| Record attendances | Bray Jazz Festival returned for it's ninth year on the May Bank Holiday weekend, and delivered another packed programme of brilliant musical innovators from at home and abroad.
A record number attended this year's festival, which featured amongst its highlights a marathon three hour show featuring the grand-master of funk music - long time James Brown collaborator Maceo Parker and his Band, and a sublime performance by 'Mare Nostrum', the euro jazz supergroup featuring French accordianist Richard Galliano, Paulo Fresu (trumpet) and Jan Lundgren (piano).
There were highly enjoyable and well attended concerts across this year's programme, with Cuban drummer Dafnis Prieto confirming his reputation as an emerging great to a packed house at The Royal Hotel, Cape Verdean singer Carmen Souza making a compelling Irish debut, and Ireland's own Yurodny amongst many to present memorable, outstanding performances.
Our thanks to all of the musicians, to our festival going public, to our venues, and our festival team to Bray Jazz 2008. We had a great time, and hope that you did too.
Take a look at a short slideshow of images by Robert Goode from this year's festival HERE.
| | | | | | | | | | | | Mare Nostrum | Mare Nostrum delivered a concert performance at Bray Jazz which left few in the packed audience in any doubt about the remarkable musical chemistry that has emerged between this trio of exceptional European players.
French accordianist Richard Galliano (right), Italian trumpeter Paulo Fresu and Swedist pianist lit up Mermaid Arts Centre with their playing, and delivered one of the undisputed highlights of Bray Jazz 2008. |
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| | | Town Hall Concerts | Bray Jazz Festival's Town Hall recitals have been a popular component of the annual programme since it's inception, and our 2008 concerts were no exception.
Audiences who were fortunate enough to secure tickets witnessed concerts of the highest quality from Chinese pipa virtuoso Liu Fang, took a remarkable musical voyage through the Mediterannean and North Africa with Francesco Turrisi's Zahr, and enjoyed a wonderful Anglo-Irish musical accord courtesy of British singer Norma Winstone, and our own jazz guitar great Tommy Halferty. |
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| | | Irish Renaissance | The healthy state of contemporary Irish jazz was affirmed repeatedly at this year's Bray Jazz Festival, with many of the country's greatest performers delivering stand-out shows at this year's festival.
Justin Carroll's 'Togetherness', the brilliant Balkan ensemble 'Yurodny', jazz singer Cormac Kenevey, Dylan Rynhart's 'Fuzzy Logic', and 'The Electric Miles Davis' (left) delivered rich servings of top quality jazz improvisation over the course of the weekend. |
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|  | | | | | | ›› | view full list of artists on Friday |
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| | | | | | ›› | view full list of artists on Saturday |
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| | | | | | ›› | view full list of artists on Sunday |
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