Friendly festival music to fans’ ears
More than 1,000 musicians poured into the city, defying the rain and the wind, over the course of the holiday weekend and ensured another profitable few days for local hotels, pubs, restaurants and cafes.
With about 40,000 visitors, it is estimated that the festival could be worth about €25 million to the local business community this year, as the last hooley before Christmas is celebrated with gusto.
And, according to Guinness jazz director Rory Sheridan ticket sales are up by 18% on last year.
“We made a conscious decision to advertise as early as we could this year and ticket sales are far ahead of where we’ve ever been before,” he said yesterday.
“You see people walking around with their jazz T-shirts and hats and getting into the swing of things.”
It’s not just the tourists enjoying the buzz, however, as the locals are also well catered for over the course of the weekend.
“I get a great smile on my face walking by bars with jazz on in the afternoons and with the evening sessions,” said Mr Sheridan.
It’s known as “the friendly festival” and that was borne out again this weekend as venues around Cork grooved, swung and toe-tapped with as much enthusiasm as ever.
“I don’t think any other city in Ireland could do it the way we do it,” he said.
Last night provided the tonic to the poor weather that many who travelled to Cork needed — the Blind Boys of Alabama as they set Cork Opera House alight with their blend of old standards and new takes.
Their double bill with the Campbell Brothers-Sacred Steel proved a hugely attractive proposition to jazzers.
The Miroslav Vitous Quartet proved a big hit at the Everyman Palace Theatre yesterday afternoon, while later on the Leaders with Chico Freeman and Bobby Watson, on a double bill with Gary Burton and the Richard Galliano Group were as popular as ever.
Other highlights from the festival so far included Mary Coughlan’s appearance at the Savoy on Saturday night; Jeanie Bryson singing the Dizzie Gillespie collection at the Firkin Crane; and the Geoff Gascoyne Project at the Everyman Palace on Saturday afternoon which featured Jamie Cullum, Trudy Kerr and the Juno String Quartet.
There’s more to come, with music on four stages today at the Guinness Jazz Club in the Gresham Metropole Hotel, featuring Cartoon, Fiona Kennedy and Paradiso, Jazz Collage, and Gerri Deane. The Warlords of Pez will be performing at Cyprus Avenue tonight, with Fight Like Apes playing at that venue tomorrow night.
