Fresh off the back of the 12 Points Jazz series, the Sugar Club is hosting its Winter Jazz Week with a slew of stalwarts and pioneers bringing their A game to the city.
The American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer is a regular to the Club. His catalogue dates from West Coast Vibes in 1963 through Everybody Loves the Sunshine in 1976 through to Perfection in 2000. A constant presence on the touring circuit, the 77-year-old icon still brings the funk. Check out his NPR Tiny Desk concert for a recent glimpse of him in action. Friday November 16, €25
HAILU MERGIA – AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA
Master accordionist and veteran bandleader, arranger and keyboardist, Hailu Mergia is originally from Ethiopia. He fled his native country with his group, the Walias Band, in 1981 and now drives a cab in Washington DC, in which he also composes.
Lala Belu is his first album in two decades which Pitchfork (8.0) said: “contains echoes of the old, full of peculiar details that contrast the sparkly veneer of the jazz trio he’s now fronting.”
Monday November 19, €17.50
Antonio Sánchez is a Mexican jazz drummer. In 2014, he gained further recognition when he composed an original film score for the Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Academy Award-winning film Birdman. Sanchez recently released his solo/electronica album Bad Hombre which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Tuesday November 20, €22.50
Formed in 1973 by none other than Herbie Hancock, The Headhunters have gone down in history as one of the most influential jazz-funk fusion bands of all time. Their debut album titled Head Hunters (1973), is one of the best-selling jazz/fusion records ever, the first jazz album to reach platinum status. The band continues to make world class records & tour the globe much to the delight of fans everywhere. Wednesday November 21, €25
IDRIS ACKAMOOR AND THE PYRAMIDS
It’s taken the world 30-odd years to catch up with Idris Ackamoor, the time between the trio of Afro-jazz albums he cut in the 1970s and his re-emergence in 2016 with We All Be Africans. Ackamoor (born Bruce Baker in 1951) grew up in Chicago and was mentored by pianist Cecil Taylor before forming a group he led on a cross-Africa odyssey, presenting his music with theatrical panache – he still takes to the stage in pharaonic headdress.
Makaya McCraven is a beat scientist. The cutting edge drummer, producer, and sonic collagist is a multi-talented force with an inventive process and intuitive style of performance. His breakthrough album In the Moment was released in 2015 and quickly named ‘Album of the Week’ on BBC 6 Radio by Gilles Peterson. Friday November 23, €17.50
Hopeton Overton Brown is a recording engineer and producer who rose to fame in the 1980s mixing dub music as “Scientist”. He is one of the founding fathers of dub and the elevation of reggae studio engineering to an art form, apprenticing under King Tubby and releasing dub albums from 1981 until the present day. Sunday November 25, €20
The Winter Jazz Week takes place at the Sugar Club in Dublin from Nov 16th – 26th
