AND ALL THAT JAZZ...
YESTERDAY morning amid the clean- up in IT Sligo, festival director Eddie Lee was in jubilant form. “This was the biggest and best yet. The number of students was the largest we ever had, we had 110 for the week. We were in IT Sligo for the first time and it was excellent. It was well spread out for the workshops and the facilities there are fantastic, the staff too were brilliant and it all made a difference,” he added.
Throughout the week, Sligo was buzzing with jazz sessions in various locations as locals and tourists alike enjoyed the top- class tunes.
Eddie said he was overwhelmed by the quality from the young musicians this year.
“The level of talent was something else. We had 17 rooms in the IT and on any afternoon, there were 15 ensembles going on which was massive.
“Then on Sunday, all the students got to play in the Big Bash in the Riverside Hotel along with the tutors.
“There must have been over 120 performing at that, we had 21 tutors this year which was the biggest faculty we’ve ever had too. Forty percent of the students were under eighteen so that was our biggest youth academy yet. “It was a massive success and the best Jazz Festival we’ve ever had. The quality of the performers was incredible. The Big Bash continued for four and a half hours, the quality was overwhelming, such an incredible standard. The players were absolutely superb.” He said the feedback from both performers, tutors and students was extremely positive. “All the Grammy winners who were here were going home happy saying they want to come back. “Emilia Martensson, who won vocalist of the year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, said it was the best week of her life. She’s from Sweden and highly regarded in the music world.” High praise indeed. As Eddie and his team are busy cleaning up after the whirlwind week, next up is plans to get next year’s festival in motion.