Jazz spot for our own top class projective
projective are performing at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival in the Everyman on October 29.
projective (small p!) are a bunch of young Cork musicians and artists who have already collaborated individually with artists such as Salamay, Sal, Neubrí , Negro Impacto, and many others. They recently played their own debut gig at the Green Room in Cork Opera House, to a sold-out crowd. They are a talented seven-piece who are crafting original neo-soul/r&b/jazz and hip-hop and I’m looking forward to seeing them at the jazz festival. Ciara Stacey, Diamond Nzekwe, Leanne Curtin, Daniel Brazil, Abdul Saidi, Michael Riordan, and Cian Harris make up the group and I chatted to them briefly ahead of their Everyman show.
They told me that after playing together for a number of years with the various groups mentioned they came together for a “music college recital last summer” in this combination. “We felt it would be a missed opportunity to not continue collaborating. Recently we’ve worked with Chamomile Club, Niall McCabe, DeCarteret, Negro Impacto, Lloyd John, Discovery Choir, Neubrí, and we are really excited to be playing the Everyman Theatre on October 29th.”
I saw various members of projective play different shows this year and was particularly impressed with their Saidi Sessions gig in Cyprus Avenue, which found the band doing covers of tracks by the likes of Lauryn Hill, Beyonce, and Daniel Caesar. The musicianship, arrangements, and vocals are top class so it will be interesting to hear the original music which they promise “is on the way. We can’t tell you too much at the moment but we are very excited for the future of projective”. Asked about their favourites from Ireland now they tell me they are “obviously very excited about the whole scene in Ireland thriving right now. There’s a new record just out by Aby Coulibaly we recommend checking out”, referring to her excellent nine-track debut EP At the end of the day... it’s night.
So it’s exciting times for projective and they will be joined on stage at the Everyman by two more of Ireland’s best up and coming talents. Qbanaa is a Dublin-based soul artist with roots in Cuba and she’s going to be joined on the same bill by another exciting newcomer from Cork, Sam Healy. I gave Sam his first gig a couple of years ago in Fitzgerald’s Park and I was also delighted to welcome him to my This is the New School show in Test Site last year. He is a multi-instrumentalist who’s still only 18, and he’s already mixing and producing music for not only himself but also for others, and he’s another Cork artist who has been collaborating heavily with others both here and elsewhere. He will be joined on stage by a five-piece band at the Everyman.
Both Sam and projective are part of a new school of Cork artists who are marrying classic soul sensibilities with a newer outlook. AbbieLee is another who I have been trying to platform and I recently supplied her with a beat for her debut single ‘Circles’, which is out now on all platforms. It’s a simple bass heavy groove but it’s all about the vocals of AbbieLee, who has got that effortless and natural vibe that Amy Winehouse and Holly Cook also had/have in spades. She performs with a tidy three-piece at the Bru bar and they will also be at St Luke’s Wine Tavern this Jazz weekend. Watch out for AbbieLee, the future is very bright for her.
Alicia Olaniran is another singer from the soul and jazz side who has been developing her style in recent years. She’s equipped with a new band and will be playing the Shelbourne at the Jazz weekend. Alicia is writing original music too and is one of many wonderful new talents in Cork who has the potential to have a fantastic music career. Catch many of them our our doorstep next weekend.
