Festival Highlights
Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Date:Thursday 28th & Friday 29th April
Time: 8pm
Location: Millennium Forum,
Ticket charge and Booking Details: Available from Millennium Forum Box Office 02871264455
Undoubtedly the highlight of previous Jazz Festivals, Jools Holland brings his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra to the Millennium Forum once again for two shows that are guaranteed to have you dancing in the aisles.
Former member of the hit group Squeeze, Jools’ career spans over thirty years, having enjoyed huge success with million selling hits such as ‘Cool For Cats’ and ‘Up The Junction’. Today, he is the most popular pianist and bandleader in the UK and his fabulous Rhythm & Blues Orchestra has evolved into an amazing 20-piece band that performs to yearly audiences in excess of 500,000! The innovative, ‘Later…..with Jools Holland’, has broadcast over 200 episodes since the early 90s and the exuberant annual New Year’s Eve show, ‘Hootenanny,’ celebrates its 18th anniversary this year, confirming his ever-growing popularity among television viewers.
Miss this at your peril ….. you’ve been warned!
Thurs @ 7pm in the Forum Piazza catch the big band sound of The Foyle Jazz Ensemble
Fri @ 7pm in the Forum Piazza catch the big band sound of The WELB Jazz Band
BRASS JAW
Date: Friday 29th April
Time: 8pm
Host: Mark Patterson
Location: The Playhouse Theatre
Ticket charge and Booking Details:FREE – Playhouse Theatre Box Office 02871268027
Working without a traditional rhythm section, Glasgow based Brass Jaw creates a performance that is truly unique in sound and direction, the line up is Ryan Quigley (trumpet & flugelhorn), Paul Towndrow (alto saxophone), Konrad Wiszniewski (tenor saxophone), Allon Beauvoisin(baritone saxophone). They took the London Jazz Festival by storm, they play festivals world wide including North Sea Festival (Holland), Rochester Festival (USA), Antibes Festival (France) and their new album “Branded” has been released to critical acclaim.
“Teeming with ideas, imagination and superb playing” – The Glasgow Herald
“Their consistently clever arrangements and compositions are both brilliantly conceived, with nothing outstaying its welcome”. – The Scotsman
Brass Jaw will be doing a free workshop in The Millennium Forum Studio Theatre, Friday 29th April @ 2.30 p.m., all musicians, beginners and professionals are welcome.
CRAZY CROW IN CONCERT - A tribute to Joni Mitchell
Festival Highlights
Date: Friday 29th April
Time: 9pm
Location:Nerve Centre Cinema,
Ticket charge and Booking Details:FREE, tickets available from the Nerve Centre Box Office 02871260562
Motivated by a love of Joni Mitchell’s music, Crazy Crow pay homage to this jazz/folk legend. Their line up includes Tracy Cullen and Catherine McAtavey on vocals, Wilson Graham on bass and on acoustic guitars, Gerry McGarrigle. This will be a real and unique treat for Joni and music fans alike.
Dance Workshop & Lessons in Jive, Swing & Lyndy Hop
Date: Saturday 30th April
Time: 2.30pm
Location: DaVinci’s Hotel,
Ticket charge and Booking Details: FREE, telephone 02871279111
Ian & Sheilagh Hartley have been providing dance lessons in jive, swing, rock n roll and lyndy hop for over fifteen years. They are well known locally for their performances with the Jive Aces and are known nationally as GI Jive. They have performed at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom and the Swing Cat’s Ball in London and Jazz Festivals throughout Europe. They will be providing dance tuition for all including beginners.
CELTRONIC PRESENTS
Date: Sunday 1st May
Time: 9.30pm - Late
Location: St Columb’s Hall
Ticket charge and Booking Details: Adm £8/£10 from Mason’s Bar 02871360177 and online at wegottickets.com
Celtronic, Ireland's leading electronic music festival this year will add an electronic slant to the Jazz festival with special guests including Jimpster. Jimpster aka Jamie Odell and Audiomontage who has been producing, remixing and DJing for the last 18 years and co-running his Freerange Records (voted Best British Label 2007) label for the last 14 of those. His musical upbringing and early introduction to production and DJing have helped him forge a sound that is at once warm and deep as well as being innovative and club friendly. Recent artists to get the Jimpster midas touch in the form of a remix include Osunlade, BobMarley, JorisVoorn and Seal.
CELTRONIC & PMP present ‘Live at St Columb’s Hall’
Cashier No 9, Not Squares, Ard Ri, Electric Dukes & DJ Mickey Bradley (Undertones)/Radio Ulster
Location: Saturday 30th April @ St Columb’s Hall
Time: 9.30pm to late
Ticket charge and Booking Details: Adm £7/£8 from Mason’s Bar 02871360177 and online at wegottickets.com Over 18’s only
Celtronic & PMP present 'Live at St Columbs Hall', featuring a stellar lineup of some of the best bands in Ireland including Cashier No. 9, Not Squares, Ard Ri and Electric Dukes.
Cashier No.9's unique hybrid of pop, rock, indie, country and electronica have seen the exciting 5 piece become one of the hottest bands in the world.
Not Squares' sound is by turns anarchic, willfully madcap, heavily percussive and, by their own admission, still yet to hit their stride. Still, their debut album Yeah OK is a real statement of intent; these guys are here to make you dance, and not to be too self-conscious or clinical about it.
The lineup will also feature live performances from those crazy folkers, Ard Ri and up and coming Derry band Electric Dukes. Michael Bradley from The Undertones will play a very special DJ set at the event.
Dublin I.T. Big Band
Date: Sat 30th April
Time: 3pm
Host: Teresa Craig (BBC Radio Foyle)
Location: The Playhouse Theatre
Ticket charge and Booking Details:FREE - Playhouse Box Office 02871268027
Under the musical direction of Michael Nielsen this sixteen-piece big band will perform a programme of big band classics with vocalists Sinead Conway, Kevin Morrow and guest trumpeter Linley Hamilton. The band will perform a programme of big band classics with the music of Michael Buble, Glenn Miller, Jools Holland, Benny Goodman and other big band favourites.
IMAGE-KEVIN MORROW, SINEAD CONWAY, MICHAEL NIELSEN
Keith Harkin & The Durty Dropouts
Date: Thursday 28th April & Sunday 1st May
supported by Tsunami Rising (Philadelphia)
Location: Thursday 28th April – Sandinos – FREE
10pm Friday 29th April – Café Del Mondo 8pm Admission £10
Sunday 1st May – Tinneys Bar – 9pm – FREE
Keith Harkin is best known in America, The UK and Ireland as vocalist with the million selling recording group Celtic Thunder. Keith’s powerhouse band has top musicians Dermot McGowan (keys), Conor McAuley (drums), Robert Elliott on bass and Rebecca Harkin providing extra vocals. The Stopouts received a rapturious reception at the Glasgowbury Festival during the summer, their fusion of Irish and American musical influences and their energetic stage show will delight audiences who attend their festival dates. They will be supported by American band Tsunami Rising (Philadelphia).
Lol Coxhill Trio
Date: Thursday 28th April
Time: 8pm
Location: The Playhouse Theatre,
Ticket charge and Booking Details: FREE, tickets available from Playhouse Box Office 02871268027
Saxophonist Lol Coxhill will deliver an evening of improvised and innovative, exciting jazz ably assisted by drummer Steve Noble who has performed with Nigerian master drummer Elkan Ogunde and on double bass Alan Niblock who has toured with Norman Winston and the Irish Jazz Orchestra.
“Milestones” – Personal Journeys Through Jazz
Date: Friday 29th April & Saturday 30th April
Host: Marie-Louise Muir
Location: Café Culture, Verbal Arts Centre
Time: Friday 29th April @ 8pm – Gay McIntyre
Saturday 30th april @ 1pm – Paddy Sherlock
Ticket charge and Booking Details: FREE
Two special events with Gay McIntyre and Paddy Sherlock in the company of BBC Radio Ulster’s Marie Louise Muir, both musicians will share with Marie Louise and the audience a personal insight into the unique set of jazz recordings that inspired them and made them the performers they are today. Gay McIntyre is a legendary figure in Irish Jazz and one of the country’s finest saxophonists and clarinetists. Paddy Sherlock, singer, musician, songwriter and actor, Paddy was born in Dublin and moved to Paris, he plays trombone and fronts his band Les Swingin Lovers from Paris.
THE PINK LADIES BREAST CANCER SUPPORT GROUP PRESENT: STRICTLY COME DANCING - The Slammers Maximum Jive Band + support acts and dance
Date: Friday 29th April
Time: 7.30pm to Late (Full Bar Facilities)
Location:The Marquee @ The Gasyard Centre, Friday 29th April
Ticket charge and Booking Details: £10 advanced tickets on sale at The Gasyard Centre, 02871262812
The Pink Ladies Breast Cancer Support Group who are based at The Gasyard Centre, will celebrate their 6th anniversary with their biggest event yet Strictly Come Dancing in a spectacular marquee at The Gasyard Park. Tonights show will see couples compete for the title of Derry’s best dancers. This event will be one of the highlights of this year’s jazz festival and tickets are sure to be in big demand.
Practice Makes Perfect featuring NOT SQUARES & support Red Right Return, Once With Wolves, X1V, DJ Lynch, Ipod Disco & Luke Mac’s Jazz Cafe
Date: Friday 29th April
Time: 7.45pm Doors Open
Location: The Nerve Centre
Ticket charge and Booking Details: £6 & £5, tickets available from Nerve Centre Box Office 02871260562 or online at www.nerve-centre.org.uk
Practice Makes Perfect , the north west’s leading all ages music event , PMP return to this year’s jazz festival with another stellar lineup. Not Squares lead this year’s lineup with support from some of the city’s best young bands. This is an all ages no alcohol event. Full café facilities available.
WORLD MUSIC NI PRESENTS
Rassie Ai (Zimbabwe/Ghana)
The Mindbenders (Ireland)
Greggi G &The Crazy Gang, The Mindbenders
Date: Friday 29th April
Time: 7pm
Location: Global Village @ The Historic Craft Village
Ticket charge and Booking Details: FREE Outdoor Event
Rassie Ai has performed at major festivals throughout Europe. Rassie Ai’s jazzy style is sure to get the party jumping, also from London Greggi G & The Crazy Gank, and our own Mindbenders will finish off the evening with their great dance music.
Café Jazz Project, Thursday 28th
Fiona Trotter Trio, Friday 29th
Date: Café Jazz Project, Thursday 28th Fiona Trotter Trio, Friday 29th
Time: 12.45pm
Location: Void Art Gallery,
Ticket charge and Booking Details:FREE
Lunch time jazz at Void will feature the cool sounds of Café Jazz Project and one of the country’s finest young jazz vocalists, Fiona Trotter.
Paul McIntyre Quartet with guest Luke Rattenbury
Date: Friday 29th April
Time: 1.00 pm
Location: The Playhouse
Ticket Charge and Booking Details: FREE
The quartet will perform their interpretations of some favourite pieces from mainstream, hard bop and gospel genres with an emphasis on the repertoire of the Wynton Kelly Trio that accompanied guitarist Wes Montgomery
STEPHEN TRIFFITT performs Sinatra “Live at the Sands” concert
With special guest Kim Dickinson
Date: Saturday 30th April
Time: 8pm
Location: Millennium Forum
Ticket charge and Booking Details: Millennium Forum Box Office 02871264455 www.millenniumforum.co.uk
Sinatra “Live at the Sands” is a glimpse of the genius that was Frank Sinatra at the height of his vocal powers. The show is set in the ultra relaxed lounge of the legendary Copa Room at the Sands Hotel, Las Vegas. It captures the incomparable Sinatra at the peak of his popularity, a big band of outstanding musicians will provide the backing for Stephen Triffitt’s performance.
THE CHET BAKER STORY, narrated by Linley Hamilton, BBC Radio Ulster
Date: Saturday 30th April
Time: 8pm
Host: Frank Galligan (Highland Radio)
Location: The Playhouse Theatre,
Ticket charge and Booking Details: FREE – Tickets from Playhouse Box Office 02871268027
Following a sell out Irish tour of “Kind of Blue Sessions” this second instalment of pianist John Layton’s “Icons of Jazz” series will give an account of Baker’s early success with Gerry Mulligan, his drug addiction and decline and his comeback later in his career, it will also focus on his album “Chet Baker Sings” and thoughts on the conspiracy around his untimely death in Amsterdam in 1988. An international acclaimed band will perform at this event with Linley Hamilton on trumpet and vocals.
Mark McKnight Quartet
Date: Saturday 30th April
Time: 8pm
Host: Teresa Craig
Location: Culturlann Theatre
Ticket charge and Booking Details: FREE – Culturlann Box Office 02871264132
Mark McKnight is an exceptionally talented young jazz guitarist who has won the ‘Young Irish Jazz Musician of the year’ last year. He headlined at Cork and Glasgow Jazz Festivals last year. Mark brings three excellent young London based musicians to the festival, James Maddren (drums), Ross Stanley (Hammond organ) and alto sax player Mike Chillingworth.
“The future of Irish Jazz guitar” – Irish Times
“McKnight himself is an exhilarating talent” – Glasgow Herald
Singing Nina; A Life In Music featuring Victoria Geelan and her sextet
Date: Sunday 1st May
Time: 4pm
Location: Sandinos
Ticket charge and Booking Details : FREE - 02871309297
Vocalist Victoria Geelan is joined by a sextet of young musicians to pay homageto the life and music of one of the most exquisite interpreters of song: Ms Nina Simone. Jazz favourites like ‘My Baby just Cares For Me’ will be juxtaposed with Civil Rights anthems as blues, folk, gospel and funk infuse this powerful exploration of the emotional and political complexities of a life truly lived through music.
David Lyttle Group featuring Jason Palmer (trumpet), Jean Toussaint (saxophone), Michael Janisch (bass)
Special guests: New York pianist Leo Genovese and guitarist Andreas Varady
Date: Sunday 1st May
Time: 8pm
Host: Mark Patterson
Location: The Playhouse
Ticket charge and Booking Details: FREE – Playhouse Box Office 02871268027
Irish drummer David Lyttle is one of Europe’s finest young jazz drummers, David brings this genuine all star American band to the festival. Trumpeter Jason Palmer has worked with Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis while Jean Toussaint has worked with Art Blakey and Jazz Messengers and Michael Janisch has worked with Joe Lovano and Lee Konitz. This will be an outstanding concert – not to be missed by jazz lovers!!!!
FESTIVAL CLOSING CONCERT James Huish and the Michael Buble Tribute Band
Date: Sunday 1st May
Time: 8pm
Location: Waterside Theatre,
Ticket charge and Booking Details: Admission £8, available from WatersideTheatre Box Office, 02871314000
The music of Michael Buble is certainly taking the world by storm and this band certainly bring his music to life. Expect to hear all Buble hits and classics from the original Rat Pack greats with this great 10 piece outfit. James Huish has performed in London’s Westend shows such as Les Miserables, Grease and Miss Saigon. You are sure to be swinging in your seats for this show.
FESTIVAL FINALE SWING PARTY
Jive Aces & Oo-Bop-Sh’Bam
Date: Sunday 1st May
Time: 9pm
Host: Mark Patterson
Location: DaVinci’s Hotel,
Ticket charge and Booking Details: Admission £8, available from hotel reception, 02871279111
Say goodbye to the festival with these two popular and exciting favourites, these two good time bands will have you dancing the night away!!!!!!!
Book now don’t be disappointed. IMAGE – JIVE ACES AND OO-BOP
ANDREAS VARADY QUARTET
Host: Mark Patterson
The Playhouse, Sunday 1st May 3pm
Admission £5, available from the Playhouse Box Office 02871268027
Thirteen year old Slovakian guitarist Andreas Varady like Django Reinhardt is a brilliant jazz guitarist of European gypsy stock and at 13 may yet be the best of them all. “Commanding the stage this young boy not much bigger than his guitar has become a jazz sensation”. The band line up is David Lyttle (drums), Michael Janisch (bass) and Andreas father Bandi Varady (rhythm guitar). Guest musician will be Paul Booth on saxophone.
FESTIVAL FAREWELL PARTY, King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys & The Mirenda Rosenberg Band
Date: Sunday 1st May
Time: 9pm
Host: Frank Galligan
Location: The City Hotel
Ticket charge and Booking Details: Admission £8, tickets available from hotel reception, 02871365800
A great double bill in the Corinthian Ballroom, King Pleasure bringing you the best in swing, jive & rhythm & blues, their high energy show will bring the house down.
Mirenda Rosenberg and her band have become firm festival favourites and she will put everybody in party mood with her programme of soul, blues and jazz standards. A great evening is guaranteed.
Les Swingin Lovers (Paris)/Slammers Maximum Jive Band (London)/ The Martello Jazz Band (Belfast)
OUTDOOR STAGE, CITY OF CULTURE OFFICE Guildhall Square
Friday 29th, Saturday 30th April & Sunday 1st May @ 3pm
Free Outdoor Event
