Sligo Jazz Project 2018: Days 1-2

Over the course of their no-gimmickry set, the sextet shone bright and brilliant as a naked flame. Joe Hettinga's keyboard solo was stratospheric, and Joe Dart's bass playing made full use of all the wisdom he espoused during his masterclass. Realms and ages met during The Olllam's concert: old Ireland met the modern New World. But rather than war with each other, they merged to form an exciting, promising new sound.

Comedian Eddie Izzard claimed that Europe could be "the biggest melting pot in the world." But America, with its constant influx of peoples, could also make a claim for that title. The Olllam have melded the two pots in a cauldron of their own design. And they have smelted the precious metals from their ores. Working them into the intricate native crafts of this new land.

The Olllam welded these disparate styles together into a crest-bearing shield. Their crest, as identifiable as any monarchy's, is one of ingenuity and creativity. If it were an actual image it would portray the nine muses, with Euterpe the muse of music in the centre.

As the crowd moved out of the theatre and into the night's freshly-painted darkness, with church bells ringing in 11:00PM, The Olllam's 21st century folk tunes faded out in the crowds' minds. Their music seemed as familiar as daylight, but as exciting as darkness. Like the very best of love affairs.

At the Riverside, the evening jam was underway. The bar was wedged and the Guinness flowed easy as the laughter. Just as mankind's ancient ancestors realised, music is powerful. Politics rarely brings together even as many people as were in the Riverside that Wednesday night. But music does it at least every weekend. And you can bet that, sure as the sun will shine, politics has never provided as valuable a service as the Sligo Jazz Project.

As shamans use music to bring themselves and their tribespeople closer to their gods, SJP uses music to bring people closer to each other. A deeply spiritual and profound mission to encourage the movement of compassion and humanity between all people.

Music is primarily about that communication. And without free speech, there can be no communication. But while free speech is enshrined in the constitutions of the Western World, it is our responsibility to search through the resulting ignorance to find the truth and love buried beneath. Sligo Jazz Project facilitates that search. People are rarely born with the tools required to make that search fruitful. But through SJP's championing of jazz and the education thereon, these skills are shared out among the people. Jazz is an eloquent, intelligent, and emotive form of communication. And the Sligo Jazz Project makes the world just a little better, because it promotes those very qualities. Not just in musicianship. But in living.

Photo credit: Lieve Boussauw