In the years since, they have developed into a band with members from across the country – singer and guitarist Fatboy, drummer Korey Thomas, sax / keys player Louis Younge and bassist Dara Abdurahman.

From infectious energy and soulful chords to its soft, woozy vocals, the band combine R&B, hip-hop, jazz and an anarchic musical approach that stems from singer Fatboy’s roots in the Balbutcher Lane flats and exposure to a range of cultures, from traditional ballads to hip-hop, rave and 90s garage.

2022 saw the band split their time between the studio and a series of gigs around the country, including hosting their own Bricknasty Sessions residency at the Sugar Club with a series of special guests, gigs in London and Dublin with Maverick Sabre, support on Cordae’s Irish tour and slots at Ireland Music Week and Other Voices. Since then they have appeared as support on dates opening for Kneecap.

In a recent review of their latest EP, Rolling Stone magazine described the release ‘Black’s Law’ as a forward-thinking and genre-fluid project that blows their horizons wide open – a record that incorporates jazz, traditional Irish folk and beyond.

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Whale Theatre, Greystones
Saturday 2nd May, 8.00pm
Tickets: €30

London-based alto saxophonist Sam Braysher teams up with Jazz Singer of the Year Sara Dowling to present a captivating jazz re-imagining of the work of the influential German-born American composer Kurt Weill.

Although Weill might be best known for his pre-war German works, including Threepenny Opera, featuring the classic, Mack the Knife, ‘That’s Him’ draws more on Weill’s work in the US, where he contributed significantly to  The Great American Songbook, and produced memorable, accessible tunes embraced by jazz singers from Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, and the golden era of Broadway.

Born in the Middle East to parents from Palestine and Ireland, Sara Dowling was the UK Jazz Vocalist of the Year in 2019.  With a voice capable of both tender intimacy and bold expressive power, her singing has echoes of such jazz and soul greats as Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughan and Anita O’Day.

The collaboration of Dowling with London-based Braysher has won widespread acclaim, with London Jazz News praising ‘That’s Him’ for its warmth and charisma, intimate storytelling and jazz sophistication in the presentation of classic songbook material, theatrical composition and heartfelt originals.

“There couldn’t be a more beautiful tribute to Kurt Weill” – Paris Move

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Alina Bzhezhinska made history when she became the first harpist to receive the Best Jazz Ensemble of the Year award when her band Hip Harp Collective took the prize at the UK’s prestigious Parliamentary Jazz Awards in 2024.

One of the leading jazz harpists in the world today, Bzhezhinska is a one-woman powerhouse on a mission to bring harp to the forefront of contemporary sound.​  She has collaborated with internationally renowned artists including Brian Jackson, Chaka Khan, Shabaka Hutchings, Nu Civilisation Orchestra and DJ Spinna, and has, performed to audiences across the globe. Hip Harp Collective’s performance at Triskel Arts Centre in 2024 was one of that year’s highlights of that year’s Cork Jazz Festival.

Described by the Evening Standard as a “modern-day supremo,” Ukraine-born Bzhezhinska brings a fresh, dynamic vision to the harp, honouring jazz icons Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby while incorporating elements of trip-hop and acid jazz into her music.

With Hip Harp Collective she’s played in recent times also as London Jazz Festival, Finland’s Tampere Jazz Festival, Paris Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott’s Club in London, The Royal Albert Hall and at the WOMADelaide Festival in Australia.

Alina Bzhezhinska will be accompanied for her Bray show by long-time collaborator, the top UK saxophonist Toni Kofi, and by Matt Holmes (Drums), Menelik Clafey(Double Bass) and Joel Prime (percussion). 

‘…powerful, moving, take-your-breath-away’  – Downbeat Magazine 

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Leïla Martial is amongst the most daring and imaginative vocalists in modern European jazz.

Born to a family of classical musicians, she’s the first female singer to win the 1^st soloist prize at the prestigigious Concours National de Jazz de La Défense, and over the past decade she has established herself as a fresh, boundary-breaking presence on stages across France.  

Her album Warm Canto won the ‘Jazz Vocal Prize’ from Académie du Jazz in 2018, while in 2020 she was awarded the prestigious ‘Les Victoires du Jazz’ in recognition of her singular vision and her ability to reimagine the voice as a multi-timbral instrument.  

Martial is creatively restless, blending jazz with contemporary classical, folk, theatre, performance art and improvisation. Accompanied here by cellist Valentin Ceccaldi, her concerts are an unpredictable journey of colour, humour, emotion and daring. 

“Words just aren’t enough for Leila Martial, one of the most inventive young French vocalists of her generation” — Jazzwise Magazine

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London-born trumpeter Poppy Daniels has emerged as one of the most in-demand young trumpeters in a vibrant London contemporary jazz scene.

She’s performed with the ultra-hip Grammy Award winning production duo Blue Lab Beats, and with Daniel Casimir, China Moses, Nu Civilisation Orchestra and such contemporary pop hit-makers as Arlo Parks and Celeste.  

After years building a name for herself and developing her sound Poppy launched her new quintet last year. It’s a project that’s been supported by London’s influential Jazz Re:freshed movement, and serves up a heady brew of jazz, fusion, hip-hop, neo-soul and Latin dance stylings.

Her six-track debut EP ‘Keep on Going,’ released by Jazz Re:freshed late last Spring was One Jazz ‘Album of the Week’ in May. The tunes are bright, colourful and packed with melody and groove. Poppy Daniel’s is a trumpeter whose sound is irresistibly contemporary. 

“A rising trumpet star … mixing contemporary jazz, neo-soul, and instrumental hip-hop” – One Jazz

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Their ‘neo-tropicália’ is a contemporary reimaging of the Brazilian Tropicália musicial movement of the late 60s and early 70s, that melded elements of samba, bossa nova and regional folk music with contemporary, international and often psychedelic influences. The music honours such Brazilian musical icons of that period as Caetano Velosa and Gal Costa.

ÓNinaÓ launched their debut single on RTE Radio’s Arena radio show, and have played stand out recent shows at Culture Night 2025, Five Lamps Arts Festival in Dublin city centre, and at the Brazil Day carnival at Dublin’s National Stadium, last September.

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Also Featuring: Mike Nielsen’s Sound Recipes

A towering figure of contemporary jazz whose influence spans generations, Fred Hersch has shaped the language of the modern piano trio throughout a career marked by continuous reinvention.

With an extraordinary 17 Grammy Award nominations and countless other awards and honours to his name, Hersch is, for many, the jazz pianist of his generation.

Possessing a touch and keyboard technique like no-one else, his flawless technique deploys just the right combination of sensitivity, intelligence and emotion to absorb and captivate the listener.

Across a career that spans more than 50 years, Fred Hersch has produced over 60 albums as a composer and bandleader, and his creative spark shines as brightly as ever. ‘The Surrounding Green,’ his third release on the celebrated ECM label made many ‘best of’ lists for 2025, and has ranked third in the Album of the Year rankings of Slate Magazine.

It’s an elegant and masterful jazz recording, the trio format enabling Hersch to craft improvisations that are both intricate and unhurried, creating music that doesn’t need to raise its voice to be heard.

** PERSONNEL CHANGE**
In a change in personnel to that originally announced, Fred Hersch will be joined on his European dates this Spring by Felix Moseholm (bass) and Jochen Rueckert (drums). A Master’s graduate of the prestigious Julliard School, Felix Moseholm is best known for his work with pianist Brad Mehldau and singer Samara Joy. New York based Jochen Rueckert has performed and recorded with artists including Marc Copland, Mark Turner, John Abercrombie, Pat Metheny, and Ron Carter.

“…one of the greats of contemporary jazz piano — elegant, erudite, playful, emotional, engaged and thoroughly engaging” – The Irish Times

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Born in Ulaanbaatar and now based in Germany, Enji (Erkhembayar Enkhjargal ) has achieved widespread critical acclaim for the manner in which she has brought the ancient vocal traditions of Mongolia into bold new territory.

Raised in a traditional family setting amidst folk song and long-song (“urtiin duu”, a Mongolian singing style), she later discovered the freedom of jazz — and found a voice that has allowed her to bring an intimate jazz sensibility and wistfulness to songs that evoke the magnificent vast emptiness of the East Asian steppes of home. 

ENJI’s 2023 album Ulaan marked a major breakthrough.  It was named ‘Album of the Year’ by The Washington Post, made The New York Times list of Best Jazz Albums, and was one of The Guardian’s ‘Best Global Albums’.  

Her recently released third album ‘Sonor’ also made The Guardian’s ‘Best Global Album’ list, at the end of 2025. 

“Gorgeous… The inventive vocalist blurs the line between worldly and otherworldly” – The Washington Post

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Also Featuring: CEO Experiment

Veteran trumpeter Eddie Henderson’s jazz credentials run deep.   A central member of Herbie Hancock’s 1970s band, Henderson received his first trumpet lessons from none other than Louis Armstrong, whose musical imprint echoes throughout his playing style.

But it was connections with Miles Davis that run deepest. A friend of the family throughout his childhood in the 40s and 50s,  it was Davis, who encouraged and supported Henderson – who had studied and qualified as a medical doctor – to pursue a career in jazz. He studied trumpet at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. 

Across a storied career, Grammy Award-winner Henderson has played and recorded with a rich array of jazz heavyweights, including McCoy Tyner, Art Blakey, Ron Carter, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Cobham and for a number of years in Herbie Hancock’s jazz fusion Mwandishi band and other projects.  In the 1970s he released two Blue Note records – Sunburst and Heritage, both of which are widely regarded as fusion classics.

‘Miles Legacy’ is a deeply personal project that honours both the 100th anniversary of Miles Davis’s birth and the enduring influence of one of jazz music’s most iconic figures. 

“Eddie Henderson is a national treasure and one of jazz’s greatest living trumpet players” – All About Jazz

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A triple-harpist, singer and sonic explorer whose performances feel at once ancient yet utterly contemporary, Cerys Hafana’s music honours old songs and storytelling from Wales in a remarkable way.

Hafana’s 2022 album Edyf, which drew inspiration from a Welsh online archive of two-hundred-year-old manuscripts and notebooks was named one of the Top Ten Folk Albums of the Year by The Guardian. It’s 2025 follow-up ‘Angel’ received the newspaper’s Album of the Month award.

Hafana is a wondrous player and singer with a beautiful voice. Inspiration is drawn from Welsh folk song, from nature, and from broader Celtic music traditions, including Breton folk dance rhythms and call-and-response techniques.

The triple harp originated in Italy in the 16^th century and was first introduced to Wales in 1680.  It’s commonly described today as ‘the Welsh harp,’ with three parallel rows of strings allowing all semi-tones to be accessed without pedals.

Cerys Hafana applies subtle electronics to create atmospheric textures. It’s timeless music that’s strikingly contemporary in mood and feel.

“…endlessly inventive… a profoundly moving listening experience.” – The Guardian

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