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Bray Jazz Festival is an Irish jazz music festival that takes place in Bray, Ireland, on the May bank holiday weekend. The 22nd such festival took place in May 2023.^[1]

Bray Jazz was established in 2000 with part-funding from Ireland's 'Millennium Fund'.^[2] Although boutique in scale, Bray Jazz has featured a number of leading jazz and world music players from Ireland and elsewhere.^{[3][better source needed]} The festival has been described by The Irish Times as "the connoisseur's jazz festival", and as "one of the very best small jazz festival's in Europe" (All About Jazz).^[2][4]

The 23rd edition of Bray Jazz Festival took place on the May Bank Holiday weekend and featured US pianists Ethan Iverson and George Colligan, trumpeter Dave Douglas, UK pianist Zoe Rahman, saxophonists Camilla George, Tori Freestone, Trish Clowes and Meilana Gillard, guitarist Phil Robson, singer Georgia Cecile, flautist Naissam Jalal harpist Cathrin Finch and much more.

Bray Jazz Festival 2023 featured US pianist Gerald Clayton Trio, German pianist Julia Hulsmann Quartet and Swedish bassist Lars Danielssons Liberetto Quartet. Other featured performers included singer Ian Shaw, Florian Arbenz Elemental Quartet featuring Tineke Postma and accordion virtuoso Joao Barradas and bass player Ruth Goller's Skylla.

Artists who participated in 2022 included US guitarist Bill Frisell, Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen, UK trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, as well as Ilaria Capalbo(Italy), Gabriel Garcia Fons and Claire Antonini (France) and Michael Janisch (USA).

The festival celebrated its 20th anniversary on 3–5 May 2019, and featured performances by John Scofield, Norma Winstone and pianist Marc Copland, who was a late addition to the line up following an illness which forced the scheduled performance by pianist Fred Hersch.^{[citation needed]} To mark its 20th birthday Bray Jazz launched an 'On the Road' strand to its 2019 programme, and presented concerts across County Wicklow at several heritage sites and venues, including Russborough House, Calary Church, Arklow Methodist Church and Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre.^{[citation needed]}

Participants included John Scofield, Marc Copland, Mats Gustafsson Fire!, Lucia Cadotsch Speak Low, No Tongues, Norma Winstone @ Tommy Halferty and George Colligan.^{[citation needed]}

2018 participants included Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas Quintet: Sound Prints, with Joey Baron, Linda Oh and Lawrence Fields; pianist Bobo Stenson and singer China Moses, cellist Ernst Reijseger, drummer Jim Black, and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock with Mary Halverson and Tom Rainey.^{[citation needed]}

The 18th edition of Bray Jazz Festival featured performances by British big band Beats & Pieces, Australia's The Necks, and West African guitarist Lionel Loueke. Denmark's The Firebirds, Switzerlands Pilgrim, Estonia's Maarja Nuut and Norway's Stian Carstensen.^{[citation needed]}

The 17th edition of Bray Jazz Festival included performances by American pianist Kenny Werner, West African Grammy Award-winning singer Dobet Gnahoré, and Swedish drummer Magnus Ostrom, formerly of e.s.te. A new church venue, The Well, featured concerts by Swiss group Vein featuring saxophonist Greg Osby, by Irish jazz composer and bassist Ronan Guilfoyle with 'A Shy Going Boy', and a solo piano recital featuring Mexican pianist Alex Mercado. Elsewhere, there were performances by Norwegian hardanger fiddle player Nils Okland and Scottish harpist Catriona McKay.^{[citation needed]}

Bray Jazz Festival 2015 featured performances by American trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and by Brazilian jazz soul performer Ed Motta.^[5] The Dublin City Jazz Orchestra was conducted by Pete Churchill and joined by guest soloists Lauren Kinsella and Laura Jurd for a concert performances that honours the music of Kenny Wheeler. Other acts playing this festival included Sue Rynhart and Dan Bodwell, Nathan Podesta, Francesco Turrisi's The Tacquin Experiments, Havana Che and the National Concert Hall Gamelan Orchestra Khai Jati Rosa.^{[citation needed]}

The 15th Bray Jazz Festival featured performances by New York-based trumpeter and composter Dave Douglas and pianist Uri Caine, by Brazilian guitarist Vinicius Cantuaria and by exciting new Norwegian saxophone talent Marius Neset. The performance by Dave Douglas was the first instance that a headline artist returned to the festival.^{[citation needed]}

The 14th Bray Jazz Festival featured New York-based Brazilian singer and pianist Eliane Elias, Norwegian bass player Mats Eilertsens Skydive, Christy Dorans New Bag, French trumpeter Médéric Collignon, as well as Swedish duo Norrland and a Balkan showcase featuring four leading Balkan and klezmer bands - Yurodny, Paprika, She'Koyokh and North Strand Kontra Band.^{[citation needed]}

The 13th installment of Bray Jazz Festival took place on the May Weekend, 2012, and featured concerts by two-time Grammy Award-winning South American singer Susana Baca from Peru, by the Tord Gustavsen Trio (Norway), by US clarinetist Don Byron's New Gospel Quintet, and by Warsaw Village Band (Poland), Mari Kvien Brunvoll (Norway), and other Irish jazz groups and musicians.^{[citation needed]}

The 12th Bray Jazz Festival featured concert appearances by Brazilian players Hamilton de Holanda and André Mehmari, by American jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet, and by other acts including Christine Tobin & Liam Noble, guitarist Andreas Varady, and Snowboy and The Latin Section.

The festival's 2010 event featured guitar-led performances, including shows by the Wayne Krantz Trio (US), Wolfgang Muthspiel's trio (Austria/US), John Etheridge's Sweet Chorus (UK), Norwegian duo Trygve Seim and Frode Haltli, and Brazil's Trio Corrente.

The 10th annual Bray Jazz Festival was staged on the weekend of 1–3 May 2009. Featured artists included Stefon Harris & Blackout (USA), Mathias Eick Quartet (Norway), Trio Sud featuring Sylvain Luc (France), Rez Abbasi Quartet (with Kiran Ahluwalia) (USA) and others.^{[citation needed]}

Bray Jazz Festival 2008 featured performances by Maceo Parker Band with Dennis Rollins (USA/UK), Orchestre National de Jazz (France), Liu Fang (China), Norma Winstone & Tommy Halferty (UK/Irl), Carmen Souza Band (Cape Verde/Portugal) and Dafnis Prieto Sextet (USA).

• Official website
• Journal of Music Ireland reviews Bray Jazz 2006 (archived)
• Journal of Music Ireland reviews Bray Jazz 2008 (archived)
• The Irish Times reviews Bray Jazz 2008
• Irish Times interviews Fred Hersch 2019
• Things to Do in Ireland on May Weekend
• All About Jazz reviews Bray Jazz 2009