Sheryl Bailey Quartet / SUP Trio + Strings Featuring Cormac McCarthy

About this event

Cork Jazz Festival Double Bill

SHERYL BAILEY QUARTET

There’s no description more apt for New York star Sheryl Bailey than “A sizzling guitar goddess”, coined by Elliot Simon of All About Jazz.

Sheryl’s playing is unquestionably “sizzling”. She has an incredible guitar technique and impeccable musical taste. It’s said that she can “go from zero to blazing in two beats”, but she is continually praised for never sacrificing melody and lyricism.

She attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and was a prize winner in the Thelonius Monk International Jazz Guitar competition. Sheryl has also been a Jazz Ambassador for the U.S. State Department on a South American tour.

Sherly has performed and recorded with top names all over the globe including Richard Bona, George Garzone, Ingrid Jensen, Dwayne Burno, and Ken Peplowski.

To date, she has recorded eight CDs and a DVD, and has been an Artist in Residence and a Clinician at countless other programs and institutions in the USA, including NYU, Bates College, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Towson University, and the LA Music Academy.

SUP TRIO + STRINGS FEATURING CORMAC MCCARTHY

Cormac McCarthy – piano, Eoin Walsh – bass, Davie Ryan – drums, Lucia McPartlin – strings, Maria Ryan – strings

This is the latest innovative contemporary jazz group led by Cormac McCarthy, the renowned composer, arranger and pianist from Cork. The Trio successfully represented Ireland at the recent Euroradio Jazz event in Amsterdam.

Cormac began studying piano aged four, and soon discovered the joy of composition. He has gone on to perform and compose in a wide range of musical genres; from classical to jazz to Irish traditional music. In 2010 Cormac received the prestigious Bill Whelan International Music Bursary, an award earmarked for young Irish composers studying abroad. He spent a number of years living in Chicago, where he completed a Masters in Jazz Studies at DePaul University.

His compositions and arrangements have been recorded by such jazz icons as Phil Woods and Jeff Hamilton. As a pianist, he has performed extensively at concert venues, clubs and festivals throughout Europe and the US, recording and performing with artists across numerous genres, including Peter Washington, Billy Drummond, Liz Carroll, Tony Miceli, Padraig Rynne, and Stan Sulzmann. Cormac’s recent project, Cottage Evolution centred on music written for a 12-piece ensemble, and featured musicians from an interesting and diverse blend of musical backgrounds.

With his new Sup Trio project, Cormac continues to explore the many facets of jazz and other disciplines working with an ensemble comprised of top rank musicians based in Cork City.