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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: Jazz News
Composer and guitarist Orlando Molina steps into the spotlight with the release of his debut album Autorretrato en Tres Colores (Self-Portrait in Three Colours) on May 23, 2025 — a sweeping, seven-track reflection on migration, transformation, and the emotional terrain that lies between.
Blending contemporary jazz with the vibrant folk traditions of Latin America, Molina crafts an intricate and deeply personal sonic portrait. Each composition is a chapter of his life, composed during different stages of his journey from Venezuela to Ireland, and informed by the emotional tension between departure and arrival, longing and belonging. With striking clarity, the album reveals the quiet resilience and joy found in cultural hybridity and self-discovery.
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- Written by: Werner Lewon
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: All Other Jazz
Read more: Tales from the far Side 15.05.25 Moods of Mambo in Jazz
On this edition I celebrate and explore the magic on Mambo Rhythms within Jazz from its early steps into our modern time, the soundtrack created by the Mingus Big Band, Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Cal Tjader and others
Read more: Tales from the far Side 15.05.25 Moods of Mambo in Jazz
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- Written by: Donald Helme
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: The Hot Box
Read more: The Hot Box #140 – I Thought About You
This edition of The Hot Box features a major re-issue, a remixed and remastered release of Louis Stewart’s quartet album with John Taylor, Sam Jones and Billy Higgins from Livia Records.
Originally recorded in 1977, and released in 1980 with some edits and overdubs, this impeccable version restores the original London recording and adds two extra tracks.
The results are possibly the best Louis Stewart studio recording, with top level accompaniment from the brilliant supporting trio.
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- Written by: Werner Lewon
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: All Other Jazz
Read more: Tales from the far Side 08.05.25 On a clear Day-you can see forever Jazz for a bright Day
On this edition I continue to celebrate the bright days of May and I've selected another selection of great, colourful and varied Jazz with music by Iioro Rantala, Verneri Pohjola, Illinois Jacquet, Cassandra Wilson, Michael Buckley's Ebb and Flow, Jeong Lim Yang, Nick Brignola, Ronnie Cuber and others
Read more: Tales from the far Side 08.05.25 On a clear Day-you can see forever Jazz for a bright Day
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- Written by: Werner Lewon
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: All Other Jazz
Read more: Tales from the far Side 01.05.25 May Songs-a Jazz Celebration of the month of May
On this edition I celebrate the arrival of the month of May, hoping for a bright and sunny one and welcoming it with music by Andy Sheppard, Bill Charlap, Carol Sloane, Michael Buckley's Ebb and Flow, Julia Huelsmann Quartet, Ross Lossing and others
Read more: Tales from the far Side 01.05.25 May Songs-a Jazz Celebration of the month of May
- Details
- Written by: Werner Lewon
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: All Other Jazz
Read more: Tales from the far Side 24.04.25 A Celebration and Exploration of Jazz
On this edition I take you on a stroll into some magnificent trumpet playing rooted and based in Northern Europe, creating a soundtrack of a special kind with music by Hildegunn Oeiseth, Anders Bergcrantz, Verneri Pohjola+Monkey Mind, Palle Mikkelborg. And there is a feature of the Irish Jazz Guitar icon Tommy Halferty to invite you to listen to a documentary about his life and work.
Read more: Tales from the far Side 24.04.25 A Celebration and Exploration of Jazz
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- Written by: Daniel Rorke
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: Album Reviews
Read more: Album Review: Tom Caraher - Ninety Degrees
Tom Caraher - Tenor Saxophone
Paul Dunlea - Trombone
Darragh O'Kelly - Fender Rhodes
Barry Donohue - Electric Bass
Shane O'Donovan - Drums
Saxophonist Tom Caraher should be counted with note among the many Irish Jazz musicians who deserve far wider recognition. A childhood partly spent in The United States, and then subsequent study with seriously-heavy Jazz musicians such George Garzone and Hal Crook at Berklee School of Music, makes Caraher a valuable asset to the Irish Jazz milieu. One might well envisage him as some form of oddly-hatted Jazz monk, via his new album Ninety Degrees, delivering the dhama of contemporary fusion saxophone playing to us, the pleading folk of far away lands.