s enough to know that Ájo Arkestra are the real deal. If you don’t, expect to be converted by their authentic, deeply grooving, deeply revolutionary sound. Whoever you are, expect to dance.