Whirligig II: Mariem Hassan, Niwel Tsumbu 4tet

Following on from Whirligigs I and II, which brought you new jazz in Whelans and desert blues in The Twisted Pepper respectively, our next pop up exploration in stimulating music takes us to the Cobalt Café in the heart of the city’s Georgian inner core. This charming room in North Great Georges St is so boutique its bespoke, and will be the atmospheric location for an evening of solo performance from four exceptional artists, with intermission strawberries and cream on us and a collaborative finale between Dublin and visiting musicians.

Solo Cissokho is a seventh generation kora player from Casamance in Southern Senegal, and a troubadour of the unique music and culture of the griots, whose culture was at the heart of the mighty Manding empire that once ruled most of West Africa. Today, the griot continues to play a central role in the life of communities there, and Solo sheds lights on this fascinating and vibrant identity which embraces, poetry, music, praise singing and healing. At the heart of griot culture is the kora, the regal 22 stringed harp and it’s beautiful cascades of rippling notes, and like his ancestors before him, Solo is a master of this poetic instrument.

A consummate jazz pianist in the modern European vein, Dublin based Italian Francesco Turrisi has also immersed himself in early music, notably as harpsichordist with the highly regarded French ensemble L’Arpegiatta. Concurrently, he’s been researching the percussion traditions of Southern Italy and the Arabic world, and it all finds full expression in his band Tarab, a nimble craft that has been sailing the waters between Ireland and The Mediterranean with bountiful results. Nor is he limited to the piano, and don’t be surprised if he produces an accordion and his exotic frame drums.

Globetrotting Clare man Gerry O’Beirne is another polymath, his considerable instrumental gifts at home on every conceivable guitar from dobro to ukelele, as sideman with everyone from Sharon Shannon to the Waterboys and as a much sought after studio producer. He writes beautiful songs too. Shane Latimer is the presence behind adventurous Dublin band O.K.O, and takes us into open terrain. This laterally minded guitarist thinks spatial as well as linear thoughts and is among the brightest lights on the Dublin jazz scene.

YOUTUBE LINKS

Gerry O’Beirne

Francesco Turrisi

Shane Latimer

Solo Cissokho