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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Also Featuring: Ronan Guilfoyle’s Bemusement Arcade

Described by The New York Times as a “social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, historical thinker and multicultural gateway,” VIJAY IYER is an influential and shape-shifting presence in twenty-first- century music.

Vijay Iyer has carved out a unique path as an influential, prolific, shape-shifting presence in twenty-first-century music.

A composer and pianist active and revered across multiple musical communities, Iyer has created a consistently innovative, emotionally resonant body of work over the last three decades, earning him a place as one of the leading music-makers of his generation.

His honours include a MacArthur Fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a United States Artist Fellowship, three Grammy nominations, and the Alpert Award in the Arts. His newest albums are Defiant Life (ECM, 2025), his second suite of duets with visionary composer-trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith; Compassion (ECM, 2024), featuring his celebrated trio with drummer Tyshawn Sorey and bassist Linda May Han Oh; Trouble (BMOP/sound, 2024), a composer portrait album comprising three of his orchestral works, including the titular violin concerto performed by Jennifer Koh; and Love in Exile (Verve, 2023), his Grammy-nominated collaboration with Arooj Aftab and Shahzad Ismaily.

He is a professor at Harvard University.

“Iyer’s music has always been both intelligent and unpretentious, complex without being opaque; [he] ponders a phrase with obsessive rumination, unveiling layers of shifting, subtle emotion, before letting it fly with joyous abandon.” – The New York Times

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Mermaid Arts Centre
Friday May 2nd, 8:00pm
Tickets: €35

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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Featuring in a double bill with: NUBYA GARCIA

Christine Tobin has been acclaimed as one of Europe’s most acclaimed and original jazz vocalist, while guitarist Phil Robson is one of Britain’s most respected guitarists. 

Dublin-born Tobin has been feted by critics around the world for her unique vocal abilities and her haunting original compositions. She has  won Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards and was described by respected trumpeter and critic Ian Carr as ‘one of the most gifted and original singer-songwriters in today’s jazz world’.

Originally from Derby, Phil Robson became one of the most in-demand guitarists on the London scene in the 90s and was co-founder of influential quartet The Partisans which toured the US in 2014, including an appearance at Jazz at the Lincoln Centre. He has shared the stage with some of the biggest names in music, including Barbara Streisand, Maceo Parker and Django Bates.

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Also Featuring: Francesco Turrisi Trio

A series of stand-out albums over the past decade have marked Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola out as one of the major new talents in contemporary Scandinavian jazz.

A dazzling player with a commanding individual sound, his compositions are strong and bold and find hooky melodies that stick in your mind.

Born into a Finnish musical dynasty, Verneri Pohjola’s grandfather and uncle were both respected conductors, while his father came to international prominence as a member of Finnish 70s prog rock group Wigwam, and performed in the bands of Mike Oldfield, amongst others.

Verneri first came to prominence as leader of the award-winning Ilmiliekki Quartet. He was named ‘Musician of the Year’ at the Pori Jazz Festival 20 years ago, his 2015 release ‘Bullhorn’ which was name by Jazzwise Magazine as ‘among the truly finest jazz albums of recent times.’

A distinctive trumpeter with a rounded, breathy tone, Pohjola’s solo’s soar, and bring a seering clarity to his music. His quartet include major players in Finnish jazz, including Olavi Louhivuori on drums, pianist Tuomo Prättälä and bass player Antti Lötjönen.

A standout player with a melodic gift. –
The Financial Times

This concert is presented as part of ‘Better Live’, a project co-funded by the European Creative programme of the European Union, the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund. You can read more about the programme here.

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In a double bill with: VERNARI POHOLA QUARTET

Grammy Award winning pianist and multi -instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi is a musical polymath who has played baroque operas with ensemble L’Arpeggiata, toured with The Silk Road ensemble, interpreted the music of Steve Reich, and accompanied flamenco star Pepe El Habichuela.

Since 2018, he has collaborated with singer and instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens, and won a 2022 Grammy Award in the best folk album category for their duo album ‘They’re Calling Me Home.’

Francesco Turrisi has released five critically acclaimed albums as a leader, and two as co-leader – of “Tarab,” a cross boundary innovative ensemble that blends Irish and Mediterranean traditional music, and “Zahr” a project that looks at connections between southern Italian traditional music and Arabic music.

His latest piano solo album “Northern Migrations” was described as “delicate, wistful and wholly engrossing” by the Irish Times.

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