Formed by drummer Art Blakey in the 1950s as a collective, The Jazz Messengers occupies a special place in the annals of Jazz music in the twentieth century.

Notable for fostering the talents of emerging players Blakey enlisted some of the most significant practitioners in the history of the music. Notable examples are Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Woody Shaw, Cedar Walton, and Wynton and Branford Marsalis, to name just a handful.

Many of the compositions that these members would pen for the group went on to become some of the most beloved arrangements for Jazz sextet in all of the music.

‘Free For All’ features 6 of Ireland’s leading Jazz Musicians. They will be performing the original arrangements of many of the most iconic works from the Jazz Messengers book – pieces that overflow with joyful hard bop in a way that is always swingin’.

Band Members:

Linley Hamilton - Trumpet
Daniel Rorke - Tenor Sax
Colm O’Hara -Trombone
Rick Simpson - Piano
Cormac O’Brien - Bass
Kevin Brady - Drums