The Triskel ECM Weekend is an integral part of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival and this year, to mark the prestigious jazz label’s 50th anniversary, Triskel have curated a weekend of cinema and concerts. It begins with the acclaimed John Abercrombie documentary Open Land on Friday 25th October and finishes on Sunday night with a solo concert from ECM veteran and jazz bassist Arild Andersen.

Anderson is a key figure in the ECM stable and has been one of Europe’s leading musicians for more than thirty years. He will form part of a double bill with the acclaimed duo Elina Duni and award winning virtuoso guitarist Rob Luft. Next year, Duni and Luft are scheduled to release a new album on ECM and concertgoers will get to hear their new collaborations exclusively live in Triskel, as well as music from Elina Duni’s album Partir.

Read more: Triskel ECM Weekend at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2019

GUINNESS announced exciting headline acts for the 42^nd Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, which takes place over the October Bank Holiday Weekend.

Giants of Jazz will join globally renowned artists pushing the boundaries of the musical genre today. The line-up features legendary artists including Grammy Hall of Famer Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, listed among Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Immortal Artists”; Kurt Elling with ‘Kurt Elling sings A Century of Heroes’, declared “the standout male vocalist of our time” by The New York Times and 14-time Grammy nominee and 2018 Jazz Pianist of the Year Fred Hersch.

There will also be headline performances from American Jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra whose 30 albums have sold over 10 million copies over four decades, Northern Ireland’s famous Dr. Linley Hamilton Quintet, who has performed with Paul Brady, Van Morrison and Foy Vance, British soul queen Mica Paris, who has toured with Michael Bolton and Boyz II Men and The Big Brass Band Explosion comprising of the high energy The OhnO! Jazzband, Hyde Park Brass and Les Fan Flures who are set to get the room moving.

Read more: Giants of Jazz among headliners for Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2019

Jimmy's Cousin is the later ego of Irish recording artist Ian Dodson. His debut album ‘Waxwings’ was released in May 2019. In support of the album he completed an Irish tour with MCD and is heading for the UK and Germany later this year as well as playing four more dates in Ireland this November. We’ll be in touch with these dates in the coming weeks.

When asked about the song Jimmy’s Cousin had this to say;

“The song was written in a fit of anger and humour. At the end of a relationship you begin to question yourself and wonder about the qualities you wish you had, that might have kept it alive. Wishing that you were cleverer or taller or prettier or smarter or anything you think that would’ve made you more palatable to the person who has left you. It’s actually a kind of self-affirming song and a declaration that I’ll never love again in a bad way, in a way that would see me doubt myself or wish I was different to what I am.”

‘I’ll Never Love Again’ is the third single from the album ‘Waxwings’

Read more: Jimmy's Cousin - I'll Never Love Again - Official Music Video

‘Inspired by conversation with Russell Garcia, I have always wanted to perform this score, and this concert is a culmination of many years of research into this project.’

Ryan Quigley

After the sell-out success of Kind of Blue Orchestrated in May, the next jazz classic to get the RTÉ Concert Orchestra treatment is the iconic 1958 Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong album Porgy and Bess.

Recreating Russell Garcia’s arrangement, award-winning jazz trumpeter Ryan Quigley has painstakingly recreated the lost score from the recording. The RTÉ CO presents the first ever concert version. Taking the title roles are Nicola Emmanuelle (‘the real deal’ – Time Out) and five-time British Jazz Awards winner Enrico Tomasso – who as a child actually knew Louis Armstrong.

Read more: Another jazz classic “Ella & Louis: Porgy & Bess” to get RTÉ Concert Orchestra treatment

This is one for the diary………..

New Ross Piano Festival’s brochure with the programme for this September is now widely available. And one of the stand-out pianists is a man who has made a huge name for himself in the jazz piano world. He is the charismatic Welsh pianist, Gwilym Simcock and he will be performing in St Mary’s Church, New Ross on Thursday, September 26th. Do not miss him.

Read more: New Ross Piano Festival 2019 - Press Release - Gwilym Simcock

Paris based, Irish vocalist and songwriter, Liv Monaghan, is to release a music video for her song, Touching Infinity, from her latest album, Slow Exhale.

Read more: Liv Monaghan "Touching Infinity" Video Release

The New Irish Jazz Orchestra, directed by Ireland’s premier Jazz export, Paul Dunlea, returns to CIT Cork School Of Music featuring the inimitable fiddle player and Ireland’s Cultural Ambassador, Martin Hayes as its special guest on Sunday 16th June for a special matinee performance at 4pm. Paul is hot off a UK tour with Canadian crooner Michael Bublé and will be ready to lead this inimitable orchestra. The concert will also feature original compositions from Irish composers such as Ronan Guilfoyle, Brian Byrne, Cormac McCarthy along with the orchestra’s director Paul Dunlea.

Read more: New Irish Jazz Orchestra with Ireland’s Cultural Ambassador, Martin Hayes Returns to Cork