Jam-packed programme lined up for 18th Bray Jazz Festival
CLOSE to 50 international players from a dozen different countries will fly into Ireland next weekend to join hundreds of local musicians at this year’s Bray Jazz Festival.
Now in its 18th year, Bray Jazz has established itself firmly as Ireland’s premier contemporary jazz festival weekend.
County Wicklow’s leading boutique international arts event, Bray Jazz runs from April 28 to 30 and will this year host artists from West Africa, the US, UK, Switzerland, India and Australia, together with visitors from four different Nordic nations – Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Estonia.
Headline show will be held as always at the town’s Mermaid Arts Centre on Main Street, which will this year host performances by a band led by New York-based West African guitarist Lionel Loueke, by one of Europe’s hottest young big bands, and by one of the emerging stars of contemporary Swedish jazz, saxophonist Malin Wattring.
Bray Jazz attracts thousands of jazz fans to the town each year, and will stage a total of 40 concerts, recitals and jazz trail shows across the town over the May Bank Holiday weekend.
Utilised by Bray Jazz Festival for the first time as a concert venue in 2016, the festival will once more return to The Well, formerly St Paul’s Church, opposite The Royal Hotel over the festival weekend, presenting four nighttime shows and a Saturday afternoon matinee at the venue.
Artists who will play at the venue include cult Australian trio The Necks, Swiss quintet Pilgrim and a three-piece band from Denmark, The Firebirds, whose music is an adaptation of the classical music of composers such as Stravinsky and Tchakovsky.
Elsewhere, the festival’s popular early evening recitals in the council chambers at Bray Town Hall return, with an Indian music trio, virtuoso Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, and Estonian singer who has been one of that country’s break-out music stars of recent years, performing.
There’s a host of free to attend live jazz throughout the weekend too, with a packed programme of soul, funk, jazz and world music taking place at The Harbour Bar, while the Wicklow Wolf sponsored Jazz Trail will bring live music to venues across the town, including The Martello, Porterhouse, Jim Doyle’s, The Coach Inn, Hibernia Inn and Grove Inn ( Willow Grove). Local restaurants are getting in on the act too, and over dinner there will be live music on offer at several of the town’s popular eateries, The Ocean Bar and Grill and Mount Everest of Kathmandu included.
Bray Jazz Festival, which is backed by The Arts Council of Ireland, Failte Ireland, Wicklow County Council and a host of others is a considerable logistical feat for organisers, who say that close to 50 flights and 120 bed- nights have been booked for visitors, while half dozen drum kits, numerous amplifiers and six grand pianos will be hired for the weekend to put the show on the road.
Festival Director George Jacob said that the event couldn’t happen without the incredible support of local businesses, including publicans who contribute towards the costs of putting on music in their venues, and hoteliers who sponsor accommodation for musicians.
‘Bray Jazz has only existed for the past 18 years because of this backing, and because of the many people who come out to the festival and attend shows and concerts over the May Weekend.
‘We’ve had incredible public support through the years, and it is down to the practical support that the festival receives from the business community, and the goodwill and support that it gets from the festival-going public that has allowed us to return, year after year,’ he said.
2017 is regarded as the centenary of jazz – it was the year that the first ‘jazz’ record was recorded and offered for sale – and the Bray Jazz Director said that it in Ireland, Bray was on the map and a part of that history.
To find out more about what’s on at this year’s Bray Jazz Festival visit: www.brayjazz.com or contact box office on (01) 2724030 for further details.