Harbour Bar
Sunday, 4th May. Time 10pm

Named after an explosive Jan Hammer composition, ‘Magical Dog’ is a quartet dedicated to the high energy and explorative approach of the classic jazz fusion period.

Their focus is on the raw driving grooves and collective improvisation associated with the genre. With a combined deep knowledge and experience playing this genre, each member also brings their own unique voice to the ensemble.

Expect tunes from some of the most important composers from the fusion era, including John Mclaughlin, Jan Hammer and Steve Grossman.

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Harbour Bar
Sunday, 4th May. Time 8.30pm

Funkmeisters Chief Keegan released their debut album, The Piles High Club in early 2024 to rave reviews.

The album showcased the tight grooves and catchy hooks that had made the quartet such a popular live band on Ireland’s music scene.

Featuring keyboardist Luke Dunford, guitarist Mark Dudley, bassist Alan Elliott, and drummer Cian Hanley, the Chiefs keep up a relentless touring schedule and have been a popular feelgood outfit at festivals across the island.

They’re a remarkable instrumental outfit with a funky Memphis feel, that’s both rich and swampy.

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Harbour Bar
Sunday, 4th May. Time 6.30pm

Hayley Kavanagh is a Dublin-based saxophonist and flautist who’s become an active player on the Irish jazz scene since returning last year after a number of years living and performing in Prague and Berlin.

Since returning home she’s contributed as a sideman in various collaborative projects, and established her own ensembles. She’s also the co-founder of the Arthur’s Jazz Jam in the popular city venue, Arthur’s Blues & Jazz Club, and curates the Jazz Event Guide ‘Cookin’ Dublin’.

Her great young quartet includes Eric Doyle (guitar), Fionn Ruadh (double bass), and Niall Crichton (drums).

Hayley will present new compositions which have yet to be performed on stage as well as a selection of tunes from some of her biggest influences from the hard bop era, such as Joe Henderson and Hank Mobley.

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Harbour Bar
Saturday, 3rd May. Time 6.30pm

London-born jazz pianist, saxophonist and composer Carole Nelson has been a mainstay of the Irish jazz scene, since she first moved here more than 30 years ago.

Her current project, The Carole Nelson Trio with bassist Cormac O’Brien and drummer Dominic Mullen has produced a series of highly acclaimed albums since they release their first recortding, One Day in Winter, in 2017. It’s follow up ‘Arboreal’ was listed amongst the albums of the year by The Irish Times, as was its follow up ‘Night Vision’, which she lanched at Bray Jazz Festival in 2022.

Carole first came to prominence on Ireland’s music scene when she formed the successful jazz pop combo Zrazy with vocalist Maria Walsh, in 1991.

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Harbour Bar
Friday, 2nd May. Time 10pm

Irish drummer Kevin Brady has recorded and performed live with the great American pianist Bill Carrothers for close to 20 years.

Together with bassist Dave Redmond they have recorded a series of albums, the latest – Plan B in 2021 that also featured American saxophonist Seamus Blake.

Bill Carrothers has played with the likes of Gary Peacock, Billy Higgins, Dave Douglas and Curtis Fuller, and enjoyed a long and successful residency at New York’s best known jazz haunt, The Village Vanguard.

Brady, Carrothers & Redmond have toured regularly and consolidated their worldwide reputation as a compelling live act. The trio have travelled widely and won the appreciation of discerning jazz audiences as far afield as the USA, Europe, UK and China.

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Tipped as ‘One To Watch’ by BBC Introducing, Jazz FM UK and Belfast Live, award-winning singer-songwriter Katharine Timoney is making waves as one of Ireland’s leading jazz-soul crossover artists.

Raised in Belfast, Katharine grew up listening to the voices of Nina Simone, Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday.  In 2024, she caught the attention of Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2with her single ‘All This Time’.

Her debut EP ‘Life came into Colour’ produced and arranged by British saxophonist Ben Castle was significantly supported by Jazz FM UK, and has received an incredible 600,000 plays on Spotify.  Recent performances saw her take to the stage to a packed out audience at Cheltenham Jazz Festival and perform a string of sold-out shows this year.

Katharine’s upcoming record is due for release in September and is produced by saxophonist Ben Castle, and features pianist Mark Edwards, drummer Darren Beckett and bassist Arnie Somogyi. 

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Collider is the newest project from Dublin based guitarist Chris Guilfoyle. It’s music that explores the electronic worlds of Drum and Bass, House, and IDM, where the rich tones of electric guitar intertwine with ethereal synth sounds and heavy drum grooves.

All the musicians in the group are well known in the electronic music and jazz world with Darragh O’Kelly (OKO, Big Spoon) on synths, Scott Flanigan (keys) and Shane O’Donovan (OKO, H-CI, Big Spoon) on drums.

Following a knock out performance at last year’s festival, Collider are back, offering a unique set where the spirit of jazz collides with the innovative beats of electronic music.

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It will be our 24th year, and we’re happy to have assembled a great line-up of acts from across the globe – including the US, UK, France, Belgium, Japan, Italy, Finland, Norway and more.

We’re grateful to the support that we receive each year from The Arts Council of Ireland, from Wicklow Co Council, and from our other sponsors and supporters.

And we’re grateful to the many people who attend the festival year after year – an essential ingredient that allows us to keep the show on the road.

Check out the info on the site, and keep an eye out over the coming month for more listings, as we continue to update things.

We’re in the process of scheduling more than 20 additional shows across our free to attend programme at Bray’s Harbour Bar, and at other bars and venues across the town, and have some of the very best in Irish jazz, blues, funk and more planned.

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Mieko Miyazaki and Franck Wolf form a rare and original duo, their music blending the elegant charm of the ‘koto,’ a half tube zither that is Japan’s national instrument, with the melodic lines of Wolf’s clarinet and saxophone.

Miyazaki is recognised globally as one of the masters of the koto. She has performed at numerous international events, while her compositions have been voted amongst the most beautiful koto compositions. In 2020, she recorded and released a remarkable transcription of Bach’s ‘Goldberg’s Variations’ for solo koto.

Their musical partnership has flourished since Miyasaki made her home in France, and their ability to take listeners through the different musicial world’s that they occupy – Wolf’s inspiring melodic chants fliting with the elegant, etherial charm of Mieko Miyazaki’s deft and lovely koto playing. 

Prepare for an impressionistic and lyrical musical recital that will shed new light on the links between the Japanese and western musical worlds.

You can find out more about Mieko and Franck here: https://www.miekomiyazaki.com/en/home/ and https://www.franckwolf.com/index_eng.html

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Nabou Claerhout is a rising star of the European jazz scene, and Lynn Cassiers a singer, soundscaper and innovator who’s a key figure in Brussels burgeoning contemporary jazz scene.

One of the most innovative and prolific trombone players in Europe, Nabou Claerhout first picked up the instrument at aged just nine, and has never looked back.

Nabou is now at the vanguard of new jazz in the Benelux countries, is bandleader of the eight-piece Nabou Claerhout Trombone Ensemble, the award-winning young quartet N△BOU, and series of smaller ensemble projects. After studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Claerhout graduated from Codarts Rotterdam in 2018. She is currently one of the master coaches in the classical course at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp.

One of Nabou Claerhout’s most compelling projects is her work with Brussels-based singer and soundscaper Lynn Cassiers. Their work together is an engaging combination of jazz, electronics and ambient music that reaches from the ethereal to intense, and back Alain.

Bridging an impressive range of styles, from free jazz and moodly film soundscapes to ambient pop and rock, Nabou Claerhout and Lynn Cassiers deploy trombone, keyboards, voice and special effects to paint a rich and colourful palate of sound. 

“There is real star quality in her soloing: song tone, strong line, real presence. Claerhout is definitely one to watch.” — London Jazz News (UK)

“…Cassiers is brilliant. She creates her own sonic universe in which avant-garde pop (think Laurie Anderson), traditional jazz and free improv meet, in a wonderful mixture ”- FreeJazz Blog

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