Artists selected for NAVIGATOR Residencies 2026
14 Apr 2026
Ireland at Jazzahead 2026
We are delighted to announce that, for the first time ever, Ireland and all four nations of the UK have come together for a collective presence at the jazzahead! expo in Bremen Germany.
The UK/Ireland Village is an umbrella stand in which each country will represent themselves (and host their own delegation) with an added communal social meeting area.
Ireland’s stand and delegation at Jazzahead is generously supported by Culture Ireland, and Arts Council Northern Ireland, and managed by Improvised Music Company.
Please visit us at Stand 6D15 to learn more about jazz in Ireland!
Culture Ireland have also generously awarded 9 Delegate Bursaries to Irish-based artists and promoters to attend the jazzahead! 2026.
The Irish delegation in 2026 are:
Chris Guilfoyle
Chris Guilfoyle is a leading guitarist, composer and educator from Dublin. His newest project Collider explores the electronic music worlds of Drum and Bass, House, and IDM where the rich tones of electric guitar intertwine with ethereal synth sounds and heavy drum grooves drawing influence from electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Autechre, and Squarepusher. All the musicians in the group are well known in the electronic music and jazz worlds with Darragh O’Kelly (OKO, Big Spoon) on synths, Steve Welsh (Portamentous) on synths and Shane O’Donovan (OKO, H-CI, Big Spoon) on drums. Their live shows promise a convergence of analog and digital, where the improvisational spirit of jazz meets the innovative beats of electronic music.
Conor McAuley
Conor McAuley is a drummer, composer, researcher and director from Northern Ireland. His ensemble Córas Trio are part of a new creative wave of musicians based in Belfast exploring how traditional music relates to the experience of the 21st century. Challenging ideas of cultural purism, they sweep the lines of contemporary musical practice, unafraid and unapologetic in their exploration of new ideas.
Dermot Rogers - Livia Records
Dermot Rogers is the owner and manager of the reactivated Livia Records - Ireland’s first jazz record label. Originally set up in 1977 by the late Gerald Davis to record Jazz guitar legend Louis Stewart and his contemporaries, the label released several successful albums. Livia was dormant, and its master tapes were in storage when Gerald Davis died in 2005. In 2021, a reactivation process began when Dermot Rogers contacted the Davis family to catalogue the label’s archives with a view to possible re-releases. The first release for the reactivated label was a remastered and extended version of Louis Stewart’s “Out On His Own”, followed by ‘Some Other Blues’, ‘The Dublin Concert’, ‘Acoustic Guitar Duets’, ‘Louis the First’, and ‘I Thought About You’. In 2025, the label also began releasing landmark recordings by contemporary Irish jazz artists including Ronan Guilfoyle, Carole Nelson, and Michael Buckley.
Eddie Lee - Sligo Jazz
Eddie Lee is a bassist, composer and music producer from Sligo, Ireland. In 2005 he co-founded Sligo Jazz Project, with the aim of bringing great jazz players to Sligo to teach and perform. Its annual event has grown into one of the premier events of its kind in Europe, winning the All About Jazz ‘Jazz Forward’ award in 2025. Sligo International Jazz Summer School is a 6 day event featuring workshops, masterclasses and jam sessions with some of the world's finest jazz educators and musicians. The associated festival has previously included acts likeMike Stern/ Victor Wooten Band, Dhafer Youssef, Kenny Werner, Avishai Cohen, Yellowjackets, Christian Scott, The Bad Plus and many more.
Greg Lloyd
One of Ireland's most sought after pianists, Greg Lloyd is an Irish/Australian musician fusing contemporary Jazz, Latin, Funk, Classical and North African sonorities with original instrumental compositions and improvisations in a traditional piano trio format with percussion. A genre alchemist, Greg blends jazz tradition, North African chaabi pulse, classical complexity and contemporary textures into immersive instrumental improvised musical journeys.
Kevin Brady
Kevin Brady is a leading drummer, composer and educator on the Irish jazz scene. His Electric Quartet has been critically acclaimed for their dynamism and musicality. It features the stellar musical talents of U.S. saxophonist Seamus Blake, Bill Carrothers on Fender Rhodes, and bassist Dave Redmond. Brady’s ambition was to record an album that consisted of new, original compositions that explore improvisation in an electric quartet format. While tipping their collective hat to the music of the 1970s Miles Davis Group, along with the groove and funk based music of Herbie Hancock, many of the musical themes deal with the impact of what is happening in the world as we know it now. The music is hypnotically insistent, all with a lasting story of experience and optimism.
Melina Malone
Dublin-born Irish-Greek artist Melina Malone is quickly becoming one of the most exciting voices in neo-soul. Praised for her powerhouse vocals and emotive songwriting, Melina has carved out a unique space for herself with her debut album Aphrodite (October 2023). Drawing from iconic neo soul stars Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, alongside modern artists like Lianne La Havas and RAYE – her sound is a captivating blend of honest lyrics, sultry melodies, and an eclectic mix of genres.
Orlando Molina
Orlando Molina is a Venezuelan guitarist, composer, and bandleader based in Ireland, recognised for a distinctive musical voice that blends jazz, Latin American music, and instrumental music with cinematic scope, rhythmic vitality, and melodic richness. Equally fluent on nylon-string and electric guitar, Molina’s playing is marked by lyrical clarity, refined technique, and a strong sense of narrative. His music draws from jazz language and Latin American traditions while remaining firmly contemporary — balancing groove, colour, emotional resonance, and a distinctive melodic voice. As Jazzwise noted, “Everything he plays is in service of the composition.”
Rodrigo Almonte
Rodrigo Almonte is a Peruvian guitarist and composer based in Ireland. Playing and studying the guitar has brought him across the globe allowing him to nurture his musicality with the musical heritage of Peru, Brazil and New York.Almonte has played extensively on the Peruvian and European jazz scene with his own different musical projects and as a sideman. His lyrical melodies, fresh chords and intricate rhythms are equally present and well-balanced on his solos and compositions.
Improvised Music Company will also be representing the wider Irish jazz scene at this important event.
