Bray Jazz Festival is an international jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

 event that takes place in Bray

Bray

Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, on the May bank holiday weekend of each year. The festival was established in 2000 with part-funding from Ireland's National Millennium Fund, and has featured leading name jazz and world musicians from Ireland and abroad.

Bray Jazz Festival has featured concerts by such international artists as Chicago pianist and composer Andrew Hill

Andrew Hill

Andrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and composer.Hill is recognized as one of the most important innovators of jazz piano in the 1960s...

, by guitarists Nguyen Le

Nguyên Lê

Nguyên Lê is a French jazz musician and composer of Vietnamese ancestry. His main instrument is guitar, and he also plays electric bass guitar and guitar synthesizer....

 (Fr), Mike Stern

Mike Stern

Mike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he landed a gig with Billy Cobham and then broke through with Miles Davis' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Since then, he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums...

 (USA) and Sylvain Luc

Sylvain Luc

Sylvain Luc is a French jazz guitarist. His musicality, his great sense of improvisation and his virtuosity, and unique, technical abilities with the guitar have earned him high praises from all around the world, including from many musicians he has played with...

 (Fr) and Angelo DeBarre

Angelo Debarre

Angelo Debarre is a Romani guitarist in the manouche jazz style.He began playing at age 8 and in 1984 started his first group, the Angelo Debarre Quintet...

 (Fr), by bass players Henry Texier (Fr), Scott Colley

Scott Colley

Scott Colley is an American jazz bassist and Composer.Scott has performed extensively in bands led by: Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Andrew Hill, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Pat Metheny, Carmen McRae, Edward Simon, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade, David Binney, Antonio Sanchez, Kenny Werner...

 (USA), saxophonists Steve Coleman

Steve Coleman

Steve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...

 (USA), Andy Sheppard

Andy Sheppard

Andy Sheppard is a British jazz saxophonist and composer. He has been awarded several prizes at the British Jazz Awards, and has worked with some notable figures in contemporary jazz, including Gil Evans, Carla Bley, George Russell and Steve Swallow.-Biography:Sheppard was born in Warminster,...

 (UK), and trumpeters Tomasz Stanko

Tomasz Stanko

Tomasz Stańko is a Polish trumpeter, composer and improviser. Often recording for ECM, Stańko is strongly associated with free jazz and the avant-garde....

 (Pol), and Dave Douglas (USA).

Leading performers working in world music have also featured at the festival including Debashish Bhattacharya

Debashish Bhattacharya

Debashish Bhattacharya is an Indian classical musician who plays the lap slide guitar.Bhattacharya was born into a musical family in Kolkata, it became apparent that Bhattacharya was skilled at a young age...

 (Ind), Bob Brozman

Bob Brozman

Bob Brozman is an American guitarist and ethnomusicologist.He has performed in a number of styles such as Gypsy jazz, calypso, Blues, ragtime, Hawaiian and Caribbean music. Brozman has also collaborated with musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds such as India, Africa, Japan, Papua New Guinea...

(USA), Liu Fang

Liu Fang

Liu Fang is one of the most prominent pipa players in the world. Born in Kunming in the Chinese province of Yunnan, she began playing the pipa at the age of 6. Her first solo public performance was at the age of 9. In 1986, at age 11, she played for Queen Elizabeth II...

 (China), New Jungle Orchestra (Denmark), Carmen Souza (Cape Verde), Juldeh Kamara (Gambia), Monica Vasconcelos (Br) and Boi Akih

Boi Akih

Boi Akih is a jazz/world music trio based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, composed of Monica Akihary on vocals, Niels Brouwer on guitar and prepared guitar, and Sandip Bhattachraya on tabla and percussion....

 (Indonesia).

Bray Jazz Festival also provides leading figures in contemporary Irish jazz with an opportunity to present new projects and composition. Amongst those who have featured regularly at the event are bass player Ronan Guilfoyle

Ronan Guilfoyle

Ronan Guilfoyle is one of Ireland's premier jazz musicians. He is the director of jazz at Newpark Music Centre in Dublin, Ireland and has performed extensively around the world...

, Michael Buckley, Tommy Halferty, Nick Roth, Sean Carpio, Mike Nielsen, Justin Carroll, Cormac Kenevey, Conor Guilfoyle and Hugh Buckley.

Blue Note recording artist Andrew Hill

Andrew Hill

Andrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and composer.Hill is recognized as one of the most important innovators of jazz piano in the 1960s...

 played one of his last every European concerts at Bray Jazz Festival in 2006.

The festival is now one of the main cultural highlights on Ireland's jazz calendar, and has been described by The Irish Times

The Irish Times

The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

 as 'the connoisseurs jazz festival'.

Bray Jazz 2007 presented concerts by the American trumpeter Dave Douglas,whose Keystone band presented original music inspired by the work of early Hollywood actor and comedian Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, and by the French clarinet player Louis Sclavis

Louis Sclavis

Louis Sclavis is a French jazz musician. He performs on clarinet, bass clarinet, and soprano saxophone in a variety of contexts, including jazz and free jazz...

. 'Moonshine', a Dave Douglas and Keystone album based upon recordings of their show at Bray Jazz Festival was released in December 2007.

Bray Jazz Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2009 with performances by Stefon Harris

Stefon Harris

Stefon Harris is an American jazz vibraphonist. In 1999, the Los Angeles Times called him "one of the most important young artists in jazz" who is "at the forefront of new New York music" and "much in demand as a star sideman"...

 & Blackout, and Sylvain Luc

Sylvain Luc

Sylvain Luc is a French jazz guitarist. His musicality, his great sense of improvisation and his virtuosity, and unique, technical abilities with the guitar have earned him high praises from all around the world, including from many musicians he has played with...

 and Trio Sud.

The festival's 2010 event took place on April 30th, May 1st and May 2nd, 2010, and featured performances by the Wayne Krantz

Wayne Krantz

Wayne Krantz is an American jazz fusion guitarist. He has played with top artists such as Steely Dan, Michael Brecker, Billy Cobham, and others, but is most active as a solo performer.-Biography:...

 Trio (USA), Wolfgang Mutspiel's drumfree trio (Austria/USA), John Etheridge

John Etheridge

John Michael Glyn Etheridge is a British jazz/fusion guitarist associated with the Canterbury Scene....

's Sweet Chorus (UK), Norwegian duo Trygve Seim

Trygve Seim

Trygve Seim is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist and composer. Born in Oslo, Norway, Seim started to play the saxophone in 1985 after hearing Jan Garbarek's CD eventyr...

 and Frode Haltli

Frode Haltli

Frode Haltli , is a Norwegian accordion player.-Biography:Haltli started to play the accordion at the age of seven and over the following few years he won several national competitions and scholarships...

, and Brazil's Trio Correntes.

The 12th Bray Jazz Festival will take place on April 29th-May 1st, 2011, and will feature concert appearances by award-winning Brazilian players Hamilton de Holanda & André Mehmari, by celebrated American jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel

Kurt Rosenwinkel

Kurt Rosenwinkel is an American jazz guitarist and keyboardist who came to prominence in the 1990s.-Biography:He attended the Berklee School of Music for two and a half years before leaving in his junior year to tour with Gary Burton, the dean of the school at the time...

 Quartet, and by a host of other international and home grown acts.

Bray Jazz 2008

Bray Jazz Festival 2008 featured performances by :

Mare Nostrum (Fr/Italy/Sweden)
Maceo Parker Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...

 Band with Dennis Rollins (USA/UK)
Orchestra National de Jazz Orchestra National de Jazz (France)
Liu Fang

Liu Fang

Liu Fang is one of the most prominent pipa players in the world. Born in Kunming in the Chinese province of Yunnan, she began playing the pipa at the age of 6. Her first solo public performance was at the age of 9. In 1986, at age 11, she played for Queen Elizabeth II...

 (China)
Zahr (Italy)
Norma Winstone & Tommy Halferty (UK/Irl)
Carmen Souza Band (Cape Verde/Portugal)
Ibrahim Electric (Denmark)
Havana Son (Irl/Cuba)
Dafnis Prieto Sextet (USA)
Togetherness (Ireland)
Fuzzy Logic & Tom Arthurs (Irl/UK)
Touché (Denmark)
The Electric Miles Davis (Irl)
Yurodny (Irl)

..........and many more

Bray Jazz 2009

The 10th annual Bray Jazz Festival was staged on the weekend of May 1-3, 2009.
Featured artists included :

Stefon Harris Stefon Harris

Stefon Harris

Stefon Harris is an American jazz vibraphonist. In 1999, the Los Angeles Times called him "one of the most important young artists in jazz" who is "at the forefront of new New York music" and "much in demand as a star sideman"...

 & Blackout (USA)
Mathias Eick Mathias Eick

Mathias Eick

Mathias Eick is a Norwegian jazz musician born near the town of Eidsfoss in the county of Vestfold, Norway. He is mainly known as a musician on the jazz label ECM Records. His main instrument is the trumpet, but he also plays double bass, vibraphone, piano and guitar.In his lifetime Eick has...

 Quartet (Norway)
Trio Sud - featuring Sylvain Luc Sylvain Luc

Sylvain Luc

Sylvain Luc is a French jazz guitarist. His musicality, his great sense of improvisation and his virtuosity, and unique, technical abilities with the guitar have earned him high praises from all around the world, including from many musicians he has played with...

(France)
Tarab (Italy)
Boi Akih (Indonesia/Holland)
Rez Abbasi Quartet (with Kiran Ahluwalia) (USA)
Eri Yamamoto Trio (Japan/USA)
Orquestra do Fuba (Brazil)
Justin Adams & Juldah Kamara (UK/Gambia)
Yurodny (Irl)
Morla (Irl)
Sardjoe/Buckley/Guilfoyle (Irl/Ind)
Tommy Halferty French Trio (Irl/Fr)
Soweto Kinch & David Lyttle Trio (UK/Irl)

and more.....