MUSIC

ABOUT THE CURATORS

 “There’s a kind of alchemy at work, particularly in how she uses her warmly distinctive voice, malleable, poised phrasing and impeccable intonation to get inside the material and make it personal.” – The Irish Times

Christine Tobin is an Irish vocalist, songwriter, and composer. She was an integral part of the London jazz scene before relocating to New York last year. Renowned for her unique rich voice and original compositional style, she has eleven highly acclaimed CDs under her own name and four major awards under her belt. In a five-star review of Christine’s new CD PELT, her settings of poems and lyrics by poet Paul Muldoon, the BBC Music Magazine writes “The Album is a masterclass in songcraft.” The Guardian described her deeply expressive sound as “Tobin’s 24 carat voice.” She has led and produced various projects and in 2012 Sailing to Byzantium, her settings of WB Yeats poems, won a British Composer Award. The following year she won a Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh Festival for her concert A Thousand Kisses Deep and in 2014 she won Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Christine is also a regular guest presenter on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Library program.

“One of my absolute favourite guitarists of his (or any) generation.” – John Kelman, allaboutjazz

Phil Robson is a multi-award winning, internationally acclaimed guitarist, composer & bandleader. Originally from the UK, he relocated to the NYC at the end of 2015 where he is rapidly becoming one of the major figures on the scene on his instrument. He's worked with many of the greats including David Liebman, Charles Earland, Steve Lacy, Maceo Parker, Barbra Streisand, The BBC big band and many more as well as leading my own bands featuring US stars such as Mark Turner, Billy Hart, Donny McCaslin, James Genus, Adam Nussbaum etc & well as working working with partner Christine Tobin.

ABOUT THE SPECIAL GUESTS

Dublin-born Justin Carroll is a keyboardist and composer currently living in New York City. He plays acoustic piano, hammond organ, various electric keyboards and plays in numerous bands. Justin has toured with the Van Morrison band, written and performed music for contemporary dance and theatre and has made collaborative projects with many jazz musicians. He has worked with many Irish singer songwriters such as Glen Hansard, Lisa Hannigan, Jerry Fish and Mary Coughlan.

Simon Jermyn is an electric bassist, guitarist, and composer originally from Dublin, now living in Brooklyn. Simon leads his own group, Trot A Mouse, and also plays in world renowned drummer Jim Black’s group, Smash and Grab, which recently performed at the Village Vanguard. Interestingly enough, Jermyn is the second Irish musician to ever play there, with the first being the great Louis Stewart. Jermyn plays in a in a variety of groups, but also has his solo project called Spirit Spout which was it was featured in a recent performance at the London Jazz Festival.

Dave Binney is one of the most prolific jazz musicians on the scene today. He was singled out by Jazz Times as one of a handful of “players who have created an alternative jazz scene… all of whom are playing adventurous, original music.” David’s distinctive saxophone sound and innovative compositions have been heard from New York to Europe and the world. He has worked with many greats such as Medeski, Martin & Wood , Uri Caine’s Mahler Project, and many others. David has also appeared on stage with Aretha Franklin at Carnegie Hall, produced 22 of his own albums, started his record label, Mythology Records, and so much more.

Originally from the beautiful seaside town Malahide, just outside Dublin, New York City based jazz guitarist, conductor, and arranger David O’Rourke is an established presence on the jazz scene. Throughout his career, David has played with many jazz legends such as Tommy Flanagan’s Trio, Jackie McLean, Billy Higgins, Brother Jack McDuff and Cassandra Wilson. He currently leads and writes for his own 20-piece band The O’Rourkestra who recently had a series of sellout shows at the renowned Jazz Standard club. O’Rourke is also in demand as a jazz conductor and arranger. He conducted the RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin’s National Concert Hall for two years in succession as music director/conductor of the tributes to arranger Nelson Riddle.

Born in Los Angeles, Peter Washington is perhaps the most recorded bassist of his generation. In the mid-eighties he was asked by Art Blakey to move to New York and join the seminal Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the early 1990's Washington joined the Tommy Flanagan Trio, called by many “the greatest trio in jazz,” and remained until Flanagan's death, in 2002. For the past ten years he has been a member of the very highly acclaimed Bill Charlap Trio. Peter is celebrated for his adaptability, and in his emphasis on creative, supportive, swinging time- playing as well as inventive and intelligent soloing.

Ryan Keberle is a New York based trombonist leads his own band Catharis. He has also played alongside masters of a multitude of forms, from jazz legends to indie rock ground-breakers, R&B superstars to classical virtuosos. That includes playing with jazz greats including Maria Schneider and Wynton Marsalis; hip-hop and R&B superstars like Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and Alicia Keys.