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| Bray Jazz 2006, Ireland Bray Jazz Festival returns to North Wicklow for it's seventh year on the upcoming May Bank Holiday weekend. The event will this year present a programme of over 30 concerts and recitals, the highlight of which is certain to be a welcome arrival to these shores of the great American pianist and composer Andrew Hill. The festival takes place from Friday to Sunday, April 28th-30th. The Andrew Hill Quintet(USA), Nguyen Le's 'Bakida' Trio (France/Vietnam), brilliant young British pianist Gwilym Simcock, the great British sax player Andy Sheppard, New York pianist David Berkman, and the saxophonist and urban music innovator Soweto Kinch are just some of the names lined up to appear at this year's festival. Bray Jazz 2006 will have a strong jazz theme from both sides of the English Channel - with artists from the UK well represented on the Saturday night, and players from France featuring on the bill elsewhere on the weekend. The British jazz vanguard will be spearheaded by a fantastic double header - featuring the great sax player Andy Sheppard and his group, and by the startlingly brilliant young pianist Gwilym Simcock, who headline at Mermaid Arts Centre on Saturday night, April 29th. And the British theme will continue on the festival's late night World Music Stage, where Birmingham based innovator Soweto Kinch will bring his electrifying jazz rap fusion to a live audience. French jazz will feature strongly on Sunday's programme - as the Paris based Vietnamese guitarist Nguyen Le will bring his Bakida trio to Mermaid, to appear on a programme that will also feature Irish composer and bassist Ronan Guilfoyle's 'Simulacrum', which features the acclaimed French violinist Dominique Pifarély. Another of the great's of contemporary Irish jazz makes the 'French Connection' too, as guitarist Tommy Halferty's project of that name, featuring brothers Jean Philippe and Christopher Lavergne on Hammond organ and drums respectively, alongside Boris Blanchett on tenor sax make up a quartet who play The Esplanade Hotel's Piano Room the same night. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |