Yussef Dayes review: Drummer delights at Opera House for first night of Cork Jazz Festival

The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival got off to a fine start with a gig by one of the leading lights of the contemporary British scene 

Yussef Dayes at Cork Opera House on Thursday as part of Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. Picture: Darragh Kane

The Drummers Union would’ve been happy. While their members are usually tucked away to the sides or barely visible at the back, Yussef Dayes and his multifaceted kit were front and centre at the Opera House for the opening night of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2026.

The 33-year-old Londoner was a brave programming choice for a 1,000-capacity venue that usually hosts the more accessible acts of the festival. Masters At Work play there on Friday; Boney M on Saturday. But on a rainy Thursday night, Dayes and the rest of his quintet proved that a contemporary jazz ensemble could also connect.

Theirs is a big sweeping sound, based around the rhythms of the band leader, backed up by a percussionist and bass player to his left, and saxophone and keyboard player to his right. 

Yussef Dayes performing at the opening night of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival at the Opera House. Picture: Darragh Kane

British jazz is in rude health at the moment. Dayes is part of that generation of uber-talented 30-somethings ensuring that the Cork festival has rich pickings from its near neighbour rather than always having to look across the Atlantic. They’ve often studied jazz at university, but also grew up listening to reggae, drum’n’bass, and the myriad other club genres or ethnic styles in the melting pot of modern UK culture.

The Cork crowd heard snippets of so many of those influences, with audience members in the unseated section downstairs doing their best to move to rhythms that at times hit 11 on the intricacy scale.

 Dayes himself cut an affable figure, occasionally taking to the microphone to introduce members of the band, and further endearing himself to the crowd by dedicating one of the set's early tunes to his late mother.

The great Buddy Rich played on the same Opera House stage almost exactly 20 years ago. It’s likely he’d have approved of how Dayes and co have pushed his favoured instrument to the fore, and along the way are breathing new life into jazz.