Jazz and jive drown out all talk of recession

RAIN and jazz – the two usually go together like rhythm and blues at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival.

But not this year as clear blue skies, the widest range of artists ever in the festival’s 32-year history, and two new reach-out initiatives helped encourage record numbers to soak up the jazz atmosphere this weekend.

All talk of budgets and polls, tax hikes and health cuts was drowned out by jazz and jive, swing and samba, as an estimated 50,000 revellers packed venues across the city injecting some €20 million into the local economy.