Jazz News - Jazz Ireland

Details: Written by: Red Keane; Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog; Category: Jazz News; Created: 27 October 2025

Applications are now open for the Music Network Music Capital Scheme 2025.

Deadline: Thursday 27 November 2025 at 2pm

The Music Capital Scheme, which is supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, provides funding for the purchase of musical instruments and selected items of equipment to individual professional musicians and non-professional groups across the country.

A total of €1,040,000 in funding is available through the following awards which are now open for applications:

Award 1 - for non-professional performing groups
Award 2 – for individual established professional performing musicians
Award 3 – for individual emerging professional performing musicians

An extensive range of applicant supports will be delivered between now and the application deadline. These will be available to both organisations and individuals, with a particular focus on supporting first time and previously unsuccessful applicants.

Details: Written by: Red Keane; Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog; Category: Jazz News; Created: 21 October 2025

Nigel Mooney Prepares to Release Mooney’s Mood — A Heartfelt Collection of Ballads

Nigel Mooney, one of Ireland’s most enduring and beloved figures in jazz and blues, has announced his forthcoming album, Mooney’s Mood, now available for advance purchase through his website.

Currently in the final stages of production, Mooney’s Mood is a record of Mooney’s favourite ballads, recorded in intimate small-group settings. The album features an impressive roster of Irish and international artists, including Louis Stewart, Jim Doherty, Michael Buckley, Johnny Taylor, Scott Flanigan, and guest vocalist Deborah Swiney.

The album grew out of Mooney’s long-running Sunday night residency at Dublin’s United Arts Club — an eight-year tradition that inspired a return to the elegance and restraint of the ballad form. Performing in an unamplified trio with Johnny Taylor (piano) and Barry Donohue (bass), Mooney rediscovered the subtlety and beauty of quieter expression.

Details: Written by: Red Keane; Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog; Category: Jazz News; Created: 20 October 2025

Consider that magical moment when two cultures meet — when Irish spirit and Italian passion converse in the language of improvisation. That’s what awaits Dubliners on Saturday, 15 November 2025, when the 8th Italian Fusion Festival – Jazz Edition takes over the cozy and elegant stage of the United Arts Club.

If you love music that surprises, art that speaks between lines, and evenings rich with connection — this is one you’ll want to mark in your diary.

What is the Italian Fusion Festival?

The Italian Fusion Festival, organised by Radio Dublino, is a beautifully ambitious celebration of what happens when Italian and Irish artistry combine. It is not just a concert series, but a multidisciplinary festival, weaving together music, visual art, film, hospitality and cultural exchange.

Now in its eighth edition, the Jazz Edition continues a tradition: bringing international talent to Dublin, spotlighting the creative energy of artists in Ireland with Italian roots or connections, and inviting dialogue across art forms.

Backed by the Italian Institute of Culture and RTÉ, it has become a fixture in Dublin’s cultural calendar — one that promises to surprise, enchant, and linger in the imagination.

Details: Written by: Red Keane; Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog; Category: Jazz News; Created: 29 September 2025

The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival returns this October Bank Holiday weekend (23–27 October 2025), bringing a wide range of music to Cork City across five days of ticketed shows, free performances, and community events. Now in its 47th year, the festival continues to bring together a wide spectrum of music — from swing, improvisation, and contemporary jazz, to soul, funk, hip-hop, and global traditions.

For those planning their October Bank Holiday weekend, Jazz Ireland will be listing a wide selection of concerts from the festival in our events calendar, so we encourage you to explore the programme there when planning your October Bank Holiday weekend.

Details: Written by: Red Keane; Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog; Category: Jazz News; Created: 22 September 2025

Mullingar Blues and Jazz Festival Launches This Weekend

Mullingar is getting ready to swing, groove, and celebrate as the very first Mullingar Blues and Jazz Festival takes place this weekend, September 26th–28th, 2025. For three days, the town will be filled with the soulful sounds of blues and jazz, uniting musicians, audiences, and locals in a celebration of music, community, and culture right in the heart of Westmeath.

The driving force behind the festival is Raimonda Masiulytė-Ramchurn, a professional jazz singer and creative powerhouse who has worked tirelessly to bring this new event to life.

Details: Written by: Red Keane; Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog; Category: Jazz News; Created: 19 September 2025

Congratulations to Sligo Jazz Project on their Jazz Forward Award

We are delighted to share the news that Sligo Jazz Project (SJP), under the vision and leadership of Eddie Lee and his team, has been named a 2025 Jazz Forward Award recipient by All About Jazz, the world’s largest jazz website.

The Jazz Forward Awards honour innovation, discovery, and impact in jazz globally, recognising organisations, businesses, and individuals who exemplify key trends in jazz today — including global collaboration, digital innovation, educational inclusion, and community-rooted sustainability. These awards shine a light on those who are doing the often-unseen but vital work of cultivating new audiences, nurturing artistic growth, and building the infrastructure that keeps jazz thriving.

Details: Written by: Red Keane; Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog; Category: Jazz News; Created: 16 September 2025

“Sounds of the Blue Book” – Rodrigo Almonte’s New Release and Irish Tour, September–October 2025

Peruvian-Irish guitarist and composer Rodrigo Almonte returns this autumn with his new album Sounds of the Blue Book, a powerful and moving suite inspired by Roger Casement’s 1910 Amazonian report, The Blue Book.

Casement’s investigation into the brutal exploitation of Indigenous communities during the rubber boom in Peru marked a turning point in international human rights advocacy. Over a century later, Almonte reimagines this story through music—blending jazz, improvisation, and Peruvian and Irish traditions into a hauntingly lyrical soundscape.

Applications are now open for the Music Network Music Capital Scheme 2025.

Nigel Mooney Prepares to Release Mooney’s Mood — A Heartfelt Collection of Ballads

A Night of Musical Alchemy: The 8th Italian Fusion Festival – Jazz Edition

Jazz Highlights at the 2025 Guinness Cork Jazz Festival

Mullingar Blues and Jazz Festival Launches This Weekend

Congratulations to Sligo Jazz Project on their Jazz Forward Award

“Sounds of the Blue Book” – Rodrigo Almonte’s New Release and Irish Tour, September–October 2025