Jazz festival to welcome 1,000 musicians as tickets go on sale

TICKETS have just gone on sale for what promises to be another epic Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. The October Bank Holiday event will feature more than 1,000 musicians from 29 countries.

The festival, which runs from October 23-26, will include headline acts such as sax player Pharoah Sanders, drummer Jack DeJohnette and stunning vocalist Kurt Elling.

The Everyman Palace will host a terrific double bill with The Bad Plus and The Sun Ra Arkestra on opening night, and festival venues will also feature artists such as Al DiMeola, Gilad Atzmon, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Eldar, Peter Green, The Fun Lovin’ Criminals and British saxophonist Yolanda Brown.

Other major venues will include the Firkin Crane, The Savoy, The Pavilion, Cyprus Avenue and the Gresham Metropole Hotel.

There will also be non-stop music, day and night, in over 80 clubs, pubs and hotels citywide, plus master classes and many fringe events.

Festival chief executive Michael Whelan said since its inception more than 30 years ago, the people of Cork have warmly welcomed in excess of one million visitors to listen to the jazz.

It generates an annual economic boost for the city well in excess of €6 million.

“2009 is a particularly special year for Guinness as they celebrate 250 years since Arthur Guinness signed the lease on the St James’s Gate brewery. This promises to be a special festival, in a special year, in a very special city,” Mr Whelan said.

The forthcoming festival will also feature the final of the inaugural Cork Jazz Futures Competition, a talent search open to jazz music students in Ireland.

Tickets for all shows, including the much-in-demand Guinness Festival Club, are available from the Everyman Palace Theatre box office [phone].

lcorkjazzfestival.com