London-based Irish vocalist and composer Lauren Kinsella was also due to tour her superb Snowpoet project in March when, poetically, the snow intervened. Bray Jazz Festival celebrated a remarkable 19th year with a strong contemporary programme that included New York heavyweights Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano, and rising Brooklyn saxophone star Ingrid Laubrock. Gender gapThe yawning gender gap in Irish jazz was the subject of much discussion in 2018, and the news that Ireland’s flagship jazz event, the Cork festival, was to have a new woman director was greeted with approval and optimism by Irish jazz musicians of all genders and none. And with plenty of space too for local musicians, Dunphy became every Irish jazz enthusiast’s new best friend. But undoubtedly the year’s big recording story was the discovery in New York of a lost album by John Coltrane.

Source: The Irish Times December 08, 2018 04:52 UTC