Limerick Jazz Festival marks 15th year with international line‑up

The Limerick Jazz Festival celebrates its 15th year, running until Sunday 27 September with concerts across the city.

Organised by the Limerick Jazz Society, the programme is centred on Dolans and the Belltable, while a free Jazz Trail on Saturday brings live music to venues throughout Limerick city centre.

Thursday night at Dolans features Swiss drummer Florian Arbenz headlining a double bill with his new quartet, which includes US saxophonist Greg Osby, Portuguese accordionist Joao Barradas and French bassist François Moutin. Opening the night is guitarist Matthew O’Connell, a finalist in the Limerick Jazz Society’s 2022 Young Irish Jazz Musician of the Year competition, performing with pianist Tom Maxwell.

Friday sees the Tom Ollendorff Trio joined by saxophonist Will Vinson at the Belltable, and Dolans hosts John Donegan and his quintet for the Irish launch of his new album Interfuse, with saxophonist Richie Buckley and drummer John Daly, both featured on his 2024 record We Will Meet Again Sometime. The opening act is Kildare duo ReRoute.

Saturday’s free Jazz Trail includes performances at The George, The Savoy Hotel and Mother Macs, plus a set from the Limerick School of Music Big Band & Joe O’Callaghan Group at Dolans Terrace. Later that evening Dolans presents Shadowlands – saxophonist Robin Fincker, pianist Elliot Galvin and vocalist Lauren Kinsella – playing material from their 2026 album Two Minds.

The festival concludes on Sunday with a traditional afternoon double bill at Dolans. Tommy Halferty’s Whirlpool quartet will perform Miles Davis’s 1969 album In A Silent Way in full, marking the centenary of the trumpeter’s birth, followed by UK vocalist Zoe Gilby and her band covering jazz standards and songs by Pink Floyd and Kate Bush.

Tickets and full details are available at www.limerickjazz.com.

Source: Limerick Post. Photo: Emily MacDonald / Pexels.