27 October 2017
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
- The Piano Bar @ Rachel’s is Cork’s newest jazz venue
- Exciting line up and jazz cuisine
The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has a new dedicated Jazz venue for its 2017 event. Rachel’s Restaurant and Piano Bar will host one of the Festival’s most exciting line-ups of performers and musicians this weekend.
Gemma Sugrue, Jack O’Rourke, The Colin McLean Latin Trio, The Loungeman, the Ben Waters Boogie Band, Laoise Leahy, Gavin Povey and the Fabulous One Moke She Pops, The Busquitos and the Clubs will all grace the stage at Cork’s hottest new music haunt.
To cater for the expected volume of Jazz Heads who will flock to Cork this weekend, Rachels is adding the Jazz Shack on Little Cross Street – a pop-up outdoor venue for those who like their jazz ‘smokey’!
To complement the New Orleans vibe, Rachels Piano Bar menu will offer stunning jazz cuisine such as Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Blue Cheese & Hot Sauce, Loaded Cornbread with Alabama Brisket & BBQ Sauce, Blackened Sweet Potato Taco, Black Beans & Sour Cream, Shrimp & Smoked Sausage Gumbo, Cajun Crab Cake with Lime Aioli and Cajun Fried Squid with Spiced Aioli.
Those who love great music combined with great food and a buzzing atmosphere will find no better setting for what promises to be the best Guinness Cork Jazz Festival ever.
Performances:
The Loungeman: Friday 27 9:30-11:30pm; Monday 30th 6-8pm
The Loungeman is Conor O’Shea, who specialises in performing the Jazz classics – from Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennet, Michael Bublé, Bing Crosby and Cole Porter to name but a few. Conor has gained a nationwide reputation for his flawless delivery of the classics. From ‘Fly me to the moon’ to ‘Mambo Italiano’ the Cork singer performs each of the virtually unending list of classical tracks while
Jack O’Rourke: Friday 27 4-6pm, Saturday 28 1-3pm
Jack O’Rourke has established himself as one of the most prolific Irish songwriters and powerful live performers in the last number of years. He performed his moving composition “Silence” on The Late Late Show live, His songs “Shining for You” and “Silence” became radio hits, building a consistent and musically adventurous profile. He has toured with The Staves, Sinead O’Connor and Declan O’Rourke. “Silence” featured on the BBC Radio 4 documentary series, “The Irish Songbook”, and Jack took the coveted 1st place in the lyrics category of the International Songwriting Competition for “Silence”, which was judged by Bill Withers and Tom Waits among many others. All these accolades and strings to his bow were building up to the release of his debut album. ‘Dreamcatcher’ (the album) was released on September 23rd, entering the Irish Album charts at number 19 (independently released). Jack capped off last year with a blistering performance at “Other Voices”, paying tribute to the recently departed Leonard Cohen with Glen Hansard and Hattie Webb (Cohen’s collaborator) which was filmed for the series.
Gavin Povey and the Fabulous Oke Moke She Pops: Saturday 28th 5-7pm
Gavin began learning piano at five years of age, and discovered rhythm and blues at the age of 13 when he heard a 78 rpm of Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson performing ‘Boogie Woogie Man’. Gavin realised what his piano tutor was trying to teach was not what he wanted to learn! A lifetime of touring and recording followed which such names as Kirsty McColl, Dave Edmonds, Dion, Shakin’ Stevens, Albert Lee plus many many more. Gavin has now fulfilled his long-time dream of performing his own songs with his own band. The band members have performed with Imelda May, Shane McGowan, Paolo Nutini, Donovan, and Albert Lee.
The Clubs: Saturday 28 9-11pm
Colin McLean Latin Trio: Saturday 28th 11pm-1am
Colin McLean is one of Ireland’s leading Guitarists. He has studied with some of the most prestigious teachers including Jerry Creedon, Fabio Zanon and Tilman Hoppstock. He has received master classes from Paul Gregory, David Leisner Magnus Anderson and Craig Ogden.
Over the last year Colin has formed his latin trio, dedicated to bringing these infectious latin rhythms to new audiences. The “Colin McLean Latin Trio” play a vibrant mix of South American/Spanish guitar music which is influenced by some of the greatest names in the business including Rodrigo y Gabriella, Oscar Lopez and Luis Villegas.
The Busquitos: Sunday 29 1-3pm
Laoise Leahy: Sunday 29 5-7pm
With a wealth of experience and having trained in both London and Ireland, vocalist Laoise Leahy (Née O’Hanlon) has developed into one of the most accomplished, versatile and in-demand singers on the Irish jazz and pop scene.
Laoise has performed and recorded with Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz), Brian Deady (Decca Universal), Efterklang (4AD/Rumraket records), Mary Coughlan (Rubyworks Records), Niall Mc Cabe Band, Jack O’ Rourke and Waiting Room in addition to varied theatre, commercial & studio sessions. As lead vocalist, Laoise performs with many bands and large ensembles such as The Paul Dunlea Big Band / New Irish Jazz Orchestra, Hothouse Bigband, Cork Concert Orchestra, Cork
Pops Orchestra, Opus Pocus Big Band among others and has toured with theatre companies throughout Europe. She is an avid songwriter and has had original music released by a UK independent record label and internationally broadcast on BBC, RTE 1, Sky Showcase, RTE Lyric FM, Newstalk, RTE Pulse, Bath FM and Today FM among others. She has performed at many festivals including Electric Picnic, Cork Jazz Festival, Limerick Jazz Festival, Spraoi Fest and many more.
The Ben Waters Boogie Band: Sunday 29 9-11pm
Ben is recognised as one of the UK’s supreme boogie piano players and has worked with The Rolling Stones, Ray Davies, Chuck Berry, Jools Holland, Jerry Lee Lewis, Shakin’ Stevens, Screaming Lord Sutch, PJ Harvey, Amy Macdonald, Bobby Womack, Mick Hucknall, Charlie Watts, The Ronnie Wood Band, Paul Weller, Dave Gilmore, Dave Stewart, The Teenagers, Nine Below Zero….and the list keeps growing!
Gemma Sugrue: Sunday 29th 11pm -1am
Gemma has performed with Irish artists such as Brian Deady, Camille O’Sullivan, John Spillane, Jack O’Rourke, The Paul Dunlea Big Band amongst others and has supported acts including Chic, Billy Ocean, Jerry Fish and Lee Fields. Gemma is a featured guest vocalist with RTE National Concert Orchestra and The Hot House Big Band amongst others and has performed in many of the major Irish venues and festivals in Ireland including The 3 Arena and Electric Picnic. She has toured Australia, The Caribbean, Europe and the UK as the soprano soloist. She has performed on programmes including Audio Sunshine and Arena on RTE Radio 1 plus has appeared on The Late Late Show and Ireland Am. Gemma will be joined by Ariel Posen on guitar and Dan Bodwell on double bass for her headline gig at Rachel Piano Bar on Sunday night.
