Theo Bleckmann 'club set'

About this event

The Sofa Sessions, in association with Kilkenny Arts Festival, presents Theo Bleckmann & Oxygen Thief

10pm - 12pm / €20

“a virtuosic voice-artist along the intersections of pop music and performance, jazz and improvisation, new music and film score”

Die Zeit

Theo Bleckmann - voice

Chris Guilfoyle - guitar

Barry Donohue - bass

Matthew Jacobson - drums

In partnership with Kilkenny Arts Festival, the Sofa Sessions is proud to present one of the most acclaimed vocalists of contemporary jazz, Theo Blackmann. The Berlin-born New York singer arrives in Kilkenny to perform with Superumbra, guitarist Chris Guilfoyle’s 8-piece ensemble, in a gala performance at the Set Theatre on Wednesday 15th August as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival programme. And while he’s in town, he will also play this very special Sofa Session with Guilfoyle’s trio. This is an opportunity to catch one of the most talked-about singers on the New York scene, up close in the magical back room at Billy Byrne’s bar.

About Theo Bleckmann

“a composer and vocalist with a remarkable array of extended techniques and sound effects at his disposal”

New York Times

“a virtuosic voice-artist along the intersections of pop music and performance, jazz and improvisation, new music and film score”

Die Zeit

“a gifted singer (and twister) of songs, his voice flexible and rich, his phrasing sensitive and clear”

Downbeat

GRAMMY® nominated jazz singer and new music composer Theo Bleckmann’s diverse recorded work includes albums of Las Vegas standards, Weimar art songs, and popular “bar songs” (all with pianist Fumio Yasuda); a recording of newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody); and his acclaimed "Hello Earth - the Music of Kate Bush."

Bleckmann has most recently appeared as a special guest on recordings by Ambrose Akinmusire for Blue Note Records and Julia Hülsmann’s trio for ECM Records. In January 2017, ECM released Bleckmann’s recording with his new Elegy Quintet, produced by legendary label head and founder, Manfred Eicher. Bleckmann has collaborated with musicians, artists, actors and composers, including Ambrose Akinmusire, Laurie Anderson, Uri Caine, Philip Glass, Ann Hamilton, John Hollenbeck, Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, David Lang, Kirk Nurock, Frances MacDormand, Ben Monder, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kenny Wheeler, John Zorn, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and, most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member for over fifteen years.�

He has been interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air and appeared on the David Letterman show with Laurie Anderson. In 2015, Bleckmann premiered a new work for the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and in 2016 he brings new work to the New York Philharmonic Biennial and the LA Philharmonic. Bleckmann has consistently appeared in the top-five spots in the DownBeat Critics’ Polls for Best Male Vocalist, and top-ten spots in their Readers’ Polls, and his work on Phil Kline’s “Out Cold” helped place that production on WQXR's Operavore "Best Opera of 2012". In 2010, Bleckmann received the prestigious JAZZ ECHO award from the Deutsche Phono-Akademie in his native Germany.

About Chris Guilfoyle

Chris Guilfoyle is one of the leading lights of a new generation of Irish jazz musicians. He grew up in a musical family where his father Ronan Guilfoyle and uncle Conor Guilfoyle are household names in the Irish jazz scene. He has studied at Berklee College of Music - where he was awarded a scholarship from Fender Guitars and the Jazz and Improvised Music Salzburg conference in Austria. Chris was also selected to represent his college at the International Association of Schools of Jazz in The Netherlands in July 2010.

In August 2011, Chris was accepted to study at Dave Liebman’s Chromatic Harmony Workshop in Stroudsburg Pennsylvania, USA. Since graduating, Chris has been actively performing in the Dublin music scene as well as abroad. In November 2011 he performed in Paris with Ronan Guilfoyle’s Lingua Franca as part of the Festival Jazzy Colours; in October 2011 he performed on a 3 day tour of Ireland with Dave Liebman, Ronan Guilfoyle and Finnish drummer Jussi Lehtonen; In March 2011 he performed with the great drummer Ralph Peterson in Dublin and in February 2011 he played with Greek pianist/organist George Contrafouris at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

Chris also leads his own group Umbra, a quintet featuring some of the most promising musicians in the country who play all original compositions and Oxygen Thief, a new project aiming to expand the vocabulary of the jazz guitar trio. He also plays as a sideman in 3G (Ronan Guilfoyle, Conor Guilfoyle, Chris Guilfoyle), Kevin Higgins’ Nature, Aleka and The Long Way Around. Chris also produces electronic music under the name Exit Introvert. Currently, Chris is part of the guitar and ensemble faculty of DCU’s jazz performance degree where he teaches 1st, 2nd and 3rd year guitar as well as 2nd and 3rd year ensembles.