Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

LIVE REVIEW November 30, 2019

David Lyttle & Joseph Leighton at Caravanserail

David Lyttle & Joseph Leighton Caravanserail jny:Beirut, Lebanon November 22, 2019 It's a long way from Keady Clachan to Beirut. The last time the Irish duo of David Lyttle and Joseph Leighton came onto All About Jazz's radar it was in a stone and timber farm outhouse in the hills of Limavady. This gig, in the Lebanese capital, is part of the pair's Middle Eastern tour, which also takes in Egypt and Israel. Jamaica ...

LIVE REVIEW December 19, 2018

Falcarragh Winter Jazz Festival 2018

By Ian Patterson

Falcarragh Winter Jazz Festival Various Venues Falcarragh, Ireland December 7-8, 2018 It only rained twice during the inaugural Falcarragh Winter Jazz Festival--all day Friday, and then all day Saturday. Still, no amount of rain or wind could dampen the spirits of those who turned out to support this bold initiative by local lads Conor and Micheal Murray. Bold because jazz doesn't have any footing in this small town seeped in Irish folk music, country ...

INTERVIEW November 29, 2018

Conor Murray & Micheal Murray: Putting Falcarragh On The Jazz Map

By Ian Patterson

It's just gone half past midday and yet double bassist Conor Murray and twin brother, saxophonist Micheal Murray, are gearing up for their second media engagement of the day. If this were New York or London such hustle and bustle mightn't be unusual for two seasoned jazz musicians with a CD to launch, except the Murrays have yet to record in their short career to date. And this isn't New York -it's Falcarragh, a small town hugging the Atlantic in ...

LIVE REVIEW September 10, 2018

David Lyttle & Joseph Leighton at Keady Clachan

By Ian Patterson

David Lyttle & Joseph Leighton Keady Clachan Keady Mountain, Limavady N. Ireland September 1, 2018 The old, stone and timber-beam cottage is nestled halfway up Keady Mountain. It's typical of numerous farm outhouses throughout Ireland. On the outside at any rate. Inside, however, it has been converted by organic farmers Joan McGandy and Mickey Mullan into an intimate live music venue. For the past five years, Keady Clachan, as it is dubbed, ...

RETHINKING JAZZ CULTURES August 28, 2018

David Lyttle: Leading Jazz Into The Hinterlands

By Ian Patterson

There was a time when jazz groups would zig-zag all over the country, by train, in customized buses or in cars, playing date after date in towns big and small. Tours that kept a band on the road for months at a time were once the norm for many jazz outfits--the bread and butter of countless jazz musicians. Touring on such a scale, in such a manner, however, is largely a thing of the past. Outside of dedicated jazz clubs, ...

LIVE REVIEW January 22, 2018

David Lyttle & Andreas Varady at Bennigans Jazz Club

By Ian Patterson

David Lyttle & Andreas Varady Bennigans Jazz Bar Derry, N. Ireland January 14, 2018 There was an air of expectation around the duo gig of David Lyttle and Andreas Varady -two of the finest exponents of their respective instruments in contemporary jazz. Not surprisingly, Bennigans Jazz Club--a wonderfully intimate setting--was packed to capacity. This is a new project from Irish drummer Lyttle and Slovakian guitarist Varady, having first collaborated together on Questions (Lyte Records, ...

LIVE REVIEW February 1, 2016

David Lyttle at The MAC

By Ian Patterson

David Lyttle The MAC jny:Belfast January 22, 2016 The soft launch of Brilliant Corners 2016 (March 5-12) took place in Belfast's multi-million pound arts centre, The MAC, and featured Northern Ireland's internationally acclaimed drummer/composer David Lyttle--Moving On Music's Artist-In Residence at The MAC for 2016. The venue, however, was not one of The MAC's main theatres, but instead, a rather curious corner of the complex called The Studio. The Studio looked like an upended ...