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Musicians help to jazz up Cork festival
 JAZZ
fans from Britain and across Europe descended on Ireland for this year’s
Guinness Jazz Festival the biggest in the Cork event’s 30-year history.
More than 1,000 musicians were in the city over the weekend along with
some 40,000 visitors — bringing in around e25million for the local
economy.
According to Guinness jazz director Rory Sheridan ticket sales were up
by 18 per cent on last year.
He said: “We made a conscious decision to advertise as early as
we could this year and ticket sales are far ahead of where we’ve
ever been before.
“You see people walking around with their jazz T-shirts and hats
and getting into the swing of things.”
And it wasn’t just the tourists enjoying the buzz — with locals
also well catered for.
“I get a great smile on my face walking by bars with jazz on in
the afternoons and with the evening sessions,” said Mr Sheridan.
It’s known as the friendly festival and that was borne out again
over the weekend as venues around Cork grooved, swung and toe-tapped with
as much enthusiasm as ever.
The Blind Boys Of Alabama set Cork Opera House alight with their blend
of old standards and new takes.
The Miroslav Vitous Quartet proved a big hit at the Everyman Palace Theatre
while the Leaders with Chico Freeman and Bobby Watson on a double bill
with Gary Burton and the Richard Galliano Group were as popular as ever.
Other highlights from the festival included Mary Coughlan’s appearance
at the Savoy, Jeanie Bryson singing the Dizzie Gillespie collection at
the Firkin Crane and the Geoff Gascoyne Project at the Everyman Palace
afternoon which featured Jamie Cullum, Trudy Kerr and the Juno String
Quartet. |
