Saturday December 7
FALCARRAGH WINTER JAZZ FESTIVAL
Falcarragh, Co Donegal (ends today) Facebook.com/FalcarraghWinterJazzFestival/
Since returning from the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow in 2018, Donegal twin brothers Michael and Conor Murray have been leading the charge for jazz in the northwest of the island, working and touring with their mentor, Belfast drummer David Lyttle, and appearing regularly at Bennigan's Bar in Derry. Quixotic as it may seem, the two 22-year-olds have also started their own festival in the gaeltacht village of Falcarragh, and still to come in this the second edition of this boutique festival of "snag ceol" is music from Canadian guitarist Lucian Gray, a solo performance from Scottish pianist Steve Hamilton, a new trio led by the redoubtable Lyttle, and a lunchtime appearance from the brothers Murray themselves. See website for venue details.
Sunday December 8
DUBLIN JAZZ CO-OP: MATT DOWIE TRIO
Workman's Club, Dublin
Vocalist Jennifer McMahon's second offering as curator of the Dublin Jazz Co-Op series, upstairs in the Workman's Club overlooking the Liffey, is a mix of gypsy jazz and funk standards from a guitar trio led by electric guitarist Matt Dowie with acoustic guitarist Matthew Hunter and guitarist and bassist David Browne Murray.
Wednesday December 11
JAZZ CONNECTIVE
Project Arts Centre, Dublin (also Thursday 12) improvisedmusic.ie
Jazz Connective is a new alliance of promotion and development organisations from around Europe, funded by the EU's Creative Europe Programme, that joins the dots and creates new synergies in the increasingly connected European creative music scene. The peripatetic group arrives in Dublin for a conference this week, hosted by the Improvised Music Company, and, alongside meetings and workshops for the invited delegates, there are two nights of new European jazz in the Project Arts Centre that are open to all, featuring a diverse and gender-balanced roster of European improvisers. On Wednesday, there are performances from earthy Finnish punk-jazz trio Mopo (one of the star turns at the 12 Points festival in Dublin in 2013), the distinguished Irish improv duo of violinist Cora Venus Lunny and pianist Izumi Kimura, and a rare solo set from respected UK trumpeter Laura Jurd. Then, on Thursday night, there's a solo set from rising UK pianist Elliot Galvin, explorations of the beguiling sound of the gyil (a large west African xylophone made of wood) from London trio Vula Viel, and a unique Jazz Connective collaboration between Irish guitarist Shane Latimer, French drummer Seb Brun and Mopo saxophonist Linda Fredriksson. It's the sort of eclectic mix of music and performers that Dublin audiences usually only get with IMC's biannual 12 Points festivals and a welcome chance for the capital's more open-minded listeners to check in with what happens when jazz starts to dissolve and mix with other musical forms in the European melting pot.
SUZANNE SAVAGE BAND
Arthurs, Dublin arthurspub.ie
Suzanne Savage is best-known as one of the first-call backing vocalists on the island, working with Paul Brady, Van Morrison and many others, but the talented Belfast singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is increasingly moving to the centre of the stage these days, with her superbly innovative Savage Five group, or here with a promising new quartet of Dublin talent, including pianist Darragh O'Kelly, bassist Damian Evans and drummer Dominic Mullan.
Thursday December 12
JAZZGATE: THE MUSIC OF CHET BAKER
Black Gate, Galway aengushackett.com
Galway guitarist Aengus Hackett's ongoing exploration of the music of some of the icons of jazz has been one of the success stories of the city's live music scene this year, drawing appreciative audiences to the music-friendly Black Gate venue. The JazzGate series arrives this week at the music of trumpeter and jazz anti-hero Chet Baker, whose good looks and bad ways tended to overshadow a considerable talent for melody, both as a musician and as a vocalist. Joining the guitarist to root through the Chet Baker rattlebag are bassist and vocalist Paul O'Driscoll, and channelling Baker's sparse, Miles-inspired trumpet playing is Dublin trumpeter Bill Blackmore.
Saturday December 14
NIGEL MOONEY & JOHNNY TAYLOR TRIO
Arthurs, Dublin, arthurspub.ie
Guitarist and vocalist Nigel Mooney has been a draw on the Dublin music scene since the 1980s when he founded the legendary Gripewater Blues Band. These days, Mooney holds down a popular weekly residency in the United Arts Club on Sunday afternoons with a "drumless" trio, but here's a chance to catch him with his full quartet, featuring the effortless old-school class of pianist Johnny Taylor's trio with bassist Barry Donohue and drummer Dominic Mullan. Given Mooney's laconic 2017 release, Twenty-First Century Santa Claus Blues, expect a sideways glance at the season along with originals and choice standards from one of the most popular jazz entertainers on the Irish scene.
