Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2010!

Hello there friends and family!  This past weekend was quite the "Jazzing" weekend.  The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival brought tons of people to the city and definitely made the weekend something to remember!  This festival is known as one of the biggest/best, if not the biggest/best jazz festival in the world.  There were jazz musicians from all over the world including several BIG names in jazz.  For example, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden, Charles McPherson, Ernie Watts, Maceo Parker, Steve Winniwood, etc....(I know that these names may not mean much to many of you reading but WOW - just agree!)  At the same time, there were also tons of nationally acclaimed jazz musicians, local musicians, etc.  Pretty much every pub/venue around town had a gig going on all afternoon/night from Friday to Monday.  It was ridiculously awesome!  I will just give a little rundown of what I was able to get to over the weekend and then if you're interested in seeing how much was going on check out the website:    http://www.guinnessjazzfestival.com/

University of North Texas!

On Friday, I caught the University of North Texas jazz band in the afternoon! Absolutely Amazing!!! They have been nominated for 6 grammys and let me tell you they were honestly the best big band i have ever heard in my life!  At night, a few friends and I started off by going to the Imperial hotel and the Clarion Hotel to see some free gigs.  The Sax Sisters (a saxophone quartet from Poland, Germany, and Britain) were playing at the Imperial Hotel and were fun to listen to, but the place was soo packed we went to the Clarion.  At the Clarion, the Pat Eglart Band entertained us thoroughly.  The group consisted of a group of relatively older lads who were awesome!  haha...they were loving what they were doing that's for sure!  The drummer gave a pretty sweet solo even though he was probably around 75 years old! (Not saying you can't be a musician when you're older! I thought it was awesome and it shows how musicality sticks with you through your entire life if you want it to!)  After that, Jordan and I left to go to our ticketed event for the even better stuff!!! And, it was super cool what they did at this hotel.  At the hotel, there were four different stages (ballroom, side room, bar, and another ballroom of sorts) that each had a group playing throughout the night!  You paid a little bit of money to get in and then you could just walk around to whatever show you wanted to see.  There was a variety of shows from quartets to big bands to singers, etc.  We ended up watching the Blues Brothers Banned, a group from Britain that literally could have been the Blues Brothers I think for a big part of the night.  But also caught a few other gigs too.  It was just an awesome atmosphere!

Pat Eglart Band!

Blues Brothers!

The Jivin Aces

Onto Saturday:  This may have been the highlight of the weekend -The main venue, where the major world jazz musicians played, was the Everyman Palace Theater, and on Saturday at 2 I went to a Double Bill concert consisting of the Charles McPherson (top saxophonist in world) quartet and then the Charlie Haden (top bassist in world) quartet who also had Ernie Watts (Another amazing saxophonist) in his quartet. This concert was simply amazing.....I have nothing else to say about it.  It was just so unreal to hear Charlie Haden talking about how he recorded this or that song with Ornette Coleman or John Coltrane or some other ridiculously well known names in the jazz world.  I couldn't get over the fact that I was witnessing what I was witnessing!  haha.  The only down part to the day was the fact that I didn't get to share it with anybody and that got me down for a bit afterwards but oh well!!! It was awesome!

Charles McPherson!!

Then, Saturday night, a few of us caught some more gigs at the Imperial Hotel and then at a pub, but there were so many people in the pub we had to leave because we couldn't breathe! haha.  So we got milkshakes and watched Phantom of the Opera! Good choice!

Even on the streets!!

On Sunday, I had to catch up on a little bit of work, but then in the evening, Amy and elena and I went to a spectacular event that involved some great swing dancing!!!  It was called Cotton Club night.  It was supposed to be set in the 1920s/1930s in New York at the Cotton Club so people came all dressed up in suspenders, funky hats, and other stuff! The night began with a little bit of a swing dance lesson of sorts, and then they brought out a band and the swing dancing began!  haha...I felt a little bad at first because the girls had to teach me some moves, but by the end of the night I was starting to get it!!! After a little while, they also put on a few little acts for a break that included a comedy skit, a few dancers, the Cork swing dancing club put on a little show, and a singer.  Then, the dancing continued! All in all it was super fun!! Sometimes, I really wish I lived in that age where swing dancing was the thing...it's soo much better/more fun than the "dancing" people do these days!!  Afterwards, I wished my friend Chelsea a happy birthday and saw one other gig, and then headed back to the apartment to watch the Packers beat the Vikings via skype!

The streets at night! haha

The jazz continued on into Monday, and since it was a Bank Holiday, there was no classes, so I went to see Mitch Winehouse (Amy Winehouse's dad....no joke) and his band at a very cool pub!  He sounded like Frank Sinatra! Super good!  And then, the rest of the day worked on paper and watched movies and booked tickets to STOCKHOLM SWEDEN!!! Woohooo!

Now I am in the midst of getting my first big paper done which is due Friday, and then off to County Wicklow  with the Christian Union for a retreat!  It should be a grand weekend for sure!  The last week has been greatt but also tough at times because I think I am at the stage where everything doesn't seem as cool and new anymore...ive been getting homesick quite a bit...but I'm trying my best to stay positive and remember that I will be home before I know it!  It's just hard because Jordan and I both agree that these experiences are simply awesome, but it's hard wanting friends and family to enjoy them with you!  But, oh well, we must enjoy it while we can!

All for now!  Thanks for reading!