Monthly Archives: December 2017

The Hot Box #023 – A to Z of Jazz Piano Part 9 – The Letters H & I



In the epic series of alphabetical pianists started early in 2017 we reached the letter H, in Hot Box 21, only to find such a plethora of riches that they spilled over the confines of a single Box. As luck would have it, the letter I has very few incumbents so we are able, in Hot Box 23 to play the missing H’s – or at least most of them – and both the I’s.  And speaking of the letter I, we couldn’t resist the temptation to play a very early “Capetown jazz” piece from the South African star Abdullah Ibrahim that runs a little over 15 minutes!


The Hot Box #022 – A Chilled Out Hot Box



In this episode of The Hot Box we check out some new material from Lizz Wright, Sean Jones, Christian McBride’s Big Band, Julian Colarossi and John Keogh, The Carole Nelson Trio and the remarkable Cecile McLorin-Salvant. All that, and we join the celebrations for Jazz on the Terrace, that unique entity in the world of jazz, a promoter and presenter that has prospered for 35 years. Episode 22 is the most chilled Hot Box yet.


The Hot Box #021 – A to Z of Jazz Piano Part 8 – The Letter H



Once more we delve into the files to find pianists filed in alphabetical order. In some recent forays it may have been difficult to fill the show, not so with the Letter H. In fact there are so many important piano players in this file we can’t fit them all into The Hot Box episode 21!

In the HOT SPOT this time – new albums……

The Whistling Girl from Honor Heffernan & Trevor Knight on Featherhead Records

Live in Montreal from Hiromo and Edmar Castaneda on Telarc label


The Hot Box #020 – A Tale of Two Festivals



In Hot Box Episode 20 we pay homage to two jazz festivals that present contrasting pleasures to jazz fans over the October public holiday weekend in Ireland. The one celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2017 and is recognised worldwide as one of the major jazz-focussed events in the calendar, the other remains something of a secret, but gaining in its reach and appeal each year.

So listen in as Donald Helme takes into the world of gypsy jazz at Django Sur Lennon, (in Ramelton, County Donegal) and checks out a couple of the headliners at Cork 2017 (well you know where that is).

And in The Hot Spot this time are tracks from Kurt Rosenwinkel and Ambrose Akinmusire.


The Hot Box #019 – A to Z of Jazz Piano Part 7 – The Letter G



In the 19th edition of The Hot Box we revisit the A – Z of Jazz Piano series focusing on the letter G.You will hear from such greats as Benny Green, Erroll Garner, Robert Glasper, Larry Goldings and many more.

Also in The Hot Box #19 we introduce “The Hot Spot” where we feature some new releases hitting the music scene.  We have a track from David Rooney’s debut album “Bound Together” and we will also feature Edel Meade who launches her debut album “Blue Fantasia” on 28th of September just a few days from now in the Bello Bar Dublin.

Be sure to check out the event details here: Edel Meade – Blue Fantasia Album Launch


The Hot Box #018 Xtra – John Abercrombie



This Hot Box is a special Xtra in memory of John Abercrombie who passed away on August 22, 2017 at the age of 72. In The Hot Box 18 we celebrated “guitar” and though it would be fitting to include an extra special show for Abercrombie.

John Abercrombie was an American jazz guitarist, composer and bandleader. His work explored jazz fusion, post bop, free jazz and avant-garde jazz. Abercrombie studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He recorded his debut album, Timeless with Manfred Eicher’s ECM label, and recorded principally with this label since then.

Abercrombie played with Billy Cobham, Ralph Towner, Jack DeJohnette, Charles Lloyd, Michael Brecker and Randy Brecker. He was known for his spare, understated and eclectic style and his work with organ trios.


The Hot Box #018 – The Prospect of Guitar Night!



In this edition of The Hot Box, Donald Helme rejoices in the rebirth of Dublin Guitar Night (last Tuesday of every month) in its new venue, The Grand Social, and presents a wide ranging soundscape of guitar from Frank Vignola to Laurindo Almeida, from Eric Bibb to Phil Upchurch, and of course, a couple of local heroes too, Hugh Buckley and Nigel Mooney.

The guitar is far and away the most popular instrument in blues, rock and jazz, and that is reflected in the audiences it always attracts. Enjoy nearly an hour and a half of guitar in The Hot Box #18.


The Hot Box #017 – A to Z of Jazz Piano Part 6 – The Letter F



The 17th iteration of The Hot Box finds us back in pursuit of jazz piano genius by delving into the files, and this time around we have reached the letter F.

F finds us in rich territory with Cuban maestro Roberto Fonseca, Italian Antonio Farao with top-drawer US bandmates, and the Flanagans, the late Tommy spelled with an “A”, and the young Irish master Scott, spelled with an “I”. The programme concludes with two tracks from 84 year-old Dave Frishberg, swinging pianist, songwriter and vocalist.


The Hot Box #016 – New Material



In The Hot Box #16 we take a listen to many of the just-released new albums, and also pay tribute to one of jazz’s most luminous pianists, who died in June from cancer at the age of 60, Geri Allen. Geri featured in Hot Box No.7 when we checked out pianists filed under the letter A!

The new material includes a wide range of singers from the latest wonder voice in America, Jazzmeia Horn, to our own Aoife Doyle from her new, self-penned quartet album “Clouds”. Also included are tracks from Diana Krall’s latest album “Turn Up the Quiet”. The show also makes good an omission from Pianists filed under the letter D from Hot Box 12, where tracks from Irish pianist John Donegan were unavailable. John’s new solo album, Jen’s Progress is duly sampled here!


The Hot Box #015 – A to Z of Jazz Piano Part 5 – The Letter E



Continuing the epic series on piano players in jazz, Donald has reached the letter E, where he finds one of the most important and influential pianists of all time, Bill Evans. It is probably true that almost all piano players in the modern era have been, to some extent, influenced by Evans.

He was something of a prodigy and began earning money from his music whilst still a teenager, but it wasn’t until he was 30, in 1959, and recorded with Miles Davis on the biggest selling jazz album of all time, Kind of Blue, that he reached beyond a small base of aficionados and found a wider public.

The Hot Box follows Evans career from Kind of Blue, through the seminal trio recordings made at the Village Vanguard in 1961, to some of his later trios, also taking in important duo performances with Tony Bennett and Jim Hall along the way. The letter E also finds two young pianists of extraordinary skill, Russian born Eldar (now using his second name too, which is Djangerov) and the Californian, Taylor Eigsti. A recording by Brazilian Eliane Elias rounds out almost one and a half hours of Hot Box 15.