Author Archive

Mark McKnight is a guitarist from Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Mark began his studies in jazz when awarded a scholarship from the Arts Council of Ireland to study at the Skidmore Jazz Institute, NY.  The following year Mark attended Berklee College of Music on scholarship from which he graduated in 2006, receiving awards for outstanding musicianship. Since returning to Ireland Mark has established himself as one of the country’s leading young jazz musicians, as attested to by his being named the ”Best Young Irish Musician 2009″ at the Cork Jazz Festival, and in addition played with some of the island’s most respected classical and concert orchestras, having featured as a soloist in national broadcasts with both the Ulster and RTE Concert Orchestras.

New York based tenor saxophonist/composer SEAMUS BLAKE is recognized as one of the finest exponents of contemporary jazz. His music is known for its sophistication, bold improvisations and “sheer swagger”.  John Scofield, who hired Seamus for his “Quiet Band,” called him “extraordinary, a total saxophonist.” Seamus Blake’s latest two releases, Bellwether  (Criss Cross Jazz 2009) and Live in Italy (Jazz Eyes 2009), have garnered considerable critical praise for his masterful playing, his fine compositional skills and for his facility as a leader.  Live in Italy was awarded 4.5 stars in Downbeat. Described as “a knockout”,  “one of the elite albums of the year” and “as exhilarating as a shot of espresso”, it is on many Top of the Year lists.

Isa Wiss  vocals

Greg Felton piano

Cormac O’Brien bass

Seán Carpio drums

“Dazzling post-Cecil Taylor banging…” Downbeat Magazine on Greg Felton

Are you sitting comfortably? Brace yourself for a few bombshells as Greg Felton’s trio go head to head with the incomparable vocalist Isa Wiss. Tipped as a major star of the future, Wiss is one of those musicians who defies description; her remarkable technique and three-octave range make her a truly free improviser who can switch from stuttering gasps and cries to honeyed tones in a single phrase. Greg Felton is the perfect foil for Wiss’ vocal acrobatics. Hailed in the Irish Times as “the most gifted young pianist on the scene,” Felton is another fearless improviser whose distinctive compositions and two-fisted technique draw on everything from jazz and folk traditions to South Indian classical music. His intuitive and often playful approach to music is shared by drummer Seán Carpio, whose seductive grooves have made him a regular collaborator with Mikkel Ploug, Sebastien Texier, Louis Stewart and Ronan Guilfoyle. The line-up is completed by bassist Cormac O’Brien, a fellow stalwart on the Irish jazz scene who has also played with international stars such as Bobby Watson, Jamie Baum, Dave Allen, Bjorn Vidar Solli and Bruce Adams.

Cole Porter is famous for his flamboyant character and his legacy of great songs such as ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’, ‘Night And Day’, ‘Every Time We Say Goodbye’, ‘Love For Sale’ ‘I Get A Kick Out Of You’, ‘In The Still Of The Night’ and many more.  Cormac Kenevey and his band delve enthusiastically into the Cole Porter Songbook to bring an entertaining evening of new interpretations of this timeless music. The critically acclaimed jazz singer’s 2010 schedule included representation of Ireland at Eurojazz Festival in Mexico, Dubai and London and performances with the RTE Concert Orchestra.

“Immediately refreshing, he exudes confidence, wit and style” 4-stars - The Times

“Kenevey brings heart, spirit and warmth to everything he sings” - Jazzwise

“Hugely Impressive” - The Sunday Times

Francesco Turrisi is a pianist, accordionist, harpsichordist and percussionist now living in Dublin. In 1997 he left his native Italy to study jazz piano and early music at The Royal Conservatory in the Hague, where he obtained his Master’s degree.   His trio includes Dan Bodwell on double bass and Sean Carpio on drums.

Between 2004 and 2007 he played harpsichord and percussion with acclaimed early music ensemble l’Arpeggiata, performing at many of the most important early music festivals of the world. Since moving to Ireland, he has become a focal point of the domestic jazz scene, and the founder of Tarab, an ensemble experimenting with different elements of Mediterranean music, jazz improvisation and Irish traditional music. Tarab’s 2007 performance at the National Concert Hall was described by The Irish Times as “the most enchanting music I have heard this year”.

His new CD ‘Si Dolce’ is inspired by 17th century Italian melodies, harmonic progressions and forms. The music is orchestrated for Jazz Piano trio, augmented on certain tracks by the addition of a Bass Clarinet, and on two pieces, a rare 17th century extended lute, called the Theorbo.

Francesco has worked with many notable artists from the diverse field of Jazz, Early and World musics, including Dave Liebman, Jean Toussaint, Gianluigi Trovesi, Gabriele Mirabassi, Maria Pia de Vito, John Ruocco, The King’s Singers, Veronique Gens, Dominique Visse, Philippe Jaroussky, Vittorio Ghielmi, Pepe el Habichuela, Lucilla Galeazzi, Bijan Chemirani, Abdullah Chhadeh, Ronan Guilfoyle and Julie Feeney.

24 year old pianist/composer Kit Downes exploded onto the British Jazz Scene playing with the band Empirical, taking him through Europe and America, and then with Troyka, Fraud and Acoustic Ladyland. Two years on, Kit moved on to his own trio project and this debut album sees him developing as a strong voice both as a performer and composer.  Joined by his two Royal Academy colleagues award winning 24 year old bassist Calum Gourlay and 23 year old rising drum star James Maddren the music displays a level of understanding and intelligence between players that can only come from working closely together for a number of years.  They read each other perfectly.

The band has spent these years developing their own personal sound. The highly original music is immediately arresting and stands repeated listening. It uses melody, inspired from a range of sources ranging from Bela Bartok to Keith Jarrett to Rufus Wainwright, and endeavours both to celebrate the classic piano trio tradition as well as develop it.

Rhythm Method was co-founded in 2009 by guitarist Shane Latimer and Bassist Cormac O’Brien. With the addition of Bill Blackmore on trumpet, Darragh O’Kelly on keys and Shane O’Donovan on drums a collaborative project featuring five of Dublin’s most innovative and creative musicians was established.

The writing responsibilities are shared and the music reflects the different creative personalities in the group. With only a few gigs under their belt, the band has already established a cohesive group sound which explores the possibilities of minimalism, groove, free improvisation and odd meters. With a focus on lyricism and musicality over extended forms, Rhythm Method deliver a set of music that is constantly engaging and full of surprises. More Information…

Limerick Jazz Society has just announced the programme for its autumn 2010 season

• Sept 8     Cormac O’Brien’s Rhythm Method
• Sept 22   Kit Downes Trio (UK)
• Oct 6      Francesco Turrisi
• Oct 13    Cormac Kenevey sings Cole Porter
• Oct 17    Greg Felton Trio featuring Isa Wiss
• Oct 20    Mark McKnight Quartet featuring Seamus Blake (USA)
• Nov 17   Dublin City Jazz Orchestra
• Nov 24   Clare Horgan Quartet
• Dec 8     Limerick Jazz Workshop Student Performance

The venue for all performances is Dolans Upstairs, apart from the Dublin City Jazz Orchestra gig which will take place in Dolans Warehouse. All performances are on Wednesday evenings apart from Greg Felton which is on a Sunday. Start time is 9pm and tickets are €13 (€10 concessions) apart from Limerick Jazz Workshop (€5).

July sees the welcome return of Tony Miceli to Limerick for the third International Vibes Workshop.

Tony is an internationally renowned vibraphonist and jazz educator.  He teaches at the University of the Arts, Rowan University and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.  He is also webmaster and host of www.vibesworkshop.com.

The workshop runs from Sunday 18th July at the Peter Dee Academy of Music , O’Connell St.  Hours are 10-12am, 1-3pm.  From 18th-21st July there will be specialist classes for mallet players only. From 22nd-25th July classes will be for all instruments.  The week will be rounded off public performance on the 25th.  The cost of tuition is a very reasonable 30 euro per day.

This week provides an opportunity to work with an outstanding teacher in an intimate setting with very limited student numbers.  To book your place contact www.vibesworkshop.com or jonndal@gmail.com.

The International Vibes Workshop is supported by Mike Balter Mallets, AMT, Jurys Inn and the Peter Dee Academy of Music.

SJP are back with their summer school.  The faculty includes Anita Wardell, Michael Manring, Mike Nielsen and Bill Carrothers.  More details here

Joe O’Callaghan

Joe is mainly self-taught, although he has attended various classes over the years with Tommy Halferty and Ronan Guilfoyle. Joe has played with most leading Irish jazz musicians including Tommy Halferty, Louis Stewart, Ronan Guilfoyle, Richie Buckley, Michael Buckley and Justin Carroll.

He has also played with international musicians such as Julian Arguelles, Vincent Courtois, Dave Liebman, Tom Rainey, Martin Speake, Tanya Kalmanovitch, Paul Williamson, Nils Wogram and Dominique Pifalry. Joe is currently a member of the groups Metier, Fuzzy Logic Ensemble and Microclimate.

John Daly

John studied at Berklee College of Music Boston in 1979. He teaches and plays drums professionally in Limerick as well as touring when the need arises. He also studies vibes with Tony Miceli from Philadelphia.

John is chair of Limerick Jazz Society and a long-standing member of the society’s House Trio. The trio provides backing for leading Irish and international artists visiting Limerick. These have recently included Hugh Buckley, Michael Buckley, Myles Drennan, Linley Hamilton, Derek O’Connor, Guy Barker and Tony Miceli.

Steve Hanks

Steve is originally from Yorkshire and studied at Leeds College of Music. His main instruments are saxophone, flute and percussion.He moved to Ireland to further his interest in Irish traditional music and is based in Co. Galway. His recent jazz activities include leading the Steve Hanks Quintet which recorded for Lyric FM, and a spell as music director for the Black Magic Big Band.

Peter Hanagan

Bass player Peter Hanagan has over twenty five years experience with the ‘lowest form of music.’  He is an alumnus of the renowned UNT Jazz Studies program, and since 1999 has worked exclusively as a freelance bass guitar and double bass player, as well as a music educator.

Peter is a native of the American Southwest, but has made ….Ireland…. his home since 2001. He is a veteran of a myriad of diverse genres: East Texas blues to West African percussion music, ..Caribbean.. folk to Twentieth-century art music.

Dorota Konczewska

Dorota Konczewska is a Polish composer, jazz singer and multimedia artist living in Ireland. She comes from a background in visual arts and holds an MA in Music Technology from the University of Limerick. Her recent work includes video art, mixed media installations and cross-audiovisual genre projects. Dorota just finished recording her first jazz album with an international band in Perugia, Italy, called “Nina project” a tribute to Nina Simone. The album is expected to be presented in Ireland early next year. The ‘Nina Project’ first derived from a concert she did in Dolans last year for Limerick Jazz Society which packed the house.

Steve McFarlane

Guitar player Steve McFarlane was one of the first students to graduate from Newpark Music Centre’s jazz degree programme. He subsequently completed an H. Dip in Music Education at the University of Limerick.  He now works as music teacher at Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom, Co. Limerick. He has played professionally in Ireland in a number of musical settings ranging from jazz to popular music, and has taught at both senior and junior LJW sessions.

VIDEOS

Jazz education has been going for over 40 years and it works.  I’ve uploaded some very useful videos to the LJW myspace page that show the well-known jazz teacher JB Dyas of the Thelonious Monk Institute giving a seminar on Teaching Jazz Fundamentals To High School And College Musicians.  There are 10 videos which take around 90 minutes to view in their entirety and some include a supervised performance by a group of students:

1.  Jazz History
2.  Syncopation

3.  Jazz Instruments and Sounds

4.  Improvisation

5.  Rhythm
6.  Form

7.  Song Structure
8.  Tune Learning - The Definitive Version

9.  Getting Inside the Head
10.Improvising Based On the Head

I found the videos at www.artistshousemusic.org. This is a great site that also has videos of masterclasses by Kenny Werner (pianist and author of Effortless Mastery), Benny Golson (saxophone), Hank Jones (piano), Jesse McBride (piano), Larry Baione (guitar), Kirk Whalum (saxophone) and Jimmy and Percy Heath (saxophone, bass).

SOFTWARE

It can be a bit confusing working out what software can best support jazz education, so here are some personal views based on experience.

You will need a recording program or Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and this costs nothing.  If you have a Mac you will have Garage Band for free.  If you have a PC you can download Audacity at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/.  There are obviously much sexier products for both machines but these are not really necessary for practicing.  Using either of these programs you can record yourself playing along with either a backing track from the likes of a Jamey Aebersold CD, or you can use an original version if you feel like it.  There’s nothing like hearing yourself as you really sound although it can be a bit of a shock at first!

Next up is transcribing.  The Amazing Slowdowner from http://www.ronimusic.com/ costs about $50 plus VAT and allows you to change the pitch and/or tempo of an audio file with very little loss of sound quality, and to loop particular sections.  This will make trancsribing solos as painless as is realistically possible, and transcribing is a vital tool in ear training and the development of jazz vocabulary.

Last but not least is Band In A Box from http://www.pgmusic.com/, which costs $129 for the basic version.  BIAB allows you to create your own backing tracks very easily, and to record yourself playing along with them.  If you don’t like the idea of all that inputting you can download a huge number of well known tunes in BIAB file format for free at http://phillipsmusic.net/realbook.htm.  You can change key and tempo with a mouse click.  BIAB is particularly handy for singers who need to produce charts in a key that suits them if it’s not the regular key for instrumental versions.

As well as backing tracks BIAB has some other very useful features such as ear training drills and a function that can supposedly work out the chords of a song from an audio file (only tried it once and wasn’t too impressed, but that’ll be some cheat when it eventually works!).  Just one warning - if you have a choice of BIAB for Mac or Windows the Mac version has significantly FEWER features although PG Music say this will be rectified fairly soon.

So there you are.  Really meaningful support for your jazz studies for less than euro 140!

BOOKS

This could obviously be a very long section so I’ll limit its scope to books of a general nature plus one piano book, seeing as how we’re all meant to play a bit of piano.  I can vouch for all of these from experience and they are all recommended by some of the educators I’ve studied with.  I’ve put links to Amazon below the titles so you can find out more but you might want to use Ireland’s own http://www.paulryanmusic.com/ if you buy.

Improvisation

How To Improvise and Ready, Aim, Improvise by Hal Crook.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Improvise-Hal-Crook/dp/B000M1ADP4/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Theory

The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine
http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/1883217040/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Mental Approach (this matters!)

Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner
http://www.amazon.com/Effortless-Mastery-Liberating-Master-Musician/dp/156224003X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch
http://www.amazon.com/Free-Play-Improvisation-Life-Art/dp/0874776317/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Piano

Jazz Piano From Scratch by Charles Beale
http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Scratch-How-Students/dp/0634033115/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243554220&sr=1-10
This author wanted to fill a gap in the market for beginner jazz pianists and did it.  It’s also the course book for the ABRSM jazz piano exams.

WEBSITES

http://www.jazzimprov.com/ is the website of the magazine of the same name and the article archive is really worth a look.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/ will shortly hit 8,000 articles in its archive and is a more general jazz website.

http://www.jazzinamerica.org is designed as a resource for seconadary school education and is run by JB Dyas (see Jazz Education Videos blog).

http://www.aebersold.com is the site for the doyen of jazz play-along recordings and has a reasonable amount of free material

GRADED JAZZ EXAMS

ABRSM provides Grade 1 to 5 examinations in jazz piano and most wind and brass instruments.  They also provide ensemble examinations at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

London College of Music provides Grade 1 to 8 examinations in jazz piano and most wind and brass instruments.  They also provide Grade 1 to 8 examinations in electric guitar, bass and drums – these are not specifically jazz exams but cover a lot of relevant subjects such as harmony and improvisation.

LJW is happy to put interested students in contact with teachers who can prepare them for these examinations.

JAZZ DEGREES

There is full jazz performance degree course at Newpark Music Centre in Blackrock, Dublin (www.newparkmusic.com), and numerous similar courses in the UK and elsewhere.

www.jazzservices.org.uk provides a useful course search facility.

If you are interested, get in touch at limerickimprov@gmail.com or 086 602 5661.  At the start of each semester we have an assessment night where potential students give a quick performance and discuss their musical experience with one of the teachers.  Our students come from a wide variety of musical backgrounds (rock, classical and trad) and previous jazz experience is not required.

The ensemble-based teaching environment is not suited to teaching people the basics of their instruments and is not for complete beginners.  However please come to an assessment night whatever your level of experience as we can point you in the right direction for individual tuition.  Our teachers also provide short group courses in Jazz Theory on a regular basis, which have been useful for both current and possible future students.

If the whole idea of this kind of experience sounds a bit intimidating it can be helpful to attend a rehearsal session as a visitor.  Our ensembles use the stage, foyer and communal dressing rooms at LIT and the environment is informal and relaxed - just let us know you’d like to attend.

Participation costs €20 per session (€10 for full time students and other concessions).  Payment is by installments of €100/€50, in advance.

Limerick-based guitarist Andreas Varady has been awarded the Skidmore Jazz Studentship for 2010.  This Arts Council award allows Andreas to spend two weeks at Skidmore College, upstate New York, later this summer.  The school has an outstanding faculty and will provide a great development opportunity for Andreas.

The award is open to all young jazz musicians in Ireland and the fact that Andreas has received it at the age of 12 is a reflection of his outstanding talent and application.

The picture accompanying this post was taken by Tony Rogers, andshows Andreas playing with Terell Stafford in Limerick earlier this year.  He did not look pr sound out of place in a group of experienced international performers and can only get better in the next few years.

LJW is now in its fourth year of promoting jazz education in the mid-west and has three ensembles involving over 20 singers and musicians.  It is the only organization of its type in Ireland outside of Dublin and is a vital part of the very active Limerick jazz scene.  We have recently expanded our activities by staging regular jam sessions on Tuesday night in Bentleys, O’Connell St. and establishing a Saturday afternoon junior workshop. For the first time the junior workshop ensemble will be opening the show.

Come along and enjoy the music – who knows, you might want to get involved as well.

8pm Dolans Upstairs, €5

Linley has been on the scene for many years now having doubled up his jazz career with one in the Rock and Pop arena. Well known for his work with Paul Brady, Linley has also toured or recorded with Andrew Strong, the Commitments, Foy Vance, Eleanor McEvoy and Duke Special among others, but has somewhat left that side of his career behind to concentrate on jazz.

Having toured and recorded with Jacqui Dankworth in the ‘Noughties’ Linley has a successful weekly jazz show on BBC Radio Ulster with recent guests including Wynton Marsalis, Jan Garbareck, John Abercrombie, Walter Becker and Billy Cobham. In 2001 he released his debut album ‘Up to Now’ and toured extensively with a line up that included Dublin Saxophone phenomenon Derek O’Connor. Renowned as a bebop and hard bop player, Linley shows a love for all styles modern and has a lyrical approach to the Flugel Horn which has played a more substantial role in his work of recent years.

In 2009 Linley went ‘back to school’ and studied at DIT in Dublin under Mike Neilsen where he achieved a 1st in Master of Jazz performance and won the Student Academic Excellence Award along with it. He has recently penned a Kind of Blue Theatre Show and is touring with it in Ireland in April 2010 and embarks on a PhD in Jazz in September this year.

Derek ‘Doc’ O’Connor has played saxophone from the age of nine and turned professional at age seventeen. His style is very much high intensity in the Bob Berg, Michael Brecker mold and his live playing is always an exciting experience. Derek toured with the European Jazz Youth Orchestra in 2001 representing Ireland and divides his time between recording sessions,touring and live gigs.

Derek has performed with many top artists including Paul Brady. Van Morrison, Chaka Khan and Jeffrey Osborne to name but a few. He is currently the house saxophonist on ‘Tubridy Tonight’ which airs every saturday night and also ’You’re a Star’ on Sundays during the autumn. Derek has recently received rave reviews for his playing on Niall O’Niell’s debut album ’As If’ with the band Reverse Trust featuring Ireland’s top session musicians.

Pete Robbins (NYC, USA) - alto saxophone, compositions

Mikkel Ploug (DK) - guitar

Simon Jermyn (IRL) - bass guitar

Kevin Brow (CAN/DK) - drums

Pete Robbins (age 31) moved to New York in September, 2002, and immediately became “a welcome presence on the creative music scene.”   He has since performed or recorded with John Zorn, Mark Dresser, Craig Taborn, Ben Monder, Mario Pavone, and Kenny Wollesen, and has performed at festivals and clubs in the US, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.

Robbins’ leads “an ambitious ensemble that combines spacious avant-gardism with the melodic punch of rock” (NY Times).  His studio releases “Waits and Measures” (Playscape) and “Do The Hate Laugh Shimmy” (Fresh Sound/New Talent) were both named as top-10 jazz releases in 2006 and 2008, respectively; his fourth album as a bandleader is scheduled for release in May, 2010 on Robbins’ own Hate Laugh Music label, and a trio album with bassist Mario Pavone and drummer Tyshawn Sorey is also in the works for a 2010 release.

Robbins has been featured in New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Boston Phoenix, JazzTimes, JazzWise, Jazzman, Politikken, andNational Public Radio.  For his compositional achievements, Chamber Music America recently awarded Robbins with their prestigious “New Works: Creation and Presentation” grant, as well as their “New Works: Encore” award on behalf of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.  Robbins was also a 2009 guest panelist at the Brooklyn Arts Council.

GMF are running a summer school in Dunmore East this June.  The courses include jazz and a number of other activities such as poetry, dance and martial arts.  The music faculty includes some very well known names such as Stephen Keogh, Michael and Hugh Buckley, Gilad Atzmon, Jeremy Brown, Mick Coady and Kevin Dean.

More details here

Known for his passionate and driving approach to jazz that swings hard, 24-year-old drummer David Lyttle has been hailed as one of the most significant musicians to have emerged in Ireland in recent years.

He has performed professionally in Ireland, the US, Canada, Britain and Europe, with a wide variety of internationally acclaimed artists, including Greg Osby, David Liebman, JeanToussaint, Tommy Smith, Jaleel Shaw, Soweto Kinch, Jonathan Kreisberg and Louis Stewart. Touring with the David Lyttle Group for the second time is US trumpet great Terell Stafford, with hard-swinging original music by Lyttle and Stafford being featured. Also in the group is leading young Irish guitarist Mark McKnight, and the prominent Dublin residing Australian bassist Damian Evans.

New York trumpet ace Terell Stafford has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time” by piano legend McCoy Tyner. Known for being a gifted and versatile player with a voice all his own, Stafford combines lyricism and a deep love of melody with a spirited, adventurous edge. This uniquely expressive, well-defined musical talent allows Stafford the ability to dance in and around the rich trumpet tradition of his predecessors while making his own inroads.

Stafford has worked in the groups of McCoy Tyner, Bobby Watson, Benny Golson, Jon Faddis, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, Jimmy Heath, Kenny Barron, Wycliffe Gordon and Matt Wilson. He has also performed with the Mingus Big Band, Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and is currently a member of the Grammy-nominated Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Clayton Brothers Quintet and Trumpet Summit, with Randy Brecker and Jon Faddis. Stafford appears on over forty albums as a sideman, including Diana Krall’s Grammy-nominated ‘From This Moment On’ (2006), and has released four albums as a leader, featuring musicians of the calibre of Mulgrew Miller, Steve Wilson, Dick Oatts and Derrick Hodge.

The press on David Lyttle:

“…notably assured technique, greased lightning reflexes and an unfailing sense of swing…a prolific composer too.” Jazzwise (UK)

“…a drummer of real talent.” - All About Jazz (USA)

“… such discretion and awareness…with a tonal sense that’s as refreshing as it is creative.” - The Herald (UK)

“…one of the busiest musicians on the island.” - The Sunday Tribune

“…a rapidly maturing talent, who is already highly accomplished both as a musician and as a composer.” - The Irish News

“…one of the most significant and interesting figures on the Belfast music scene…” - Hot Press

Niwel Tsumbu is a native of The Democratic Republic of Congo(ex Zaire) and has been playing music in Cork for the last 6 years.

His love for the guitar began to bloom at the age of 16 when he began to play the music of his homeland~Soukous and Rhumba.

He worked hard at nurturing his talent and soon ran into Crispin Ngoy: a very talented musician who passionately taught Niwel jazz. This became his way of discovering many other types of music.

Niwel moved to Ireland in 2004 where he quickly made friends with the Irish music scene. He began playing with many local bands and formed the groups Sumu, Jazzmu and Motema.

With influences from far and wide, his elegant and fluent guitar playing draws from Niwel’s past excursions with African rhythms, Rumba, Jazz, Classical, Flamenco and much more besides.  Playing electric & acoustic guitars & singing mostly in his native ’Lingala’, Niwel plays a range of music that stretches from contemporary versions of Congolese traditional music from the 1930s & 40s to modern Jazz. Niwel’s love of the Spanish style of guitar playing beautifully exposes Rumba’s Latin roots.

He has played on many stages- from diversity, cultural awareness and charity gigs- to both the Cork and Bray Jazz Festivals, the Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire 2005, and the Spiegeltent for the last two years in Cork.

Niwel has supported the likes of Kila, The Wailers, Horace Andy from Massive Attack, and Cameroon virtuoso bass player Richard Bona as part of the Bulmers World Music Festival in Cork.

Over the last 50 years Central Africa has built itself an incredible reputation for giving birth to many of the World’s greatest guitarists, and Congolese Niwel Tsumbu is a fitting ambassador to carry that torch forward into the 21st Century with his new album ’Song of The Nation’

Antidotes to the recession don’t come much more potent than this. Niwel Tsumbu’s indomitable, infectious spirit invaded the intimate confines of Whelan’s before his first song had evaporated. Tsumbu takes his audience on a journey of discovery that traverses the peaks and troughs of life’s unpredictable terrain with startling precision. He gives full rein to a sweep of syncopated rhythms that have many punters grasping and gasping to keep up.”

-Irish Times, March 2009

Tsumbu’s guitar playing is nothing short of exceptional and the wall of sound that hits you once you press play is infectious.  If you’re one of the many unfortunate ones who can’t afford a holiday this year, pick up Song of the Nations and experience the world from the comfort of your armchair”

-Hot Press, April 2009    -Irish Times, March 2009

“There’s something about Tsumbu’s native language, Lingala that has infused the Congolese guitarist and singer with a spellbinding fluency….Tsumbu’s confident juxtaposition of clarinet and guitar, insistent percussion and declamatory vocals trace a path that’s all his own…tribal rhythms and transcendent male harmonies declare Tsumbu’s intention to carve a niche nobody else has even dreamt of.

-Irish Times, April 2009

Julian Arguelles – Saxophones
Ronan Guilfoyle – Acoustic Bass Guitar
Jim Black – Drums

An international trio, featuring three of the leading contemporary jazz musicians of their respective countries -  British saxophonist Julian Arguelles, the Irish bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, and the American drummer Jim Black – will undertake a tour of the UK and Ireland in March 2010.

The saxophone trio has a long and important history in jazz and some of the most highly regarded live recordings in jazz have featured this format. Arguelles/Guilfoyle/Black continue this tradition while at the same time reflecting the vibrancy of contemporary jazz. An international trio, featuring three of the leading contemporary jazz musicians of their generation and respective countries -  British saxophonist Julian Arguelles, the Irish
bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, and the American drummer Jim Black – their new recording ‘Live in Dublin’ captures the excitement and ‘in the moment’ feel of live saxophone trio playing, and gives a taste of what is to come in their concert performances.

Playing a programme mixing original compositions and standards, the trio’s music features a free-wheeling spontaneity and powerful rhythmic drive, with each member of the trio showing an almost telepathic response to the playing of the others -  the music unfolds  seamlessly with a great sense of swing and much rhythmic intrigue.

‘This is a fun-filled gem through and through’

Downtown Music Gallery, New York  - reviewing ‘Live in Dublin (Auand 9009)

“It was intense, exhilarating and a credit to all concerned, with Black in particular little short of astonishing in his range of invention. If jazz is the sound of surprises, this was full of them”.

Irish Times

“Julian Arguelles, Ronan Guilfoyle and Jim Black produced a concert of enthralling and frequently breathtaking music. Black in particular was mesmerising, throwing spanner after spanner into the works from a seemingly limitless toolkit of ideas.”

Sunday Tribune

On Friday Feb 26th Speakeasy Jazz Limerick would like to invite you to listen to the sounds of David Lyttle and Andreas Varady.

Andreas Varady is twelve years old and hails from Slovakia. This young man is an anomaly. Andreas’ dad Bandi, put a guitar in his hand first when he was two years of age and he hasn’t looked back since.

Andreas has a talent that has to be seen and heard to be believed. It’s out of the ordinary to see such a young man play with this great musicianship, tone and technique, and still have a strong sense of his own artistic expression, not to mention he loves it!
Taking influence from such greats as Charlie Parker and George Benson, Andreas plays regularly with The Limerick Jazz Workshops and continues to amaze as he plays to a standard that takes most people years to achieve.

David Lyttle is a Jazz drummer based in Ireland. Self-taught on the drum kit since the age of eight, Lyttle also received classical training on cello but began to focus his efforts towards the drums in his late teens after taking a serious interest in jazz.
Lyttle has worked professionally in the US, Canada, Britain and Europe, with a wide variety of internationally-respected artists. In the Jazz world, these include Greg Osby, David Liebman, Jean Toussaint, Soweto Kinch, Matt Penman, Dave Allen, Jamie Baum, Jonathan Kreisberg, Louis Stewart, Robert Mitchell, Jacqui Dankworth, Ronan Guilfoyle and Michael Buckley, who features on ‘True Story’, Lyttle’s acclaimed debut album on his ‘Lyte Records’ label.
We’ll soon be able to add Andreas Varady to that list.

Andreas and David will debut at The Shannon Rowing Club in late February. Playing with them on the night will be Martin Bencat~Double Bass and Bandi Varady~Bass.
It promises to be a stunning evening of stimulating and first class Jazz, you won’t want to miss this one!

Speakeasy Jazz Limerick is delighted to have the very beautiful Sí gracing the Shannon Rowing Club at 9.30pm this Thursday. The Rowing Club will prove the perfect venue for this bewitching songstress. Sí is a singer, songwriter, harpist and pianist originally from Dublin but now living in Limerick. Her songs are sad little things about life, love, heartbreak and all those kinds of things. Sí has been gigging around the place for a while now and is currently recording her debut album with Fergal Lawlor from The Cranberries, due to be released in early summer.

Sí’s guests on the night will be Laura Sheehan and Vertigo Smyth.

Laura Sheeran is a 22 year old solo artist based in Dublin. Her musical path began at the age of 15 when asked by friend Clodagh Simonds (Mellow Candle, current 93) to do some singing for a then embryonic project later to be known as Fovea Hex.   Since then she has continued to sing with Fovea Hex in the studio and also for live performances (where she plays accordion and bowed saw also) along-side Cora Venus lunny (ICC ensemble, Yurodny) Kate Ellis (Crash ensemble) and Michael Begg (Human Greed). Other contributors to this project include the likes of Roger Doyle, Brian Eno, Roger Eno, Robert Fripp, Percy Jones, Donal Lunny, Andrew Mckenzie, Matmos and Steven Wilson.  Laura’s solo music is highly atmospheric, lending itself well for use in theater and other visual media like film. Over the past few months Laura has been putting the finishing touches to her debut record which has developed into a double album. in making this record Laura explored various musical places, deciding early on that she would abandon the idea of writing with piano or guitar she has been experimenting with many instruments she would never before have written for, for example the harp, flute and accordion. She also had a lot of fun writing for strings and of course did a lot of vocal experimentation. Entitled ‘lust of pig and the fresh blood’ the album is due for release this year.

Straight out of Ennis, comes Vertigo Smyth. This is normally a paragraph where you find out about Vertigo Smyth. However, it has proven quite difficult to get any useful biographical data out of the man. We know for certain he is from Co. Clare and is an Aries. There is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that he now resides in Limerick, or perhaps Clare, or even Galway. Not much is known about his musical background but it is understood that he came quite late to music and music making. In the past few years he has supported such acts as Mick Flannery, Cathy Davey, Gemma Hayes and Juana Molina. On his recorded material he is credited with guitar, banjo, ukulele and keys but has been keen to stress that; “There is a difference between owning a multitude of instruments and being a multi-instrumentalist”. He writes all his own material but finds ironing his own shirts quite a struggle.

Later in the night when the live music has been all played away, Ms.Skull will be waiting to take off, in her own particular fashion on the decks. Ms.Skull has a very broad repertoire of music and is eminently skilled at getting the room moving in time with the tunes!

LJW is staging its first showcase of 2010 at LIT Millennium Theatre on March 9, 2010 at 8pm.  Entry is free by invitation, which can be obtained by emailing limerickimprov@gmail.com.

LJW is now in its fourth year of promoting jazz education in the mid-west and has four ensembles involving over 20 singers and musicians.  It is the only organization of its type in Ireland outside of Dublin and is a vital part of the very active Limerick jazz scene.  We have recently expanded our activities by staging regular jam sessions on Tuesday night in Bentleys, O’Connell St. and establishing a Saturday afternoon junior workshop.

We welcome guests who just want to enjoy the music or who might want to get involved as well.

LJW is supported by UCH’s Participation and Education Programme, the Peter Dee Academy of Music and Limerick City Council.

Mark McKnight - Guitar

Euan Burton - Bass

James Maddren - Drums

Since graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2006 Mark McKnight has gone on to establish himself as one of Ireland’s most prominent young jazz musicians, winning such international recognition as 3rd place in the 2008 Montreux International Jazz Guitar Competition 2008 (open at all guitarists under 30 worldwide).  2009 was his busiest and most successful year to date with numerous tours throughout Ireland, UK and Europe, the release of his debut album as a leader (Overnight), being named Best Young Irish Jazz Musician at the Cork Jazz Festival and receiving the UK Musicians Benevolent Fund Development Award. More Information…