Looking back on 2024
20 Dec 2024
Culture Ireland awards Delegate Bursaries for jazzahead! 2019
Culture Ireland have generously awarded 6 Delegate Bursaries to Irish-based artists and promoters to attend jazzahead!, the industry's most important international jazz tradeshow and showcase, this April 25-28. They will attend as part of an Irish jazz contingent led by Improvised Music Company who will coordinate Ireland’s presence with Jazz From Scotland, Creative Scotland and the Jazz Promotion Network.
Improvised Music Company will also be representing the wider Irish jazz scene at this important event.
Musicians - Want to get your music heard by European promoters at jazzahead?
Details of how you can get your music seen and heard through virtual reality showcasing and dedicated Irish playlist is available HERE, please apply and share!
The 6 chosen delegates have each been working prolifically in Ireland for a number of years and represent a coterie of important export-ready work to bring to the international arena at jazzahead!.
jazzahead! is one of the most important international professional markets for jazz and improvised music of all persuasions. The four-day event attracts more than 17000 people, including 3,000 industry attendees from over 55 countries, representing hundreds of concert and festival bookers, labels, publishers, distributors, managers and the world's media. Further information about the event is available here.
The jazzahead 2019 Bursary recipients are:
DOMINIC REILLY / TEDDY D PRODUCTIONS
Teddy D Promotions is an artist management company which aims to develop quality Irish jazz acts into the global music scene. At jazzahead! 2019 Teddy D will represent Linley Hamilton / Cian Boylan for their Strings project “Making Other Arrangements” as well as Irish vocalist Melanie O'Reilly with her Celtic Jazz project, and Honor Heffernan and Trevor Knight’s Whistling Girl project.
DAVID DUFFY / DAVID DUFFY QUARTET
Specially commissioned by Cork Jazz Festival, David Duffy’s immersive audiovisual experience fuses Jazz, contemporary classical music and electronica with impressive projections and lighting, which blur the lines between live jazz and theatre. Their live album will be released in May 2019 and jazzahead! is the perfect platform to network and secure work abroad for this unique Irish project.
KEVIN BRADY / KEVIN BRADY ELECTRIC TRIO
Kevin Brady has over twenty five years experience performing and recording both nationally and internationally. Kevin is currently at an integral point of development regarding his latest studio album for his Electric Trio. His attendance at jazzahead! this year is to meet booking agents and develop touring work and after securing his label deal at last years edition of jazzahead!.
SUE RYNHART / SUE RYNHART
Dublin vocalist and composer Sue Rynhart’s debut album ‘Crossings’ was nominated ‘Best Jazz Album’ in the Irish Times Ticket Awards 2014. Her latest album ‘Signals’, has been widely acclaimed and her intensive work at the 2018 edition of jazzahead! brought her in contact with key agents to develop her work further in Europe. Her attendance in 2019 will build substantially on that work, enabling touring and further collaborative opportunities for here in 2019/2020.
JAN HENRIK RAU / PARALLEL SOCIETY
Parallel Society is the brainchild of German guitarist/composer Jan Rau. His quintet has performed abroad, directly as a result of Jan attending jazzahead! of his own volition for the first time in 2018. He made excellent initial connections with industry professionals which led to some bookings and interest for the band. Having made a strong impression last year, his bursary for the 2019 edition will enable to follow up with key professionals and arrange further work abroad for Parallel Society in 2019/2020.
ÄTSCH were one of the first Irish bands to showcase at jazzahead!s club night series, which runs concurrently to the main showcases and trade-fair. Their performance impressed the locals so much they were asked back to perform again this year. Fusing contemporary jazz improvisation with the sound aesthetics of modern-day post-rock, ÄTSCH have certainly got the attention of the European Jazz Scene. Band leader Matthias Winker has been chosen as a delegate to capitalise on this second opportunity for the band and to build on their successes of 2018.
