2017

april

28
brayjazz.com

To

30

Bray
International
Jazz
Festival
Photo: Maarja Nuut
Welcome
Its 18 years since Bray Jazz Festival embarked on our remarkable journey that has
enabled us to present more than 700 concerts, recitals and jazz trail shows in North
Wicklow on the May Bank Holiday weekend.

We are fortunate to have had some of the best artists in contemporary jazz in our midst,
and to have provided a platform for Irelands rich reservoir of musical talent. We are
confident that 2017 will be no exception.

Bray Jazz is grateful to the many performers who have made the festival possible, and
to the generous sponsors whose backing is vital, every year. In 2017 we say a sincere
thanks to The Arts Council of Ireland, Failte Ireland, Wicklow County Council,
Bray Town Councillors, Mermaid Arts Centre, The Harbour Bar, East Coast
FM, RTElyric FM, The Martello, The Glenview Hotel, The Royal Hotel, Music
Generation Wicklow, Irish Rail, Wicklow Wolf Brewing Co, the Embassies of
Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Denmark and Swiss Arts Council for their support.

We are grateful also to all of our venues and to the congregation at Cornerstone Church
for their support. All those mentioned above contribute so much to making Bray Jazz
an event that has been described as one of the very best small jazz festivals in Europe.

Embassy of Embassy of
Denmark Estonia

Visit www.brayjazz.com or contact box office at (01) 2724030

to find out about some great ticket package offers
Bray
International
Jazz
Festival
Friday, 28th April
4.00pm The Well: Bringing the Fire (Jazz Workshop) Free
6.30pm Town Hall: Stian Carstensen (Norway) 12
8.00pm Mermaid Arts Centre: Lionel Loueke (Benin/USA) 25
9.30pm The Well, Main St: The Firebirds (Denmark) 12
10.00pm Harbour Stage: Chief Keegan (Irl) Free
11.30pm Harbour Stage: Planet Parade (Irl) Free
Various venues - The Wicklow Wolf Jazz Trail (P.18) Free

Saturday, 29th April

3.00pm Harbour Stage: Julien Colarossi Organ Trio (Irl/Italy) Free
4.00pm The Well, Main St: Roamer (Irl) 8
6.30pm Town Hall: Shantala SubramanyamTrio (India) 12
8.00pm Mermaid Arts Centre: Beats & Pieces Big Band (UK) 25
7.00pm Harbour Stage: Ruba Shamshoum Quartet (Palestine) Free
9.30pm The Well, Main St: Pilgrim (Switzerland) 12
10.30pm Harbour Stage: Zaska Free
Various venues - The Wicklow Wolf Jazz Trail (P.18) Free

Sunday, 30th April

3.00pm Harbour Stage: CEO Experiment & Michael Buckley (Irl) Free
6.30pm Town Hall: Maarja Nuut (Estonia) 12
7.00pm Harbour Stage: Felton Evans DelVal Trio (Irl/Spain) Free
8.00pm Mermaid Arts Centre: Malin Wttring Quartet (Sweden) 25
9.30pm The Well: The Necks (Australia) 16
10.30pm Harbour Stage: Megacone (Irl) Free
Various venues - The Wicklow Wolf Jazz Trail (P.18) Free
 Lionel
Loueke
Trio
BENIN/USA

Venue: Mermaid
Friday April 28th
Time: 8:00pm
Tickets: 25

The band switch between

Hendrix-like wails, kora-
like chimes and power-trio
rock in a blink- the songs
are consistently strong."
The Guardian

Lionel Loueke is a major guitar talent whose band fuse traditional West African
music with modern jazz harmonies and power-trio rock to create a sound that is all
their own.

Louekes selection to the all-star band to celebrate Blue Notes 75th anniversary is
testimony to the talent, as is his long-standing presence in the band of the legendary
Herbie Hancock, who has described him simply as a musical painter.

Born in Benin in West Africa, Loueke attended the National Institute of Art in Ivory
Coast before leaving Africa to pursue jazz studies at the American School of Modern
Music in Paris, from where he earned a scholarship to Berklee College of Music.
Later, his mentors at The Thelonious Monk Institute included Wayne Shorter and
Hancock.
 Venue: Mermaid
Beats & Pieces Saturday April 29th
Time: 8:00pm
Big Band Tickets: 25
UK

Beats & Pieces Big Band is a fourteen-piece juggernaut that swaggers old school when
it wants to, but also reveals a contemporary urban edge, with Radiohead medleys,
electronica and Bowie in amongst the brass and reeds.

Winners of the Best Newcomer Award from Jazz FM in 2013 and Best Ensemble
at the prestigious Parliamentary Music Awards a year later, Beats & Pieces idiomatic
range and flat out attack have drawn justifiable comparisons to their acclaimed 1980s
forebearers Loose Tubes.

Composer and conductor Ben Cottrells compositions reflect the diversity of music
that people of their generation have grown up with, and is influenced as much by
Michael Jackson, Bjork and Radiohead as they are by Ellington and Gil Evans.

There hasnt been a live British big band since Loose

Tubes with the same degree of energetic spontaneity and
enjoyment of performing as this one Jazzwise
Nordic
Jazz Malin Wttring
QUARTET
Sweden
Venue: Mermaid
Sunday April 30th
Time: 8:00pm Malin Wttring is one of Swedens most accomplished
Tickets: 25 and exciting young saxophonists, the latest great jazz
talent to emerge from a rich Scandinavian tradition.

An amazing and She released Gld, her critically acclaimed debut

mesmerizing album. It album in 2015, and since then has been establishing
moves me and makes a growing reputation as a major player in Nordic jazz.
me want to listen again Live, the Malin Wttring 4s performance can run the
immediately Lira gamut from fragile to incandescent, from menacing
to tender and beautiful.

Wttring has a sympathetic foil in pianist Naoko

Sakata, a virtuoso and award-winning pianist whose
Presented with support from deep love of Nordic jazz brought her from her native
the Embassy of Sweden. Japan to Sweden almost a decade ago.
Nordic
Jazz

STIAN
CARSTENSEN
Presented with support from
the Embassy of Norway.
NORWAY

Describing Norways Stian Carstensen as an Venue: Town Hall

accordionist is a bit like calling Yehudi Menuhin a Friday April 28st
fiddle player. He plays the button-accordion for sure, Time: 6:30pm
but he does so much more than that. Tickets: 12

A multi-instrumentalist who is also a highly

accomplished guitarist and flautist, Carstensen is
an entertainer and musical mad-scientist whose
combination of humour and virtuosity have earned
him the description the Norwegian Frank Zappa. The press release says that
he is amongst the best
In concert, foot tapping, head nodding, laughter, and musicians in Europe. It is
open-mouthed wonder are commonplace. Carstensen wrong. He is among the
is a performer widely regarded as amongst the best best in the world.
accordionists in the world, and is something of a BBC World Music
national treasure in his native land. Review
Venue: Town Hall
Saturday April 29th
Time: 6:30pm
Tickets: 12

Shantala
SubramanyamTrio
India
Shantala Subramanyam is a master of the venu, the
bamboo flute that is central to the southern Indian
Carnatic musical tradition.

Her musical prowess and Born in Bangalore,the heartland of Carnatic

diligence has allowed her music, she is renowned for her flute playing and
to master the instrument improvisation on beautiful ragas within a highly
The Hindu evolved rhythmic vocabulary.

Shantala is joined here by two other great Indian

players, violinist Akkarai Sornalatha and percussionist
Jayachandra Rao, a master of the mridangam, the
emblematic wooden hand drum that is that heartbeat
of South Indian music.
Nordic
Jazz

Maarja
Nuut
Estonia

Venue: Town Hall

Sunday April 30th
Time: 6:30pm
Tickets: 12

Maarja Nuutis an extraordinary musician, a fiddle

player and singer from Estonia who uses technology to
rework Baltic folk styles to create impressively original
songs and soundscapes.

She performs solo, helped by a sound engineer who

assists in constructing sound loops of her instrument thats what it sounds
and voice, matching repeated phrases against melody like when the snow sings
lines. The results are often startling. Simon LeBon

Maarja plays both plucked and bowed fiddle. She has

a cool, intimate and often dream-like vocal style. In
performance, she seems to be channeling memories.
Nuut has admitted that her mission is to explore the Presented with support from
emotional spaces that border on the conscious, waking the Embassy of Estonia.
state.
Nordic
Jazz The Firebirds
denmark

Venue: The Well

Friday April 28th Just as great composers like Igor Stravinsky drew
Time: 9:30pm inspiration from folk songs and melodies to create
Tickets: 12 their timeless classics, The Firebirds take classical
music as the jumping off point for a repertoire of
groove-laden jazz improvisation.
Not just one of Europes
most interesting drummers The trio is named after one of Stravinskys best-
but one of Europes most known works. As the son of a ballet dancer, band
interesting musicians leader Stefan Pasborg grew up immersed in classical
Jazz Journal music. The Firebirds draw on genres and styles as
diverse as jazz, surf, free improvisation and blues to
bring a rich new interpretation to the music of iconic
Presented with support from composers including Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Carl
the Embassy of Denmark. Nielsen and Rimskij-Korsakov.
Roamer
ireland

Venue: The Well Roamer is an exciting new project that has brought
Saturday April 29th together four of Irelands most internationally active
Time: 4:00pm jazz musicians, three of whom now live and work
Tickets: 8 beyond these shores.

To say super-group is hyperbole, but if you were

to pick a group to represent some of the best of the
One of the brightest current generation of Irish improvisers, these four
creative sparks to come would almost certainly feature.
out of the contemporary
jazz vocal field in a long VocalistLauren Kinsella, whorecently won the Jazz
while. Jazzwise FM UK Vocalist of the Year is joined in the ensemble
by Cologne-based saxophonistMatthew Halpin, bassist
Simon Jermyn, now an in-demand player in New Yorks
Brooklyn scene,and drummerMatthew Jacobson, who
is the only band member currently based in Ireland.
 Pilgrim
Switzerland

Venue: The Well

Saturday April 29th
Time: 9:30pm
Tickets: 12

Pilgrim is a high-
achieving unit, the
end results immensely
satisfying
Glenn Astarita,
All About Jazz

Founded by Zurich-based tenor saxophonist Christoph

Irniger, Pilgrim are one of the most exciting young
ensembles in contemporary European Jazz.

An energetic quintet whose performances are filled with

verve, spontaneity and pulsating improvisation, they
visit Bray Jazz on the back of the release of a remarkable
live album Big Wheel Live, which appeared on several
Best Of lists of 2016.

Drawn from different regions of their native

Presented with Support Switzerland, Pilgrims members have performed with
from Pro Helvetia, the many of the greats, Dave Liebman, Dave Douglas,
Swiss Arts Council Nasheet Waits and Joey Baron included.
The
Necks
Australia

Venue: The Well THEY have been described, by the New York Times
Sunday April 30th as one of the greatest bands in the world, and by
Time: 9:30pm The Guardian as one of the most extraordinary
Tickets: 16 groups on the planet.

Championed by musical pioneers such as Nick

Broad impressionist
brushstrokes a sweeping,
irrepressible sense of
grandeur... Iam left feeling
quite pleasantly drunk
The Wire
Cave and Brian Eno, the trio, who have released 19
albums in over 30 years are the epitome of the cult
band, and with good reason.
The Necks dont sound like any band you have ever
heard. They are an instrumental piano trio but dont
sound like one, their music is not jazz, classical,
minimalism, ambient, trance or alt-rock. Somehow
it is beyond these labels.
Harbour
Stage
Friday 28th April, 10.00pm:

Chief Keegan
A funky feel-good band, Chief Keegan
are comprised of organ, guitar, bass and
drums. An instrumental combo, they
are influenced by an array of bands that
play bluesy with a deep groove.

Saturday 29th April, 7pm

Friday 28th April, 11.30pm:
Planet Parade
Created by Kildare duo Michael
Hopkins and Andrew Lloyd, Planet
Parade have since evolved into a tight-
knit six piece, whose debut album was
launched to critical acclaim last year.
Ruba Shamshoum
Palestinian singer Ruba Shamshoum is
influenced by jazz, rock and music of
her native Middle East. Shes built quite
a following since making Dublin her
home, and has also enjoyed a number of
indie-charting songs in the Middle East
in recent years.

Saturday 29th April, 3pm

The Julien
ColArossi Trio
Catchy pop tunes by Al Green and
Stevie Wonder feature in the repertoire
of The Julien Colarossi Trio, a band
comprising the talented Italian guitarist,
with master drummer Conor Guilfoyle
and organist Darragh Hennessy.
Saturday 29th April, 10.30pm
Zaska
Max Zaska has been an irrepressible
force on the Irish jazz and funk scene for
the past number of years, his live shows
a force to be reckoned with. Hard to
categorise, think soul, hip hop and more
than a liberal dollop of modern funk.
Presented with support
from the Harbour Bar.

Sunday 30th April, 3pm

CEO Experiment with

Michael Buckley
CEO Experiment are a highly polished piano trio
who epitomize the international nature of Irelands
contemporary jazz community. The players, from Peru,
Venezuela and Hungary are joined here by Irelands
leading jazz saxophonist, Michael Buckley.

Sunday 30th April, 7pm

Felton Evans Del Val Trio

Dublin pianist Greg Felton is joined by great Catalan
drummer Gonzalo Del Val and long-time Irish based
Australian bassist Damien Evans in this classic piano
trio combo.

Sunday 30th April, 10.30pm

Megacone
Megacone are a five-piece instrumental band known
for their blazing trio of lead guitars and energetic live
shows. Addictive grooves, ambient soundscapes and a
helping of classic prog rock are the order of the day.
The Wicklow Wolf
Jazz Trail

The Hibernia

Friday, 28th April

Take Trio 10:00pm
Saturday, 30th April
Dirt Road Blues Band 10:00pm
Sunday, 30th April
Charlie Sings Chet Quintet 10:00pm
The Martello
The Harbour Bar
Thursday, 27th April
Interskalactic 9:30pm
Monday, 1st May
Big Spoon 3:00pm
Square Pegs 9:00pm

Friday, 28th April The Porterhouse

Brass Tacks 9:00pm
Saturday, 29th April Saturday, 29th April
Caoimhe Barry Trio 9:00pm Julien Colarossi Organ Trio 7:00pm
Sunday, 30th April
Take Trio 1:00pm
Sunday, 30th April The Coach Inn
Ultrasound 9:00pm
Monday, 1st May Friday, 29th April
Bray Concert Band - Dermot Byrne &
30th anniversary Danny Tobin 10:00pm
All That Jazz show 1:00pm Sunday, 30th April
Monday, 1st May Dermot Byrne
Jamie Duff 9:00pm & Danny Tobin 10:00pm
 The Grove Inn,
Willow Grove

Saturday, 29th April

The Mia Parsons Trio,
Mia sings Sarah Vaughan 9:30pm
Jim Doyles

Saturday, 29th April Mt Everest of

Take Trio 10:00pm Kathmandu

Sunday, 30th April

The Ocean Bar Grill Leopoldo Osio solo piano 6:30pm

Friday, 28th April

Stella Bass & Phil Ware 8:00pm
Saturday, 29th April
Greg Felton solo piano 8:00pm

Big Spoon
Harbour bar
May 1, 3:00pm
The FIREBIRDS
"Bringing
the fire"
Workshop

Venue: The Well How do you reinterpret classical music in a jazz

Friday April 28th context? What about adapting Stravinsky or
Time: 4:00pm Tchaikovsky for free improvisation, surf, or blues?
Tickets: FREE And why?

Reserve your space by Celebrated Danish jazz ensemble The Firebirds, who
contacting box office take their name from one of Igor Stravinskys classic
on (01) 2724030 compositions, do just that.

And they will share some of their thinking, ideas and

approaches, at a free-to attend workshop at this years
Bray Jazz Festival. This workshop is suited equally to
practitioners and students of jazz, classical, folk,
traditional or rock music, and to the merely curious of
all ages. Why not join us, and hear the answers to these
questions, and any others you might have yourself?

Presented in association with Music Generation Wicklow

and with support from the Embassy of Denmark.
Tickets can be purchased
through the website at:
www.brayjazz.com or by
contacting Box Office at
Mermaid Arts Centre on
(01) 2724030.

Find out more about our

Weekend Passes and great
Ticket Packages on offer
this year.

brayjazz.com