Great atmosphere and buzz in the air as excitement builds for Cork Jazz Festival 

Practically every venue is a jazz venue during the Guinness Jazz Festival, but one of the newer additions to the festival’s established trail is the city’s istrative headquarters, City Hall.

Promoter Tom Keating is serving up an alternative to jazz music, though not necessarily alternative music, as he draws attention to Spandau Ballet star Tony Hadley and his full band.

“We’re billing it as the biggest ’80s night in Cork since the ’80s,” he enthuses as he boasts a lineup that includes,popular DJ Jenny Greene, Mack Fleetwood, and The Charlatans.

Tom is also bringing two of Cork’s most respected underground DJs, Shane Johnson and Jamie Behan, for an event called “Move on the Sunday night”.

“We’ve been speaking to the lads a while just to see whether we could,” Mr Keating says.

“The City Hall never had a late licence. We’ve been in discussions with City Hall and the licencing and we’ve been able to get that, which is good.

“It’s something that we intend to do every year, hopefully. The lads already have guests in mind. And both Shane and Jamie have their own following and their different styles of dance music, be it house or techno.”

Tom also has events elsewhere, such as The Scratch in Cork Opera House.

This is one he’s really excited about as they played his legendary bar Fred Zeppelin’s as they were starting out in 2019.

“It’s great to see that they’ve been able to generate a following over those four years,” he says proudly.

And, of course, Fred’s will also be hopping.

“It’s good to see the city busy. It should be as busy as that many times during the year. Cork is a great set up for a festival,” he says.

It’s no surprise to learn from Triskel Arts Centre director Tony Sheehan that the Jazz Festival is a critical part of the venue’s year.

“Jazz in particular is a genre and musical form that we champion and we’ve done it for very many years now.

“So I’m very much looking forward to this year’s festival,” Tony says.

“We’re a sanctuary for quality jazz music in Cork. We always have been. And we have an international reputation for jazz music because of our association with ECM as well.”

ECM is a German jazz and modern classical label that has released recordings of unimpeachable quality for over 50 years.

Tony has personally programmed a day of ECM artists on the Sunday in honour of ECM founder Manfred Eicher’s 80th birthday.

He adds: “His contribution is gigantic to the music and we are marking and celebrating that by setting a day aside for three superlative ECM acts.”

These are the trio of Hanna Weinmeister, Anja Lechner, and Anna Gourari, and a double bill of Cork favourites Marcin Wasilewski Trio and Oded Tzur Quartet, “which is one of the best jazz bands to come out anywhere in the last few years”.

With most of the Opera House shows sold out or selling fast, its CEO Eibhlín Gleeson is in buoyant form: “For us it’s like a really big time. We take out all the seats.

“We have a huge party in the main auditorium. I suppose the place is completely rocking and we love that about the Jazz Festival.

“It’s really different to the rest of the year because it’s different programming to what we get offered during the rest of the year.

“At the same time in the Green Room, we have that space fully in action too, and we have Karen Underwood. She’s doing a residency there over the course of the weekend.”

They’re also putting on a new show containing original material by singer and Opera House jazz artist in residence Laoise Leahy at the Granary Theatre on Saturday and Sunday at 5pm, called “Starlight” with the Johnny Taylor Trio.

Up on MacCurtain Street, Everyman Theatre CEO Sean Kelly is also looking forward to the weekend.

“It means a really great buzz all around town,” he observes, “particularly up around MacCurtain Street.

“Music coming out of every doorway, gigs on all day at The Everyman and crowds of happy people everywhere. And being carried along on the atmosphere and feeling part of something kind of special that was happening city wide.”

The Everyman is one of three principal venues kicking things off on a Thursday this year with the very un-jazz Oxn.

“We’re really excited about that,” he states. “It gets us into the festival mood and mode early.

“It’s great events all the way through the weekend. And you get to enjoy them in a theatre that’s 130-years-old, so you get high quality gigs in a really special atmosphere.”

Also part of the Thursday start is Live at St Luke’s on Summerhill North, which hosts veteran Ethiopian keyboard player Hailu Mergia.

“When I came to Cork in ’88, it started on Tuesday night, on Washington Street. It was literally six days. And it was almost seven days because you had that Monday night where bar staff who had been working hard all weekend head to the Metropole,” Joe Kelly said of promoters The Good Room.

“What do I like about the jazz festival? I think it’s a real showcase for the city.

It’s a really good city and size to move around and experience lots of different venues and places.”

They have a packed programme of events at St Luke’s, and Joe believes the area, which includes Henchy’s Bar, the Wine Tavern and Cork Coffee Roasters is a good place to begin or end one’s jazz adventures.

“It’s good to be able to go from St Luke’s all the way over to the River Lee Hotel, there’s some great bands there, and all around the city,” he says.

“Because we have afternoon gigs there’s a bit of symbiosis with the area. We’re just off the island with a villagey feel,” he says coining a potential marketing campaign. Taking advantage of what the locale offers, The Good Room are also putting on gigs in Henchy’s. Sunday should be a humdinger.

In the church on the afternoon is acclaimed producer John Carrol Kirby and his ensemble while Brazilian outfit Bixiga 70 are on in the evening.

Meanwhile in Henchy’s, The Camembert Quartet perform Prince’s Parade.

And Donal Dineen’s Back Story should end things on a high note.

The villagey feel is probably something appreciated by general manager of the White House in Kinsale Michael Frawley. The town has cultivated a thriving jazz fringe.

“Because I’d grown up in the industry, and I grew up in the White House, there was always weekends that would come along that you knew, even as a child, were special.

“Like we had the Rugby 7s, which was always great. We had the Gourmet, which was always great, but there was always something wonderful about the jazz.

“There’s always a lovely atmosphere around town. Like every pub you’d go to… sorry!” he corrects himself. “You don’t even need to go to a pub, just walking around the streets you can hear the music pouring out of pubs.”