Dublin City Jazz Orchestra – Independence Airs 1917 – 2017

About this event

Limerick Jazz Society presents Independence Airs 1917 – 2017 Featuring the Dublin City Jazz Orchestra and special guest vocalists Suzanne Savage and Charlie Mooney.

“Independence Airs”, featuring the Dublin City Jazz Orchestra and special guest vocalists Suzanne Savage and Charlie Mooney, is a concert of seventeen songs that were performed in 1917 and chosen for this concert with big band arrangements already written and some to be written by Irish arranger David O’Rourke.

Some of these songs were sung by John Count McCormack around this time. David is writing a suite arranged for the DCJO of some of the songs performed by John McCormack.

This repertoire from 1917 will offer a unique experience for both the orchestra and the audience. A repertoire drawn from songs that were popular in the English speaking world, composed and performed by historical artists both International and Irish. While some of these songs are well known, not all of them are, to the younger members of the audience.

Jazz on the Terrace always tries to have a high quality artistic project and each time it looks to have an imaginative curatorial approach. Those who brought this project to fruition are David O’Rourke, big band music arranger, Ciaran Wilde, Dublin City Jazz Orchestra leader, Brendan Doyle, musical director of the DCJO and the members of the orchestra. I have carried out the research into 1917, the time, the songs and the arrangements.

Always seeking new ways to “raise the bar” for the DCJO, I have challenged the DCJO to learn arrangements written for century old songs and to accompany these singers who are also being challenged to interpret the lyrics of a century ago. Almost all of these songs have stood the test of time.

“It has always been an ambition of mine with jazz music to remember the famous early practitioners in this music from almost a century ago to welcoming those who bring new ideas to it”

Allen Smith Jazz On The Terrace