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Event Description
A musical journey where Jazz and Blues blend with the rich traditions of Irish music, featuring original compositions and unique reworking of well-known classics
Antoni O’Breskey - piano, vocals
Paatho Cummins - banjo, mandolin, guitar, tin whistle, flute, vocals
Antoni O’Breskey, an Italian-born composer and pianist of Argentine heritage, has made Ireland his home and spent five decades pushing the boundaries of music. He is celebrated for pioneering piano improvisation within Irish traditional music and flamenco, seamlessly blending these genres with jazz, blues, and classical influences.
In 1979 he recorded his first solo album 'Irish meet the Blues': In 1989 he recorded 'Al Kamar', the first fusion between Irish traditional music, Jazz, flamenco, and music from the Maghreb. Among the special guests of this album are Antonio Carmona, leader of the band Ketama and Jamal Ouassini, director of the Tangeri Orchestra from Morocco. “Al Kamar” was presented in Paris at Theatre La Cigale, Le Cirque d’Hiver and l’Institut du Monde Arabe with special guests Manu Di Bangu and Jacques Higelin, and then toured around the world.
“Mesmerising. O’Breskey takes a few prisoners in his search for the sublime.“
THE IRISH TIMES
“Flamenco spirit meets Irish Trad: Antoni O’ Breskey’s music can span cultures.”
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
"The category of “World Music" did not exist when O' Breskey began his trailblazing journey yet he was the first to combine Flamenco, Basque, Arabic, Latin and Irish elements, his virtuoso jazz-styled piano uniting these traditions in remarkably original compositions. Bill Whelan developed O’Breskey’s synthesis of Flamenco, jazz and Irish traditional strands as a key structure in his Irish music and dance spectacular, Riverdance.”
NPR
With his work "Orekan" (1992) he created a new “symphonic” concept bringing together piano (the top classical instrument which started the new “well temperament” system) with a vast variety of "not tempered” instruments, belonging to many different ethnic traditions.
“Orekan is not only a masterpiece, it is above all a unique social document which gives us a strong idea of our roots, and in addition points out a few possible roads we might take in the future”
HOTPRESS
Among the many collaborators who appear in his Nomadic Piano cd collection collection are: Ronnie Drew (The Dubliners), Máirtín O’Connor (De Dannan), Steve Cooney, Donal Lunny (The Bothy Band), Cathy Jordan (Dervish), Antonio Carmona (Ketama), Gabin Dabire, José Seves (Inti-Illimani), Ultan O’Brien (Slow Moving Clouds), Paahto Cummins (Skipper’s Alley) and many more.
His contribution to Irish music and culture was celebrated in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in 2005, 2007, 2012.
Paahto Cummins is a multi-instrumentalist from Drimnagh, Dublin. Having completed a BA Irish Music & Dance at the University of Limerick, he co-founded Skipper's Alley in 2013 and released two albums to critical acclaim. In 2019 he joined Dublin bluegrass outfit Mules & Men and recorded a further two albums. In 2024 he released his first solo album ‘Irish Traditional Music from South-West Drimnagh’ to great acclaim. He is currently working on a variety of projects including duet albums with Seamas Hyland (accordion) and John Francis Flynn (guitar) and runs a music podcast titled “At the Crossroads."
Location of event
Venue Information - Arthur's
Arthur's is the nearest pub on the route to The Guinness Storehouse, one of the city's foremost tourist attractions. It is popular both with locals and tourists. Naturally it has the freshest pint of Guinness in all of Ireland.