Now in its third year, ESB Dublin Jazz Week has set new standards for jazz in Ireland with dynamic programming, excellent venues and artists of the highest calibre. The Festival's organisers, Improvised Music Company, have assembled a formidable line up for 2000 including legendary drummer Elvin Jones, French pianist Martial Solal, the English composer Mike Westbrook, and the stunning Chilean singer Claudia Acuna.

Joe Lovano, the most influential saxophonist since John Coltrane, appears with The RTE Concert Orchestra under the direction of leading US composer Jim McNeely. Lovano also appears with The Guilfoyle/Nielsen Trio, Ireland's finest contemporary group, and they head up an impressive posse of Irish musicians, including saxophonist Michael Buckley, who performs a specially commissioned suite by German composer Florian Ross.
Pendulum @ Project will present a defiantly modern interpretation of jazz and its many forms, as part of Dublin Jazz Week 2000. Situated in the heart of Temple Bar, Dublin's newest arts venue will play host to provocative musicians like Kimmo Pohjonen, Christy Doran's New Bag, The Brian Irvine Ensemble, Steve Arguelles' Plush, and French superstar Erik Truffaz. Over four days, Pendulum @ Project will explore new directions in jazz, embracing hip hop, drum 'n' bass, multi media and beyond.
An extensive education programme, sponsored by The IRMA Trust, includes leading festival artists like Elvin Jones, Jim McNeely and Joe Lovano. Passo a Passo Dance Company, currently lighting up TV screens in a commercial for Nokia, will also present an introduction to Capoeira, the extraordinary Brazilian artform that embraces music, dance and martial arts.
Other events include a jazz and cinema retrospective at the IFC, including the Irish premiere of Paul Pena's critically acclaimed Genghis Blues, and a new jazz documentary by Irish film maker Cormac Larkin. There'll be a series of lunchtime concerts, too, featuring leading festival artists like guitarist Mike Nielsen, who'll be launching his new CD, Solo At Garden City, and Swiss vocalist Kristina Fuchs, who performs with The Justin Carroll Three.