The Hot Box
Since the demise of RTE Lyric’s Jazz Alley, which broadcast every week from the first weekend of the station’s existence until it was axed at the end of 2015, there has been no regular national programme devoted to jazz. The Hot Box aims to fill that gap with former Jazz Alley presenter Donald Helme.
The Hot Box sets the best of Irish recorded jazz in the wider context of the universal language that is jazz worldwide. It tries to emphasise accessability and sheer enjoyment, and is building an audience well beyond the shores of its home country.
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: The Hot Box
Read more: The Hot Box #158 - Another Home Game
Donald Helme returns to home ground for The Hot Box #158, bringing together contemporary releases and archive recordings that reflect the breadth of jazz made here in Ireland.
The Hot House Big Band gets things swinging, while pianists John Donegan and Scott Flanigan share the programme with the late master of stride piano, Professor Peter O’Brien. There is guitar music too, from the duo Julien & John and Hugh Buckley with his international band.
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: The Hot Box
Read more: The Hot Box #155 - Abdullah Ibrahim
Donald Helme pays tribute to the wonderful South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, who died in June 2026 at the age of 91.
Known earlier in his career as Dollar Brand, Ibrahim created a musical voice rooted in the rhythms, melodies and cultural life of South Africa. His music reached audiences around the world while retaining a profound connection to home.
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
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Read more: The Hot Box #153 - Oscar Peterson
A nudge from a listener in Scotland prompts Donald Helme to put right an omission: marking the centenary of the great Oscar Peterson.
This episode opens with Norman Granz introducing the Oscar Peterson Trio at Zurich’s Kongresshaus on 8 April 1960. Sharing the bill that evening were the Stan Getz Quartet and the Miles Davis Quintet—an extraordinary gathering of jazz talent.
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
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Read more: The Hot Box #157 - A Home Game (Mostly)
It’s something of a home game on this edition of The Hot Box, with Donald Helme spending most of the hour in the company of Irish musicians, drawing on recordings both new and from the archives.
Among the newer music is Stella Bass with her latest single Time to Fly, while a look back into Irish jazz history brings us John Wadham’s Drums and Friends, recently remastered and reissued by Livia Records, from which we hear Wayne Shorter’s Footprints. There’s also music from Linley Hamilton, Don Baker, Fintan O’Neill, Lee Meehan and Kevin Brady.
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
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Read more: The Hot Box #156 - Everybody Digs Bill Evans
As the new movie Everybody Digs Bill Evans launches in cinemas around Ireland, The Hot Box grabs the opportunity to immerse you in Evans’ music. Whilst an hour can only provide a snapshot of the considerable output from one of jazz’s truly great innovators, it enables us to evaluate his contribution to jazz during his too-short life.
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
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Read more: The Hot Box #154 - Miles Davis 100
Join Donald Helme on this edition of The Hot Box as he celebrates the life and music of one of jazz's most influential figures, Miles Davis, marking what would have been the legendary trumpeter's 100th birthday. From his groundbreaking innovations in bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz and jazz fusion, Miles Davis reshaped the course of modern music and continues to inspire generations of musicians and listeners alike.
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- Written by: Red Keane
- Parent Category: Jazz Ireland Blog
- Category: The Hot Box
Read more: The Hot Box #152 - Back to Bebop!
Whilst enjoying the multitude of styles that compose the repertoire of jazz today, many fans have long decried the disappearance of Bebop in favour of crossover music and other listener-to-listener styles. There is some evidence though that things may be changing, and one piece of that evidence is the emergence of some bands playing music closer to bop or hard bop style.
