Paul Dunlea: Cork big band leader on his jazz-greats show at the Opera House
Paul Dunlea leads Swingin’ In Time at Cork Opera House. Picture: Clare Keogh.
Paul Dunlea is one of Ireland’s most formidable figures in modern music. A composer, an improvising trombonist, and an in-demand jazz and big-band performer and arranger, his work has seen him perform with the likes of Michael Bublé, Frankie Valli, Mick Flannery, and many more.
It might surprise you, then, to hear that his path to the trombone came as somewhat of an accident. Dunlea grew up in Mayfield, joining the Cork Barrack Street Band at age 11. His mother’s family had long been members, meaning Dunlea had unknowingly attended rehearsals from the age of five.
“When I was old enough, I joined,” he says from the depths of his studio, surrounded by equipment and instruments. “And then I started playing trombone. That’s just where they had a vacancy.”
Indeed, it was the trombone that came to be the vehicle of Dunlea’s initial breakthrough. A graduate of the CIT Cork School of Music – for both a Bachelor's Degree in Trombone Performance and a Master's in Composition – his technique ran the gamut from the delicate to the unearthly, something which allowed him to hold the chair of principal trombone with the Band 1 Brigade - Irish Defence Forces from 2001.
He got the call at age 20 and stayed there just shy of 22 years. “I was still gigging and freelancing all over the place,” he says of that time. “And it allowed me to really progress in my work and get a name out for myself.”
During that time, Dunlea produced two albums: in 2011, and in 2016. His third, was released just a fortnight ago.
“It’s named for the gap between two tectonic plates of America and Europe that meet in Iceland,” he says.
Dunlea visited the Mid-Atlantic rift on a scuba dive recently and was so beguiled, he named his album after it. “The water is really clear. And you can pretty much touch the two continents when you stretch your arms out.”
However, the desire for any musician to release an album is waning. “No one buys records anymore,” he says, sadly. “I’ve written albums and albums and albums of working music, but that’s the reason why I only ever bothered about these three.”
Talk of proudest achievements arises and Dunlea’s are plentiful; touring with Bublé (“He was exactly what you see on the tin”), getting the call from the Defence Forces, and hearing brilliant musicians play his work. Another is set to be his upcoming Cork Opera House gig, Swingin’ & In Time – Jazz Giants at Cork Opera House Through the Decades, a high-energy celebration of jazz, featuring Dunlea at the curating helm.
The event runs as part of Cork Opera House’s 170th anniversary celebrations and aims to pay tribute to the venue’s rich jazz heritage. Consider the time Ella Fitzgerald came to town, or Buddy Rich and Blossom Dearie? Dunlea will commemorate these greats with his Big Band and a swathe of vocal talent.
“I’ve done three types of these kinds of Big Band events before,” he says. “And they’re always great, because you get to expose people to this sort of music who might never really get the opportunity. That said, for me, it’s months and months of work for about two hours. And we've no rehearsal time,” he laughs.
“But I’ve hand-picked everyone in the band so that they can come in and just nail it. They're that good.”
Naturally, the conversation turns to the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. Dunlea was the event’s first artist in residence. And as such, it’s a project he cares for deeply.
“The direction it’s going in is the direction it needs to go in, really,” he says. “For the commercial sector. At the end of the day, it’s filling venues, which is great. There are people who say there aren’t world-renowned jazz names who come to town for it, but there are, they just mightn’t be on the posters,” he says.
“I've been bringing world-class musicians that really specialise in jazz to Cork for the last 20 years, and I've seen the same issue. You mightn't see their names on the main website or playing any of the main venues, but they are there… Just be sure to ask the people in the know.”
- Swingin’ In Time – Jazz Giants at Cork Opera House Through the Decades, Saturday, September 27.
