Jazz festival starts out on the right note

IF turning 30 years of age is the new 21, then Cork’s Guinness Jazz Festival has come of age all over again — despite its humble origins in a card-game tournament.

Last night the annual festival threw open its doors to jazz lovers from all over Europe, packing out hotels, pubs and music venues across the city.

While tourists struggled to get to grips with Cork’s idiosyncratic weather, Ireland’s smoking ban and traffic queues everywhere, jazz artists from both sides of the Atlantic struck the right chords.

At last night’s official launch, Cork dignitaries heard how the festival was today worth about €25 million annually to the city’s economy, bringing in €700m since its start in 1977.

The festival began — the year punk music reigned — after a bridge tournament at Cork’s Metropole Hotel in MacCurtain Street was scrapped. The hotel trumped the cancellation by bringing in four jazz bands to perform, ushering in an annual festival now in its 30th year.

Today the Metropole remains the spiritual home of the festival while other venues show their colours for jazz fans eager to hear everything from trad to swing, and modern to contemporary.

Upwards of 1,000 musicians from more than 30 countries are in Cork over the weekend with 40,000 music lovers expected to attend gigs across the city.

Jazz is not the only dish on the menu as reggae, ska and gospel acts are in this year’s mix.

But for the committed, the city is hosting acts recounting the glory days of legends like Dizzy Gillespie and Chet Baker as well as the best in jazz today.

www.corkjazzfestival.com