Memories of Down With Jazz

Our very first live event after COVID-19, Down With Jazz returned to Meeting House Square in September 2021, with a bang, proving that you can't keep good jazz down!

“The festival with a sense of humour” [The Irish Times] harks back to 1930s Ireland when jazz and ‘foreign’ music was seen by the Catholic Church as a filthy force of corruption. A repressive ‘anti-jazz’ campaign arose to ban jazz from the dance halls and airwaves of Ireland, and protect the ‘morality’ of the sons and daughters of Erin. Today’s Down With Jazz festival connects 21st century Ireland’s vibrant and diverse music scene, with this notorious period in our social history, through a tongue-in-cheek presentation of some of the hottest jazz and improvised music acts around!

The Dana Masters Band

Born in the deep south of the US from a family of civil rights activists, and later vocalist with Van Morrison, Dana Masters’ soul-infused music shows her power as a storyteller, with an ensemble of Ireland’s finest.

ZASKA

With an entertainer’s soul fuelled by a supernova of raw energy backed by an 8-piece supergroup of Dublin’s most in demand professional musicians, ZASKA’s famous live shows are a force to be reckoned with.

Conor Guilfoyle's Latin Swing Quintet

Drummer Conor Guilfoyle's Latin Swing Quintet includes some of the best Latin musicians in Ireland for a high-octane experience of unstoppable groove.

The Aoife Doyle Band

The subtle power of Aoife Doyle’s unique voice is equally at home with soul, folk, blues or jazz and can evoke memories of the sophisticated, velvet tones of Ella Fitzgerald, the earthy, sweet lyricism of Patsy Cline or the straight-up country clarity of Alison Krauss.

Toot Sweet and the Shadowman

Toot Sweet and the Shadowman bring a spirit of bayou funk led by jazz piano man Cian Boylan, invoking the spirit of The Big Easy with swampy Hammond grooves and a take-no-prisoners horn section.