Born in Dublin, vocalist Bob Whelan has been in various musical groups since the age of 15. In the 80′s he formed a group called Jazzology which played a number of residencies in Dublin, and also appeared several times at the Cork Jazz Festival. Bob has worked with all the major names on the Irish jazz scene: Louis Stewart, Jim Doherty, Michael Neilsen, Richie Buckley, John Wadham, Noel Kelehan, Myles Drennan, Dave Fleming to name but a few. In 1986 he featured in a tribute to Duke Ellington alongside American stars Pepper Adams, Bobby Shew, Sonny Fortune and a 50 piece orchestra which was broadcast live from the National Concert Hall. Bob has also performed a number of times in the green room in the N.C.H. including a concert featuring the music of Thelonious Monk with lyrics added, many of them written by Whelan himself.
Bob Whelan has broadcast on RTE Radio, East Coast radio and Anna Livia FM, and has appeared twice on RTE’s Late Late Show. Outside this country, he has performed in Portugal, France and England. He is currently working with guitarist Hugh Buckley and bassist Martin Curry and performing regularly around Dublin. In 2001 he sang with U.K. bassist Peter Ind and the Louis Stewart trio at the Davis Gallery jazz week in Dublin. Bob Whelan’s repertoire includes the standards from the great American songbook, the music of Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, the jazz classics of Monk, Parker et al, plus an increasing number of original songs.
At 70 yrs young Bob still performs regularly in Dublin and we are delighted at Limerick Jazz to welcome him to perform with the Limerick Jazz Quartet.
