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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Max Zaska is a guitarist, songwriter, and producer best known for his feel-good blend of modern funk, neo-soul, and indie jazz.

With his band, ZASKA, Max brings his original songs to life with a verve and enthusiasm that is infectious. His live work and recordings over the past decade have featured a dizzying array of Irish artists, ranging from Hozier, who was his first vocalist, to Wyvern Lingo, Loah, Tolu Kakay, Jess Kav, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Little Green Cars and Denise Chaila.

Bray born and raised and now living in the midlands, Max Zaska pays a welcome return to his hometown and to this year’s Bray Jazz, where he will play songs from his newly released third album of original material.

He exudes breezy optimism, plays with a smile on his face, and leads a tight big band that’s part funk, part jazz and part RnB, the overall concoction serving up rich slabs of what Max Zaska himself describes as “future soul.”

“…a refreshing sense of fun and mischief, who isn’t afraid to go deep” – The Irish Times.

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Pianist Nduduzo Makhathini has been a central figure in South Africa’s vibrant jazz scene for over a decade.

One of just a handful of African-based musicians to be signed to the prestigious Blue Note jazz label, he has released three albums on Blue Note, including Modes of Communication: Letters From the Underworlds, which earned a New York Times ‘Best Album of the Year’ ranking in 2020.

But Makhatini is no ordinary jazz pianist. Rather, he’s a warm, engaging performer who is also a healer, shaman and educator who has delved deep into the history and traditions of his ancestors for inspiration.

A charismatic live performer, his concerts are absorbing, his tunes a rich tapestry that can be simple, sparce and lyrical, or dense and hypnotic.  Makhathini imbues his music with distinctive cultural references – Zulu language recitations, trills, treble fill-ins, intimate microphone murmurs and passages studded with impressive tongue-click consonants of the Khoisan languages of his homeland. 

Makhathini is joined in his stellar trio by South African double-bassist Zwelakhe Bell le Pere and Cuban drummer Lukmil Perez, musicians with whom he appears to have a near telepathic understanding. 

“…quite simply magnificent.” – Best of Jazz

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Parisian born Amy Gadiaga is making waves as a bright young star of contemporary jazz– pushing boundaries while upholding jazz music’s finest traditions.

A bassist, vocalist and band leader who graduated from the prestigious Trinity Labans Conservatoire of Music, she was recently nominated ‘best newcomer of the year’ in the prestigious Parliamentary Jazz Awards, and has just been shortlisted for a MOBO (music of black origin) awards for 2025. Amy Gadiaga’s talent is unquestionable and her influences are broad – ranging from legends such as Wayne Shorter and Betty Carter, to contemporary stars D’Angelo and Stevie Wonder.

Upon moving to London, she received support from both Tomorrow’s Warriors and Jazz Re:Freshed, two organisations that championing the brightest and best in new jazz talent, and has also been championed on radio stations including Jazz FM and BBC Radio London. 

Born to parents of Senegalese, Gambian and Malian descent, Gadiaga grew up on the outskirts of Paris. ‘All Black Everything’ is her breakout release – a recording that is both a celebration of African heritage and an acknowledgement of the complexities of racial identity that have allowed her to transfer her insecurities into a narrative of self-empowerment.

A confident bassist and singer with a voice brimming with power and soul,  Gadiaga earned glowing reviews for her performances at last Summer’s ultra-hip We Out Here festival, and for her appearances at Cheltenham Jazz Festival and at last year’s London Jazz Festival.  

“Gadiaga’s star continues to rise, cementing her status as a significant new voice in contemporary music” – Jazz Messengers

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Steinar Raknes is a Norwegian bassist, vocalist and songwriter who has worked with artists as rich and varied as Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Bobby McFerrin and Ola Kvernberg.  

Regarded as one of the leading bassists of his generation, he is also a member of the trio of celebrated pianist Tord Gustavsen.

A double bass virtuoso, playing both pizzicato and arco, he is known for his captivating solo presentations.

Steinar Raknes has a broad musical palate, and his work encompasses contemporary jazz, Sami folk music of northern Scandinavian, as well as American roots, blues and Americana.

He is an instrumental double bass teacher on the celebrated Trondheim Musikkonservatorium, from where he is also a graduate.

“Surprising, beautiful and highly rewarding” – All About Jazz

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Shetland islander Norman Wilmore and Glaswegian Corrie Dick daringly blend the old and new with their reimagining of the airs and rich musical heritage of Scotland’s northernmost isles.

Using as their reference point ancient melodies discovered during an island residency, Norman&Corrie’s compositions bridge the gap between tradition and innovation, infusing ancestral melodies with modern production – much has Lankum have done with traditional music in Ireland.

They combine drum kit and saxophone, with organ foot pedals, sampled field recordings and earthy, cutting-edge electronics to breathe new life into instrumentals that range from haunting spirituals to raucous ceili stomps.The pair are immersed in the UK’s jazz and contemporary music scene, Corrie Dick drumming with the acclaimed quartet Dinosaur and the award-winner Jacob Collier, and Norman Wilmore working with The Peatbog Faeries and Glaswegian Mercury Prize nominee, Corto.Alto, and Beth Orton.

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Also Featuring: Christine Tobin & Phil Robson (Irl/UK)

Nubya Garcia is one of the breakthrough stars of the recent UK urban jazz boom.

A generational talent since long before she released her Mercury Prize nominated debut album in 2021, tenor saxophonist Garcia was named Breakthrough Act of the Year by both Sky Arts and Jazz FM back as far as 2018, and was the Jazz FM’s Jazz Act of the Year, a year later.

In 2021 she won Downbeat’s Critic’s Poll ‘Rising Star’ Award, a Parliamentary Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year Award, and the Jazz Journalist Award in the UK. Since then she has played televised slots at Glastonbury Festival, appeared on Later… with Jools Holland, and co-released a live album with psychedelic rock band Khruangbin – after a period touring with the Texan instrumentalists, in 2023.

One of an array of gifted graduates of the UK’s inspirational jazz education and artist development organisation ‘Tomorrow’s Warriors,’ Nubya Garcia is a regular collaborator with such contemporaries as Ezra Collective, Moses Boyd and Sons of Kemet, amongst others.

The 33-year old London born composer and band leader earned a Rolling Stone ‘Artist of the Year’ nomination following the release last Autumn of her second album ‘Odyssey, while The Irish Times called her new recording as “an exhilarating mix of jazz, neosoul and R & B”.

Nubya Garcia’s gig in Bray will be her first major concert appearance to an Irish jazz audience.

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Featuring in a double bill with: VIJAY IYER

Bemusement Arcade is the new quartet from Ronan Guilfoyle, one of the most prolifically creative figures in Irish jazz in the past 30 years. The band, which recently recorded their new album ‘At Swing Two Birds’ on Dublin’s Livia Label, will launch their work at this year’s festival.

Guilfoyle, who has played with many of the greats, from Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano to Brad Mehldau, is joined in the quartet by young London saxophonist Sam Norris, guitarist Chris Guilfoyle, and Belfast-drummer Darren Beckett.

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