CORK:THE WEATHER and the economy may not have changed much from the 1980s when the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival was in its heyday, but the music certainly has.
An eclectic mix of styles entices people into bars and venues all over the city. Now in its 32nd year, this year’s jazz festival is set to attract an estimated 50,000 people who are expected to inject some €20 million into the local economy as they attend a variety of concerts in more than 80 venues by about 1,000 musicians from some 37 countries.
Among the headline acts are jazz legend Herbie Hancock who plays the Everyman Palace Theatre tonight and acclaimed American bassist Charlie Hayden and alto sax performer Charles McPherson, both of whom bring their quartets to Leeside.
Other acts sure to attract a crowd include evolving British soul and bluesman Steve Winwood, who plays the Cork Opera House on Sunday night, and London acid jazz scene outfit The Brand New Heavies, who play the Savoy tonight.
Cork jazz festival programme director Jack McGouran said this year’s eclectic line-up marks the most adventurous bill in years and reflects the changes within jazz and the audience for jazz.
“Before we would have had people like Acker Bilk and Humphrey Lyttelton. But the whole jazz market has changed. The demographics of Ireland have changed and we’ve reflected that in our programming and so have a lot of other festivals around the world. They’re all looking at new sounds, new shades of jazz that are coming out, crossover styles influenced by new technology such as sampling and electronica, all of which appeal to people whose tastes are internet or iPod-driven,” he explained.
But for McGouran, jazz remains “a broad church” and he himself admitted that he was particularly looking forward to catching “some of the older stuff like Charlie Hayden and Herbie Hancock that’s still relevant and still hugely exciting”.
Among this year’s innovations is the first Cork jazz camp where the festival is bringing in some 100 young musicians from Ireland, Britain, Europe and the US and offering them the chance to attend master classes at the Cork School of Music.
McGouran explained that the camp has been developed in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland and is part of an attempt to build up cultural tourism to the country with the camp availing of some of the top players performing at the festival.
This year marks another innovation with Cork City Council promoting a series of open-air jazz concerts in the newly-refurbished Grand Parade on Saturday and Sunday afternoon in a bid to make the festival even more accessible.
Among those who made it to Cork yesterday was Taoiseach Brian Cowen who expressed regret that he wouldn’t catch any of the festival. But, perhaps cognisant of his own experiences in Galway recently, he offered the following advice to jazz fans: “Go home early!”