Cormac Kenevey

Signed to London’s Candid Records, the label that first broke Jamie Cullum, Stacey Kent and Claire Teal, Cormac Kenevey is on a fast upward trajectory. This young Dublin singer is set to be a charismatic ambassador for jazz from Ireland on the international stage.

He’s admirably equipped for the job. Attractive tone, snappy phrasing, personal delivery and the right song choices are prerequisites for any aspiring jazz singer, and Kenevey has all four in abundance.

Though still in his twenties, he bears a remarkable maturity and no short regard for the artists whom he cites as major influences. Mel Torme’s tone, Sinatra’s swing and Mark Murphy’s iconclasticm are all implicit, but never in an act of slavish mimicry. Kenevey is his own man, both as a savvy interpreter of the timeless jazz standard, and a songwriter with a keen eye for the quirks and contradictions of the
contemporary world he inhabits.

This is Living, his debut for Candid, has a confident swagger, eliciting the warmest reviews in the Irish, UK and North American jazz press, all of whom were quick to acknowledge the contribution of his assured sidemen, pianist Phil Ware and the empathic rhythm section of drummer Kevin Brady and bassist Dave Redmond, who also form the nucleus of Cormac’s working band.

One to watch.