Saturday 12th
Richie Buckley Quintet
Arthurs, Dublin, 9.30pm, €10, arthurspub.ie
Legendary saxophonist Richie Buckley's monthly quintet sessions at Arthurs are a chance to hear one of Ireland's most fluent exponents of mainstream post-Coltrane jazz in full flight. Buckley's credits run from Van Morrison and Bob Dylan to Freddie Hubbard and Carlos Santana but he can be heard to best effect doing his own thing with a group of like-minded players – the top-flight group includes guitarist John Moriarty, pianist Myles Drennan, bassist Dave Redmond and drummer Kevin Brady.
Sunday 13th
Guilfoyle/Nielsen Trio
Workman's Club, Dublin, 8pm, €10, facebook.com/dublinjazzcoop
Dublin's Guilfoyle/Nielsen trio broke new ground back in the 1990s with their album of "f***ed up" standards, becoming one of the first Irish jazz groups to have an impact internationally and inspiring a whole generation of rhythmically adventurous musicians around the world. But the best way to experience this muscular trio is live and in recent months, guitarist Mike Nielsen, bassist Ronan Guilfoyle and drummer Conor Guilfoyle have been rehearsing together again, blowing on the embers of their shared history and rekindling the sound that made them one of the most influential Irish jazz groups of the last three decades.
Thursday 17th
Plaza Real
Arthurs, Dublin, 8.30pm, €10, arthurspub.ie
Bassist Barry Donohue's father bought him a copy of Weather Report's Heavy Weather album when he was 13-years-old and the die was cast. The hugely influential recording, which includes fusion classics like Joe Zawinul's Birdland and Jaco Pastorius's Teen Town, turned the young Galway man into a bassist and two decades later, Donohue has assembled a powerful group to celebrate the music of Zawinul, Shorter et al, with Chris Engel on soprano sax, Darragh William O'Ceallaigh on keyboards, Shane O'Donovan on drums and Eamonn Cagney on percussion.
Next Experiment
Billy Byrnes, Kilkenny, 9pm, No CC, facebook.com/sofasessionskilkenny
Virtuoso Venezuelan pianist Leo Osio's first experiment in Ireland was the compelling CEO trio with Hungarian bassist Peter Erdei and Peruvian drummer Coté Calmet, a group that was just starting to make waves beyond the jazz ghetto, headlining at the Sugar Club last year with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. That iteration of the trio ended when Calmet relocated to Spain, but by lucky coincidence, the Irish scene gained another Hispanophone drummer last year with the arrival in Dublin of talented Barcelona percussionist Gonzalo Del Val. A master of subtlety and groove, Del Val adds his sound to an already talent-rich group that promises much in the year ahead.
