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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: Jazz News
Read more: A Milestone Moment: The First Irish Group to Headline the London Jazz Festival Main Stage
This November 19, 2025, marks a groundbreaking moment in Ireland-UK cultural exchange. At the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the EFG London Jazz Festival 2025 will feature the Unreal Cities setting of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land—the first occasion that an Irish ensemble has ever headlined the festival’s main stage.
A Bold and Innovative Adaptation of a Modernist Masterpiece
T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land stands as one of the most influential poems of the 20th century, weaving together myths, cityscapes, and fragmented narratives. This performance, conceived and directed by Irish actor Adrian Dunbar, brings the poem to life through a thrilling interplay of spoken word, film, and music.
The musical score, composed by Irish / British composer Nick Roth, was originally commissioned for the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival in 2015. It remains the only performance of the poem in its 100-year history to include musical accompaniment.
Read more: A Milestone Moment: The First Irish Group to Headline the London Jazz Festival Main Stage
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: Jazz News
Read more: Limerick Jazz Festival 2025 Brings World-Class Music to the City
The countdown is on for one of Ireland’s most vibrant music gatherings as the Limerick Jazz Festival returns from Wednesday 24th to Sunday 28th September 2025. Now in its fourteenth year, the festival continues to bring the very best of Irish and international talent to the city, filling venues with rhythm, melody, and improvisation.
This year’s programme is notable for its strong focus on the voice, with an impressive line-up of singers headlining the bill. At the Belltable, renowned UK vocalist Ian Shaw will present When Bowie Met Joni: The Songs of David Bowie and Joni Mitchell, a performance that promises both nostalgia and reinvention. Also from the UK, Brigitte Beraha will appear at the People’s Museum of Limerick, joined by acclaimed guitarist Ant Law for an intimate evening of music. Closer to home, Dolan’s Pub will host an exciting series of concerts featuring Irish singers including Deborah Swiney (Memphis), long-time festival friend Nigel Mooney, Emilie Conway, and Dublin’s Cormac Kenevey.
Read more: Limerick Jazz Festival 2025 Brings World-Class Music to the City
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: Jazz News
Read more: Katharine Timoney Set to Release New EP in September, Live Show in Dublin This October
Exciting news for jazz-soul fans! Katharine Timoney—hailed as ‘One To Watch’ by BBC Introducing, Jazz FM UK, and Belfast Live—has a new EP titled All This Time, scheduled for release September 15, 2025. The release marks another step in Timoney’s journey of blending gospel, R&B, soul, and vocal jazz into a rich, genre-defying sound. The record features contributions from Ben Castle (saxophone), Mark Edwards (piano & Hammond), Arnie Somogyi (bass), and Darren Beckett (drums).
Her EP, Life Came into Colour (2022), earned significant praise—including Track of the Week nods and several weeks on Jazz FM UK’s A-List—and won the 2022 UK Songwriting Contest (Jazz category) with its title track.
Fresh from standout festival performances—Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Cork Guinness Jazz Festival, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival—Timoney is gearing up for her first headline autumn tour. Among the highlights: October 16, 2025, she brings her full band to Arthur’s Blues & Jazz Club in Dublin—an intimate yet unforgettable performance not to be missed.
Read more: Katharine Timoney Set to Release New EP in September, Live Show in Dublin This October
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: Jazz News
Music Network and Ionad Cultúrtha wish to provide a significant development opportunity specifically for a professional musician who is autistic/a person with autism and who has a strong track record in music performance.
This opportunity recognises that many such musicians face barriers toward career progression that others may not. The main purpose of the residency is to provide time and space for a Musician-in-Residence to develop their practice intensively.
Through this opportunity, Music Network and Ionad Cultúrtha are seeking to make space for social change in the music sector in general and hope to learn from the Musician-in-Residence how they can better facilitate and include autistic people/people with autism in their own programmes and in the wider sector, both in performance and educational environments.
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: Jazz News
Read more: Sligo Jazz Festival 2025: Celebrating 20 Years of Jazz, Community & Creativity
Jazz is the teacher. That’s the message running through this year’s Sligo Jazz Festival, which returns from 22–27 July 2025, marking its 20th anniversary with a week-long celebration of boundary-breaking performance, deep musical exchange, and serious good vibes.
Kicking off with a programme launch and live performance on Thursday, June 12th at Lillies Cocktail Bar, the festival gets its first spark from UK guitarist Ant Law and vocalist Brigitte Beraha, two of the many creative voices shaping this year’s programme. The evening will also unveil the full SJP 2025 schedule — and what a schedule it is.
“Funk may be the preacher but jazz is the teacher,” writes Stephen Graham in the official festival programme foreword. “Whether a learner or observer, the Sligo Jazz Project’s faculty — its biggest ever — sends a signed, sealed, delivered message hand delivered person to person, generation to generation, musician to musician.”
Read more: Sligo Jazz Festival 2025: Celebrating 20 Years of Jazz, Community & Creativity
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: Jazz News
Read more: Louis Stewart’s I Thought About You: A Landmark Recording Reborn
Release Date: May 29, 2025
Livia Records | Remixed, Remastered, and Extended Edition with 16-page Booklet and Photos
“In my book he's one of the world's great jazz guitarists.” – Ronnie Scott
Louis Stewart’s extraordinary career is once again illuminated by the latest release from Livia Records: a fully remixed and remastered edition of I Thought About You, a studio album recorded in 1977 featuring a stellar international quartet—British pianist John Taylor, and the powerhouse American rhythm team of Sam Jones and Billy Higgins.
Originally released in 1980 with some edits and overdubs, this new version restores the album to its original brilliance, using the master tapes recorded at London’s Olympic Studios. With two additional tracks and a 16-page booklet of rare photos and newly commissioned notes, this reissue confirms I Thought About You as one of the definitive documents of Stewart’s artistry.
Read more: Louis Stewart’s I Thought About You: A Landmark Recording Reborn
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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.
- New Release from Livia Records: Ronan Guilfoyle’s At Swing, Two Birds - Bending Time, Honouring Tradition
- Fingal County Council Arts Office and Music Network Launch New Carnegie Musician-in-Residence Award
- Bray Jazz Festival 2025: A Global Celebration of Jazz
- Tommy Halferty: A Part of the Continuum – A New 11-Part Documentary Series Exploring the Life and Music of One of Ireland’s Greatest Jazz Guitarists
