Thursday 30th April 2020 is International Jazz Day, and we want to celebrate Irish jazz!

What is International Jazz Day?

International Jazz Day was designated by UNESCO in order to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe. Jazz Day brings together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and jazz enthusiasts all over the world to celebrate and learn about jazz and its roots, future and impact.

Fundamentally it’s a great opportunity to celebrate this incredible genre of music, its history, variety and innovation, and for us at IMC it’s a wonderful way to celebrate the constant creativity of Irish jazz artists.

WANT TO CELEBRATE IRISH JAZZ?

Watch

We're all missing live concerts in the current situation, but Ireland's jazz and improvising musicians have been incredibly creative with the content they're releasing from home during restrictions. Have a look through some of these streams and recordings and you'll find some excellent virtual concerts you can enjoy instead. Why not join us on Facebook where we'll be sharing links out all day for a VIRTUAL JAZZ CLUB!

Or to pick and choose your own programme for the day, explore some of the fantastic online content that Irish jazz musicians have been putting out recently:

IMC and Triskel Arts Centre are currently presenting an interlocking musical sequence Piece by Piece, commissioned from some of Ireland's leading improvisers, and you can now see the first three links in the musical chain from Shane Latimer, Nick Roth & Olesya Zdorovetska, and Seán Mac Erlaine.

Music Network's Butterfly Sessions are commissioning new works from Irish artists, and has featured Carole Nelson & Julien Colarossi representing jazz in Ireland.

Kilkenny's Sofa Sessions have moved online, with Sofa Sessions TV featuring video from previous shows every week on Facebook. At the moment you can watch back Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4 & Episode 5, for some incredible music with an array of Irish and international jazz artists.

I Stay At Home Ireland has been releasing livestreaming concerts on Instagram TV, keep an eye on their page to hear more! Some of the artists they've already featured still have snippets you can watch incl. Aleka, Chris Guilfoyle & Barry Donohue, Jennifer McMahon, Aoife Doyle, Suzanne Savage, Paj, and Karen Cowley.

Listen

Our 'This is Irish Jazz' playlist is the best place to discover Irish jazz and improvised music!

If you prefer the classics, why not discover what Irish artists have done with some of the great standards?

You can find lots more playlists and enjoy some more great Irish jazz, if you click through to our Spotify! And if you're not a Spotify person, don't worry, you can find more playlists on our Youtube or Soundcloud.

Or for an alternative, try ringing in to your local radio station and asking them to play some of your favourite jazz for the day that's in it!

Buy

Since we can't enjoy live music just at the moment, buying an album from an Irish artist is a great way to find some music to lift your spirits in these dark days, and to support artists. Most artists have lost the majority of their income due to the COVID-19 crisis, because of concerts cancelled.

Look through our ALBUM LISTINGS to find your next favourite album by an Irish/Irish-based jazz artist.

Friday 1st May will be a great day to buy albums on Bandcamp, because Bandcamp are waiving all their fees for that one day, meaning your money goes directly to the artist. If you find an album you love on Bandcamp, why not bookmark it to buy on Friday 1st May?

Read

We're releasing 'Notes from Irish Jazz' all this week on our news section, conversations with people who create, programme and influence jazz from around the country, giving us a little insight into different parts of the Irish jazz scene. You can read our chats with:

Eddie Lee, Artistic Director of Sligo Jazz

Mike Nielsen, Head of Jazz Performance TU Dublin

Ellen Cranitch, Director of Galway Jazz Festival

Each Q&A has a bonus playlist you can listen to, and there are more interviews to come, check back!

For other reading material, why not have a read back over our Other Side of the Tracks interviews with artists?

MUSICIANS!

Please let us know if you are doing anything for International Jazz Day that you'd like us to share, you can email us at admin [at] improvisedmusic [dot] ie with the subject line 'International Jazz Day'.

We can share* videos or new releases, or links to merchandise on Bandcamp that you'd to sell, and feel free to contact us to discuss ideas.

Happy International Jazz Day!

* IMC cannot guarantee listings if we do not receive accurate information to the email above. We may not be able to list everything received immediately if submissions are high. We may not be able to list works that are not appropriate to our listings.