Tim Garland’s tribute to Chick Corea lights up Limerick Jazz Festival

Unlike the gargantuan Guinness Festival in Cork, supported by and supporting the brewery, Limerick Jazz Festival receives grants from the local council and the national Arts Council, and runs on a smaller scale without simultaneous or overlapping events. So there’s no excuse for me missing sets by leading Irish musicians Conor Guilfoyle, Joe O’Callaghan or Honor Heffernan, but nevertheless the first gig I caught was Tim Garland’s celebration of Chick Corea. By common consent the highlight of the entire festival, his personnel of Ant Law, Laurence Cottle, Asaf Sirkis and Jason Rebello (who also did a master class with Garland) seemed to delight in the repertoire and in each other, and the audience responded in kind.

There was a slightly more formal feel to the presentation of the Camilla George quartet, who had a 10-date tour of Ireland last year but managed to miss out Limerick. George is an excellent altoist, covering the whole of her instrument effortlessly, and the compositions showed a clear appreciation of jazz history despite their sometimes complex heads. The cumulative effect was however somewhat samey, partly due to the rather overbearing drumming of Rod Youngs, and it wasn’t till the second set that one got much impression of pianist Deschanel Gordon.

Camilla George at Limerick - Photo by Shannan Curtis

Piano was the main focus of a short trio set by the winner of 2022’s first-ever Irish Young Jazz Musician award, Nils Kavanagh, who was joined by drummer Sam Purcell (a contender in that same competition) and bassist Eddie Lee (of Sligo Jazz Project fame). Much of Kavanagh’s original music is inspired by a love of his local landscapes, and the variety and authority of his playing heightens anticipation of his forthcoming debut album.

The festival’s traditional Sunday afternoon triple-bill had Kavanagh sandwiched between two guitar-led groups, both flanked by expert tenormen. The performance of the Lee Meehan Quintet included uplifting contributions by Michael Buckley and by pianist Scott Flanagan. Flanagan also appeared on organ with Ireland’s senior blues singer-guitarist Nigel Mooney, who flexed his jazz chops on tunes from Jimmy McGriff to Bill Evans, ably assisted by his frequent companion Jean Toussaint.