Music

This week’s best jazz gigs: Big names in small venues

Graeme Flowers, Marcin Wasilewski Trio, Martin Hayes, Brian Dunning play this week

Marcin Wasilewski Trio

Cormac Larkin's face
Cormac Larkin
Sat Jun 15 2019 - 05:00

Saturday 15th

The Welcome Rain featuring Graeme Flowers
Arthur's, Dublin
First-call London trumpeter Graeme Flowers spends most of his time playing other people's music, whether it's touring with Kylie Minogue or bassist Kyle Eastwood, or recording with everybody from Quincy Jones to Duran Duran. Here's a chance to hear Flowers making some noise of his own devising, with a quartet that also features rising Welsh guitarist Tommy Emmerton, whose own credits include Jamie Cullum and Burt Bacharach. The two London-based musicians are joined for this one-off Dublin gig by one of Ireland's strongest rhythm teams, bassist Dave Redmond and drummer Kevin Brady.

Marcin Wasilewski Trio
Triskel, Cork
Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski's much-anticipated return to Triskel Christchurch marks a number of notable anniversaries. Not only is it the 25th anniversary of the pianist's celebrated trio with bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz, but 2019 also marks the 50th anniversary of the renowned Munich label ECM, which has enjoyed a particular association with Triskel in recent years. This year is also the 50th anniversary of the death of pianist and film composer Krzysztof Komeda, whose music was a particular inspiration for Wasilewski's trio so expect the spirit of Poland's most celebrated jazz musician to make its presence felt in Christchurch's soaring space – part of the Cork's Midsummer Festival which runs to June 23rd.

Sunday 16th

New Irish Jazz Orchestra & Martin Hayes
CIT Cork School of Music, Cork
Leading Cork trombonist and arranger Paul Dunlea, fresh from a stint in the trombone section of Michael Bublé's touring band, presents a special Sunday afternoon collaboration between his New Irish Jazz Orchestra and renowned fiddler Martin Hayes. Big Band horn sections and traditional fiddles are not often heard on the same stage, but the mercurial Hayes has never let genre stand between him and a new musical experience, collaborating over the years with everyone from Bill Frisell and Ricky Skaggs to Sting and Yo-Yo Ma, as well as spearheading new-trad supergroup the Gloaming. It will be interesting to hear into what new spaces Dunlea, a skilled arranger for horns, can lead Hayes' fiddle, with a repertoire that includes new music from Irish jazz composers Ronan Guilfoyle, Brian Byrne, Cormac McCarthy and Dunlea himself.

Thursday 20th

Darragh Hennessy Organ Trio
Arthur's, Dublin
Rising Dublin organist Darragh Hennessy has been making a name for himself as a side-man over the past couple of years, accompanying some of the finest guitarists on the Irish scene, including Jimmy Smyth, John Moriarty and Julien Collarossi. Now Hennessy, also an accomplished pianist and composer, steps into the spotlight to launch his debut recording, Duchenne Smile, an old-school hard-swinging organ trio album with Colarossi and renowned Barcelona drummer Gonzalo Del Val.

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Saturday 22nd

Brian Dunning & Friends
Arthur's, Dublin
Flautist Brian Dunning was one of the first Irish jazz musicians to properly engage with Irish traditional music, founding the influential crossover group Puck Fair in New York in the 1980s. The band has gone through various incarnations since then, but all of Dunning's projects bear the imprint of his interest in his native musical tradition, and his array of flutes, whistles and electric uileann pipes produce a sound that is still unique in Irish jazz. His accomplices for this Arthur's appearance – revisiting some Puck Fair material along with new originals and standards – include his long-time collaborator, guitarist Sean Whelan, Van Morrison bassist Paul Moore, silky pianist Johnny Taylor and tasteful drummer Dominic Mullan.

Sunday 23rd

Dublin Jazz Co-Op: Luke Howard
Workman's Club, Dublin
The weekly Dublin Jazz Co-Op series, currently curated by Shy Mascot singer Fiadh Rua Gregg, is a perfect chance to lose the genre blinkers and dip a toe in the churning waters of the Dublin creative music scene. This week, Dublin pianist Luke Howard invites various guests to join him in the cosy upstairs room at the Workman's Club.