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Event Description
Bemusement Arcade's 2025 album, released by Livia Records, garnered some pretty hot reviews as it toured and Westport Jazz welcomes them here for the music, which as Ronan puts it, "is a combination of unusual rhythmic things played via the blues, rhythm changes, boogaloos... so, swinging and very audience friendly!"
Ronan Guilfoyle has been a major figure in Irish jazz for more than thirty years, performing with, among others, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, John Abercrombie, Benny Golson and Brad Mehldau and has been pushing the envelope of the music in the fields of composition, performance, and particularly rhythm, in which he is recognised internationally as a major innovator.
Bemusement Arcade, his innovative new quartet, is devoted to expanding the rhythmic language of jazz while using the tradition of blues, swing and standards. The music is both complex but grooving, distinctive but also familiar, intriguing, yet firmly in the great jazz tradition - expect grooves, blues, and swing but with a twist!
Joining Ronan in this adventure are three brilliant young musicians; Sam Norris, who at only 24 is already recognised as one of the UK’s most exciting young saxophonists; Chris Guilfoyle who has already established himself as one of Ireland’s leading guitarists performing with Jim Black and Dave Binney, and Darren Beckett, the powerhouse Belfast drummer who carved out an international career based in New York, and now in the UK.
Come and join them for this trip into a new musical landscape – expect grooves, blues, swing and lots of rhythmic intrigue!
‘innovative and compelling contemporary jazz’ Irish Times
'Ronan Guilfoyle has created for himself a unique position in jazz', UK Jazz News
'The musicianship is excellent, the collaboration is precise, it almost seems effortless – it’s excellent from start to finish'. Tempo On The Pulse, Geelong Australia
‘This is up there with the best’, Marlbank, UK
‘His virtuosity on the bass guitar sensitively powers all of the music on this recording.’ Steve Cerra Jazz Profiles
‘…a fine album that proves jazz tradition is as restless—and as thrillingly alive—as ever. All About Jazz
‘You only have to look at the musical background of each of the quartet members to know that the performance is going to be top-notch, and if we add to that the quality of Ronan Guilfoyle's compositions, the end result can only be a high-voltage product.’ Le Habitación Del Jazz
Artists:
Ronan Guilfoyle – bass
Sam Norris – alto saxophone
Chris Guilfoyle – guitar
Darren Beckett - drums
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TICKETS €15 ON DOOR - FOR BOOKING 098 28088
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