Earwicker's Dream at The Cooler
Following on from the success of their tour around James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’, Janet Moran and Ronan Guilfoyle join forces again, this time to explore the intricacies of Joyce’s final novel ‘Finnegan’s Wake’. Janet is an award-winning actor and playwright, and Ronan is one of Ireland’s best-known jazz musicians, with an international career spanning more than forty years. ‘Earwicker’s Dream’ is a concert piece that unites spoken word, jazz composition and improvisation, and explores the central characters in the book.
Joyce’s brilliant text will be illuminated by a wonderful band featuring the legendary guitarist Nguyen Le - a giant figure in French jazz and famed for creating diverse projects with songs from different traditions and languages - Michael Buckley, Ireland’s leading jazz saxophonist, while innovative Irish drummer Matthew Jacobson completes the band.
This will be a programme full of humour, pathos, insights into Joyce’s world, all accompanied by an improvising group at the top of their game.
Janet Moran – Spoken Word
Ronan Guilfoyle – Bass, Composition
Nguyen Le – Guitar
Michael Buckley – Saxophones
Matthew Jacobson - Drums
The Cooler is located upstairs at The Complex Arts Centre, 12 Mary's Abbey Dublin 7. The entrance to The Cooler is through the same door as The Depot at The Complex, on the Mary's Abbey side of the building, where the LUAS tracks run. The building has a red wall on the left hand side of a front plaza that has a sign reading 'The Complex', and a blue wall facing the front plaza that has a sign reading 'The Complex - Art Lives Here'.
The plaza in front of The Complex is used by the surrounding businesses and is often full of fruits, vegetables or delivery vehicles. You can still access The Cooler at these times.
Above the blue door, you'll see a painted sign for The Depot. The Cooler is marked by a small sign between the main glass doors (sometimes covered by blue shutters) and a blue artist's door. The glass doors will be open for performances from door times (usually 7:30pm).
The Cooler cannot be accessed from the Arran St East side of The Complex - this is the entry for the Gallery and artist studios only. If you have any trouble locating the Cooler please give Caitriona a call on 087 783 3391.
To find the Cooler Google Maps, search for The Cooler or The Depot at The Complex (the main performance space downstairs at The Complex). If you find the address for just The Complex, it will generally will bring you to the gallery on Arran St East.
The performance space is up two flights of stairs and may be difficult to access for patrons with additional mobility needs. The space is fully seated. Gender-neutral toilet facilities are available upstairs (a few steps up from the level of The Cooler). Baby-changing facilities are available at The Gallery, downstairs at The Complex (using the Arran St entrance).
If you have any other queries regarding accessibility or require any accommodations for seating etc, please contact us at admin @ improvisedmusic . ie and we will do our best to assist you.
The red line of the LUAS runs very close to The Cooler, taking the stop at Jervis St or at Four Courts. Many different bus lines run to Ormond Quay, Inns Quay, or Church Street, which are all a couple of streets away from The Cooler.
There is unfortunately no customer parking available at The Complex. During the day, a small gated Dublin City Council car park can be accessed on Marys' Lane around the corner, at standard rates. Jervis Shopping Centre Car Park is also close by, with varying opening hours. Some street parking is available nearby - days and rates vary, please check signs.
More About this Artist
Ronan Guilfoyle is a major figure on the Irish jazz scene and has developed an international reputation as a performer, teacher and composer. He began his career with Louis Stewart's group in the early 1980's and studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1986 and 1987 where his teachers included John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, and Steve Coleman.
Performing on the acoustic bass guitar since the early 1980s, Ronan is now one of the instrument's leading exponents, and is now much in demand as a bassist, both in his native Ireland and on the international jazz scene. Among the people he has performed with are Dave Liebman, Kenny Werner, Joe Lovano, Kenny Wheeler, Keith Copeland, Brad Mehldau, John Abercrombie, Larry Coryell, Benny Golson, Jim McNeely, Sonny Fortune, Andrea Keller, Andy Laster, Emily Remler, Simon Nabatov, Richie Beirach, and Tom Rainey.
He has also been leading his own groups since the mid 1980s, and his groups have toured extensively in Europe, Asia, and North America. He has recorded extensively both as a sideman and as a leader and his output includes the award winning "Devsirme" in 1997. Ronan has been composing for classical ensembles since 1993, specialising in compositions which feature both improvised and written music. He has had great success in this field and has now a large body of work that ranges from solo piano pieces, to chamber works, to orchestral compositions.
He has had commissions from a wide range of ensembles and organisations including the RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin, The Opus 20 String Orchestra in London, and the European Jazz Youth Orchestra. He has also been commissioned to write works for many great soloists including the saxophonist David Liebman, the violinist Michael D'arcy and the virtuoso accordionist Dermot Dunne. Ronan has also acquired a formidable reputation as a composer in the world of contemporary jazz, and his music has been performed by such jazz luminaries as Dave Liebman, Kenny Werner, Kenny Wheeler, Keith Copeland, John Abercrombie, Andy Laster, Simon Nabatov, Richie Beirach, Tom Rainey, Julian Arguelles, Rick Peckham, and Sonny Fortune. In 1997 he won the Julius Hemphill Jazz Composition Competition in the United States.
Over the past 10 years Ronan has become very well known for the teaching of advanced rhythmic techniques for jazz improvisation and his book, "Creative Rhythmic Concepts for Jazz Improvisation" which covers such areas as metric modulation and odd metre playing, is now seen as the standard text for this area. He has been invited to teach this subject at many schools around the world including Berklee College of Music, The New School, and is an associate Artist of the Royal Academy of Music in London, and has also lectured on it for the International Music Congress (UNESCO) in Copenhagen. Ronan is the founder of the only post-secondary jazz education in Ireland, originally at Newpark Music Centre. He is now head of the Department for Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance at Dublin City University.
The Jazz Man“...one of the world’s premier exponents of the instrument, ”
