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Cork-born pianist John Donegan’s Irish Sextet releases its third album! It’s called “We Will Meet Again, Sometime”!
Family, friends and geographical features have been the inspiration for pianist John Donegan’s compositions over a series of recordings featuring various line-ups and these three touchstones emerge again on Donegan’s latest release with his super-talented Irish group.
“It’s great to be able to write arrangements that you know the players are going to deliver,” says Donegan. “But it’s also great to know that these guys will bring superbly imaginative improvising and add character to the tunes.”
The album title, We Will Meet Again, Sometime, reflects the uncertainty musicians can feel as freelances coming together in bands that by their very nature are not full-time enterprises. “You want things to continue, of course,” says Donegan. “But you can’t be sure that they will and I wrote that piece to express thanks to all the guys and to say, let’s hope we can do this again because this is a great bunch!
Line up:
Steve Waterman - trumpet/flugel
Jamie O'Donnell - alto sax
Riley Stone-Lonergan - tenor & soprano saxes
John Donegan - piano/composer
Paul Jefferies - bass
Matt Fishwick - drums
Rick Bolton - guest on guitar
John Donegan, UK Based and originally from Cork, is a modern jazz pianist and composer. His music has been featured on the BBC, Jazz FM, RTE Lyric FM, and many independent radio stations across Ireland, UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Europe. He has performed with a wide range of UK, Irish and International artists, including, Art Blakey, Art Farmer, Barney Kessel, Greg Abate, Louis Stewart and many more. John had performed in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal and in Birdland in New York. He has also created jazz arrangements of 6 Chopin pieces, 2 John Field pieces and written his own original Nocturnes and these have been performed at The Chopin Festival in London and other venues.
John has released 9 albums in his own name, the most recent three have been with his Irish Sextet. He has received four-star reviews from The Jazz Mann, Jazzwise Magazine, All About Jazz, and many more. They have commented:
“...Donegan and his sextet have delivered a memorable straight-ahead album of vintage calibre”
“...quite stirring in the sheer panache of the solo extemporisations. His compositional flair is well demonstrated and his pianism intriguing yet poised”
“.. ten pieces, all by him and brilliantly performed. Not to be missed.”
“...his writing is varied, intelligent and unfailingly melodic and most importantly of all, it swings!”
Bandcamp: johndonegan.bandcamp.com
Video 1 (“We Will Meet Again, Sometime”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfed3wkPcVg
