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Hyperlynx: Rest Energy
by Neil Duggan
Hyperlynx operates at the fringes of contemporary jazz, where preparation meets improvisation. This Swiss-Irish trio has assembled an eclectic instrumental arsenal: Rhodes piano, prepared zither, electric guitar, synthesizers and drums. This allows them to sculpt soundscapes both alien and familiar. On their album Rest Energy, these elements coalesce into something firmly rooted in the avant-garde, where each instrument's voice contributes to a series of unusual soundscapes. The collaboration brings together Irish musician Matthew Jacobson (who recently made a ...
Continue ReadingAengus Hackett Trio: Aengus Hackett Trio
by Ian Patterson
It was surely a matter of time before Aengus Hackett got around to a contemporary jazz trio recording. The Galway guitarist has been a regular on the Irish jazz scene since graduating from the Conservatory of Amsterdam where he studied with Jesse van Ruller. But like many of his contemporaries, jazz is only one facet of his music making. Whether doubling as an electronica producer, intertwining Irish and Turkish folk music with singer Sanem Kalfa, or embracing anything from gamelan ...
Continue ReadingAleka Potinga: Romania: Songs Of Love And Longing
by Ian Patterson
You can take singer/cellist Aleka Potinga out of Romania, but you cannot take Romania out of her musical soul. Classically trained in Bucharest, and Dublin-based since 2012, Potinga has slotted into the city's fluid jazz/improvised music scenes, working with Izumi Kimura, Ronan Guilfoyle, Tommy Halferty and Cello Ireland. Her debut album Person I Knew (Self-Produced, 2019) featured imaginative interpretations of modern jazz classics by Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans. Prior to that, her debut EP Aleka (EM, 2016) ...
Continue ReadingRoamer: Lost Bees
by Ian Patterson
Roamer is vocalist Lauren Kinsella, drummer Matthew Jacobson, bassist/guitarist Simon Jermyn and saxophonist/flautist Matthew Halpin--four of Ireland's most lauded creative musicians. Formed in 2016, the quartet's activities have been frustratingly intermittent in the interim, though it is hardly surprising given that its members are based in London, Cologne, Berlin and Dublin. One early highlight came in 2017, when Roamer collaborated with Irish poet Cherry Smyth in an Arts Council-funded project at Bray Jazz Festival. That project has evolved to the ...
Continue ReadingBigSpoon: The Return Of The Prodigal Son
by Ian Patterson
South African saxophonist Chris Engel has been a ubiquitous figure on the Irish jazz/improvised scene since arriving in Dublin in 2011. Whether in Chris Guilfoyle's modernist Umbra, Cote Calmet's Afro-Peruvian-inspired Phisqa, Italian guitarist Julien Colarossi's quartet or the Weather Report tribute band, Plaza Real, Engel's commitment is total, his fierce technique matched by a fearless improvisatory spirit. Engel has also embraced the world of electronica, notably in the duo Cafolla-Engel, whose DJ/improvised saxophone sets whip up the night owls. Engel, ...
Continue ReadingOrigin Story: Good Friday
by Ian Patterson
Past and present converge on Good Friday, the persuasive debut from Origin Story—the Dublin-trio of Greg Felton, Matthew Jacobson and Cormac O'Brien. Formerly known as F-JOB, the trio has been gigging since 2016, though the three musicians' paths have crossed in various settings over many more years. On these seven originals it is a case of familiarity breeding intuitive, free-flowing dialogue, where grooves old and new form the backdrop to fine individual and collective performances. “Good Friday," one ...
Continue ReadingMatthew Jacobson: Rituals Of Sound And Time
by Ian Patterson
For someone whose livelihood and lifeblood are all about rhythms, the COVID-19 lockdown, with its very different rhythms, must be extremely frustrating. Especially when, as is the case with Matthew Jacobson, renowned drummer, composer, promotor and record label manager, there is no drum kit in his Dublin apartment. “I've been doing more work on the practice pad than I ever have," says Jacobson via Skype. “It's the kind of stuff that I should do regularly anyway. It would ...
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