The Galway Jazz Festival 2017 takes place 5–8 October in venues around the city, with over 40 events including concerts, workshops, talks and a film screening. 

The festival – programmed by Matthew Berrill with Ellen Cranitch and Ciaran Ryan – will be opened by Carl Corcoran, former presenter of RTÉ Lyric FM’s Blue of the Night on 6 October, though performances will have already begun the previous day, starting with a poetry and music performance with Eva Bourke and Olesya Zdorovetska, and headline events with experimental vocalists Trondheim Voices and the Meilana Gillard Trio. 

Also appearing at the festival will be a double-bill of duos at the Mick Lally Theatre on Sunday 8 October, with Italian pianist Simone Graziano paired with Galway-based cellist and singer Naomi Berrill, and Norwegian trumpet and percussion collaborators Arve Henriksen and Terje Isungset. Berrill will also perform a free solo concert at the Moloney Music shop.

Another double-billing (Saturday 7 October) will pair Cello Ireland – an ensemble consisting of the Hugh Buckley Quartet with four cellists, Úna Ní Chanainn, Katie Tertell, Ailbhe McDonagh and Lioba Petrie – with Jack Talty and Graham Dunne performing improvised electroacoustic traditional music. 

Other performers at the festival include pianist Simon Nabatov, experimental noise band Jimmy Cake, guitarist Mike Neilsen, and scratch music collective Skratchlords, who will present a workshop on the design and creation of scratch records. A new ensemble work by jazz composer Ronan Guilfoyle, Always Know, will mark the centenary of the birth of Thelonious Monk on Saturday 7 October. 

The festival line-up also includes masterclasses with Simon Nabatov with Galway Youth Festival’s Youth Ensemble, and Naomi Berrill with Maoin Cheoil na Gaillimhe, and Adventures in Music, a concert aimed at children under 10. A panel discussion chaired by Ellen Cranitch with Bill Whelan, Eve O’Kelly, Ronan Guilfoyle, Deborah Kelleher and Jack Talty will discuss the rise in the number of degree courses in jazz and improvisation. 

Download festival programme below. For further information and tickets, visit www.galwayjazz.ie