{"id":23878,"date":"2025-05-01T11:36:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T10:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=23878"},"modified":"2025-05-01T11:36:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T10:36:19","slug":"derry-gets-set-to-welcome-all-that-jazz-to-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2025\/05\/derry-gets-set-to-welcome-all-that-jazz-to-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Derry gets set to welcome all that Jazz to the city"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>The City of Derry Jazz Festival swings into town once again over the May Bank holiday with a stellar line up of talent all set to celebrate jazz in all its forms.<\/h4>\n<p><strong>From Thursday 1<sup>st<\/sup> May \u2013 Monday 5<sup>th<\/sup> May musicians from across the world will descend on the city to mark 24 years of Ireland\u2019s biggest Jazz extravaganza. Final preparations are now well underway to deliver an unsurpassable programme featuring almost 400 live performances \u2013 most of them free!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-23879\" src=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" \/>Music legend Billy Ocean tops the festival bill, performing his iconic hits including \u2018Get Outta My Dreams\u2019 and \u2018When the Going Gets Tough\u2019 in the Millennium Forum on Saturday and Sunday May 3<sup>rd<\/sup> and 4<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s programme includes old jazz favourites, local legends and plenty of new talent, ready to deliver five days packed with entertainment, from jazz workshops to live concerts and drama performances.<\/p>\n<p>It all kicks off in the Guildhall on Thursday evening at 6pm with the \u2018Live Launch\u2019 led by the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of local performers, with all donations going to the Mayor\u2019s chosen charity the Bud Club.<\/p>\n<p>A number of dedicated jazz hubs will host performances by some of the very best names on the jazz circuit over the course of the weekend. Popular jazz hotspot Bennigans Bar welcomes a number of acclaimed artists this year, including the Murray Brothers Quartet, the Kevin Brady Trio, Shuffle Boil Quartet and Sara Oschlag.<\/p>\n<p>The Playhouse will also showcase a whole host of talent including Tom Ollendorff, Robert Mitchell, Victoria Geelan, and Albuca featuring Phil Robson.<\/p>\n<p>Swing on over to St Columb\u2019s Hall on Friday night for a fabulous show by Saturdays sensation Una Healy with Luke Thomas and the Swingcats. Fly Me to the Moon will pay tribute to some of the most iconic artists from Ella Fitzgerald to Louis Armstrong. On Saturday and Sunday the EY Jazz Lounge will be hosted by local favourite Paul McIntyre with top talents Curtis Efoua Ela, Brian Questa and Phil Robson, as well as special guest vocalist\u00a0Winnie Ama.<\/p>\n<p>There will be beats on the streets with a variety of al fresco acts, bringing the vibrant sound of jazz to the entire city. Check out the fantastic line up all set to get the Craft Village swinging from 11am on Saturday and 12noon on Sunday. Younger performers will also have the chance to show off their talents performing live on the\u00a0Gay McIntyre Stage, showcasing some of the finest jazz talent in the historic Guildhall Square. And don\u2019t forget to catch the DLD Second Line Parade as it weaves its musical magic through the city centre on Saturday morning from 11am.<\/p>\n<p>The City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival is organised and funded by Derry City and Strabane District Council with support from Diageo and EY.<\/p>\n<p>For more information go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cityofderryjazzfestival.com\">www.cityofderryjazzfestival.com<\/a> and for regular updates follow the City of Derry Jazz &amp; Big Band Festival on Facebook, Instagram and X @derryjazzfest.<\/p>\n<div class=\"_linksLayer_x434h_40\"><\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The City of Derry Jazz Festival swings into town once again over the May Bank holiday with a stellar line up of talent all set to celebrate jazz in all its forms. From Thursday 1st May \u2013 Monday 5th May musicians from across the world will descend on the city to mark 24 years of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2025\/05\/derry-gets-set-to-welcome-all-that-jazz-to-the-city\/\">Continued<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23878"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23880,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23878\/revisions\/23880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}