In June 2020, Phil Ware - one of Ireland’s leading jazz pianists - suffered a major stroke. His friends and musical colleagues have come together to form the Fund for Phil, to support him through this most challenging time and to raise money to help his rehabilitation.

Phil Ware is one of Ireland’s leading jazz musicians, a renowned pianist and an inspirational teacher, whose playing credits include some of Ireland’s - and the world’s - greatest musicians including Louis Stewart, Peter Bernstein, Perico Sambeat, Bobbie Wellins and Ian Shaw.

In June 2020, Phil suffered a major stroke due to a ruptured aneurism which has left him severely disabled and facing a long and expensive period of rehabilitation. The Fund for Phil is an official fund-raising campaign, endorsed by Phil’s family and closest friends, set up to support his ongoing recovery and governed by an independent board of trustees.

Read more: The Fund for Phil

hallymusic shares a Yuletide Single unlike any other tune of Christmas past & announces a New Album for 2021

hallymusic has shared his new unexpectedly seasonal single ‘Christmas Eve’ which carries the torch of a long-established tradition, in which ‘Fairytale of New York’ has had the greatest mainstream success, and takes us on a winding tour down Yuletide’s darker alleys. Released on the 4th Dec via ArtHouse Records IE. He has also announced that a new album will be released after a series of bi-monthly single releases in 2021.

‘Christmas Eve’ and the forthcoming album features an array of Ireland's finest improvising musicians. ‘Christmas Eve’ was produced, recorded and mixed by hally over a few days of live sessions with his band ‘The Hymns’ at his studio in Co. Kildare. Everything was recorded onto 2” analog tape and lots of great fun and coffee was had. The song was mastered by Grammy Award winning Engineer and producer Ruadhri Cushnan at Camden Studios in Dublin.

Read more: New Single Release “Christmas Eve” from hallymusic

'Slave to the Moon' is a tragic love song which carries the listener to a timeless place which bares secrets of the night. A tragic love story relaying a tale of loss and despair. 'Slave to the Moon' entices the listener to read between the lines and melt into this haunting melody from The Two Five Ones. A captivating original song from the Cavan/Monaghan vintage jazz & blues duo.

Read more: New Video Release “Slave to the Moon” from The Two Five Ones

BAN BAM Commission & Development Award 2020/2021

Supporting women in jazz and creative improvised music

BAN BAM Commission & Development Award 2020/2021 is a new creative commissioning and career development opportunity open to Irish-born or resident female composers on the island of Ireland (North and South) presented by Improvised Music Company (IMC) and Moving on Music (MOM).

Following IMC’s ‘BAN BAM’ activity in 2017/18 promoting women in jazz and improvised music, combined with MOM’s extensive experience with their emerging artists programme, IMC and MOM are pleased to come together with a commission and development opportunity for female and gender-minority artists across the island of Ireland for 2020/2021.

Read more: BAN BAM Commission & Development Award 2020/2021

‘Rainy Days’ is the first single from Mauricio Ribeiro (BR) and Jennifer McMahon (IRL). The pair met while studying at Berklee College of Music back in 2016 and have collaborated on various projects since. ‘Rainy Days’ was composed by Mauricio, at the beginning of the Covid-19 quarantine in Spain earlier this year. In what has become somewhat ‘the norm’ in these unprecedented times, a remote collaboration developed when Mauricio sent a demo to Jennifer to write the lyrics. It’s no surprise that the imagery was very much conjured up at the beginning of the pandemic, when things seemed strangely empty and eery; yet the song offers a glimmer of hope, as we all so need to hold onto these days.

With the song ready to go, Mauricio set about gathering an impressive band of musicians from across the globe.

Read more: New Single Release “Rainy Days” from Mauricio Ribeiro & Jennifer McMahon

The 2020 Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has been cancelled.

In a statement, organisers said: “As a result of COVID-19 and current Government restrictions on indoor and outdoor activities, with the requirement for physical distancing, the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival Committee regrets to confirm the cancellation of this year’s Festival. “

“We know that this announcement will be disappointing for music fans, artists, publicans and the wider Cork community but their health and safety is our number one priority. We look forward to bringing back a strong, exciting and memorable Festival in 2021.”

Read more: Guinness Cork Jazz Festival cancelled due to Covid-19

Jan & Jannike have been collaborating with Dublin based producer Matt Vukos to produce their first official single called MVAS. The new single was released on the 26th of June and this is the video release for the same track.

About the Video

As Jan & Jannike were in lockdown at the time of creating this single and video release it presented them with an opportunity to try something new in terms of visuals. Everything you see in the video tracks with the narrative of the single very well.

Read more: New Video Release “MVAS” from Jan & Jannike