This year’s Cork Jazz Festival, which has been hailed as having the best line-up thus far, kicked off with a bang on Friday. The impact of Cork’s increased funding from the EU was apparent from the start, with the festival hosting some of the biggest names in jazz.
Artists such as Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes, Joshua Redman, Ron Carter, Mccoy Tyner and Charlie Hayden all contributed to the weekend’s music.
The pianist and composer Chick Corea got proceedings officially underway on Friday night in the Opera House. A capacity audience saw Corea explore his latest meld of ethnicity fused with modernity, with profound interaction and amazing musicality from his group Touchstone. After a slow start, the audience was soon drawn into this amazing show. The gig ended with a standing ovation for Corea and Touchstone, and affirmed everyone’s belief that this will surely be the best weekend in the history of the festival.