A question of taste: Sinead Dunphy

Sinead Dunphy is festival director of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival (October 25-28). Originally from Waterford, Sinead moved to Cork 18 years ago, and also headed the city’s Choral Festival for a number of years.

Best recent book you’ve read: Fred Hersch’s Good Things Happen Slowly — A Life in and Out of Jazz: incredible insight into this wonderful musician’s life!

Best recent film: Haven’t had time to really stay ahead of the game of new releases, but have started rewatching the classics, most recently Casablanca — “Here’s lookin’ at you kid!”

Best recent gig you’ve seen: Saw Guinness Cork Jazz Festival’s artist-in-residence, Paul Dunlea’s Sextet, at Limerick Jazz Festival, a couple of weeks ago and was blown away, not only by the musicianship displayed, but also the level of performance quality and engagement clearly enjoyed by the musicians on stage.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately (new or old):

Laura Mvula, with Metropole Orkest, conducted by Jules Buckley at Abbey Road — an incredible album!

First ever piece of music that really moved you: I think The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band album was definitely one of the first albums that really moved me. I was only about 7 or 8, but that song, ‘She’s Leaving Home’, really affected me, even though I was really young. It just stuck in my head... I guess the independence of ‘She’

resonated!

The best gig or show you’ve ever seen (if you had to pick one!): Sinéad O’Connor in the Mansion House for a private gig. She was just incredible. Such vulnerability as an artist, while also performing with such commanding power.

Radio listening and/or podcasts: Love listening to Elmarie Mawe on Sunday mornings and absolutely love WTF, with Marc Maron’s podcast; always keeps me entertained!

You’re curating your dream jazz festival with an unlimited budget — which three artists are on the bill, living or dead?

Today is @BusyPhilipps day on https://t.co/KBRiPQLutw! Stress, shame, Arizona, Michelle Williams, Freaks and Geeks, Cougar Town! Great talk! Love her! Do it up!

Full episode here - https://t.co/5qOLFy0j5j

Also on @ApplePodcasts - https://t.co/om0pJqeE8h pic.twitter.com/u3CcSXDRq7

— WTF with Marc Maron (@WTFpod) October 15, 2018

That’s a hard one — I’ve so many of my absolute favourites in this year’s festival already. Maybe Diana Krall, Kurt Elling, and I’d say without doubt Billie Holiday, if we could have her back even for a day!

So many to choose from, but which gig are you most looking forward to for this year’s festival? It has to be Maria Schneider, both as a superstar of the jazz world, but a force to be reckoned with as a person who inspires so many through her advocacy work for the rights of musicians and more, and also simply her music — you literally can’t find any fault in it. No matter who you are, her music is so beautiful in its storytelling and just flawless in delivery — let’s hope I’m not too busy and I’ll actually get to see the full gig!

Your best celebrity encounter: Most recently [bassist, singer, professor] Esperanza Spalding. It was a random encounter in a jazz club in New York, but she was just so down to earth. We nattered away like old friends, and just got on like a house on fire.

You can portal back to any period of human cultural history or music event — where, when, and why? It would have to be New York City in the 1930s, specifically the Cotton Club, when Ethel Waters became a regular, having done so much work to integrate the music and theatre worlds — even to be there for a minute of her premiere of ‘Stormy Weather’ — what a moment that would have been.

Do you have any interesting ancestors or family? When it comes to family, my dad. He’s the coolest dude I know. If I’m anything like him if I hit 80, I’ll be doing well.

Unsung heroes: I think the work done by all of the sexual violence and rape crisis centres is incredible moving... the people working there give themselves so selflessly to aid those who are often in way too much shock to be able to deal with what they’re going through.

Incredible, really.

You are queen for a day — what’s your first decree? For every derelict and vacant house in the country to be revamped and given to the homeless... you’d think this could be a real-life possibility, rather than a fantasy!

Interview by Des O’Driscoll