Music: John Donegan Sextet

Pianist John Donegan’s visit last year was one of our most enjoyable gigs of 2023, in which a Bristol line-up performed music from John’s album Shadows Linger, originally recorded by the cream of Ireland’s jazz musicians in 2022. Shortly after that performance John was back in Dublin to record the follow-up album Light Streams with the same Irish team including brothers Michael and Richie Buckley on saxes and trumpeter Linley Hamilton. Light Streams was released Oct 23 – “Recorded in April at Camden Studios, Dublin, this is probably as good as anything currently being recorded in Ireland. North or south of the border, either side of the Irish Sea, maybe even either side of the Atlantic – it’s that good!” – Bebop Spoken Here. “It’s clear from the beginning that this album is going to adhere to the high musical standards set by its predecessor.” – The Jazz Mann.

Originally from Cork in Ireland, John Donegan lived in Bristol during the 90s and was a mainstay of the jazz scene here before work took him to London. Now retired from his day job, over the past few years John has been able to dedicate his time exclusively to music and has released several recordings demonstrating his compositional skills including a suite of 21 contemporary pieces which have been released as 2 CDs, Siamsa Vols 1 & 2. “An intriguing combination of classic bebop laced with Irish folk melody, this album from pianist John and his saxophonist friend Tommaso Starace is full of sublime lyrical moments” – Musicians Union Magazine.

When performing in London John’s sextet includes such heavy hitters as Steve Fishwick on trumpet and Alex Hitchcock on tenor sax, but for tonight we have reunited a special cast of Bristol’s finest players to perform John’s excellent arrangements – hopefully all of whom should be no strangers to our regular audience.