Musicians Newsletter                

COMMUNITY
Award Recipients announced for the BAN BAM Commission & Development Award

COMMUNITY
Jazz Connector - November Zoom Discussion "Understanding IMRO (The Irish Music Rights Organisation)"

Continuing our Jazz Connector online meet-ups, IMC would like to invite all the communities of people who make up the jazz world in Ireland - musicians, promoters, educators and venues - to come together for an informal Zoom meet-up on Thursday November 5th from 1:30 - 3:00PM to discuss:
 

Understanding IMRO (The Irish Music Rights Organisation) - What it is, how to become a member and what it can do to help artists progress and sustain their musical careers.

We’ll be joined by David Wilkinson who is the Member Relations Manager in IMRO.

The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) is a national organisation that administers the performing right in copyright music in Ireland on behalf of its members (who are songwriters, composers and music publishers) and on behalf of the songwriters, composers and music publishers of the international overseas societies that are affiliated to it. At present IMRO has approximately 14,500 songwriter, composer and music publisher members.

In advocating and campaigning for Irish music creators, IMRO plays an essential role in the Irish music industry as well as for the exportation of Irish culture globally. We’ll chat all about the other work that IMRO does and the best practices artists can apply to fully reap the benefits of any copyrighted material they perform.

Join us at this ZOOM link on Thursday November 5th at 1:30PM
Meeting ID: 878 9574 0711
Passcode: 479454

Please register your interest below to attend. You can also let us know if there are any particular topics that you would like us to cover in this or future discussions. Places are limited so be sure to let us know if you’d like to join in!

If you missed out on any of our previous meetups, you can read all of the talking points that were discussed here.

COMMUNITY
The Fund for Phil - Call for Donations

Phil Ware is one of Ireland’s leading jazz musicians, a renowned pianist and an inspirational teacher, whose playing credits include some of Ireland’s - and the world’s - greatest musicians including Louis Stewart, Peter Bernstein, Perico Sambeat, Bobbie Wellins and Ian Shaw.

In June 2020, Phil suffered a major stroke due to a ruptured aneurism which has left him severely disabled and facing a long and expensive period of rehabilitation. The Fund for Phil is an official fund-raising campaign, endorsed by Phil’s family and closest friends, set up to support his ongoing recovery and governed by an independent board of trustees.

All monies raised by the fund will go directly to cover costs associated with Phil’s medical care and on-going rehabilitation, as determined by the board of trustees, which is made up of distinguished figures from the worlds of medicine, finance and music in Ireland. The members of the board of trustees are Honor Heffernan (musician); Kevin Brady (musician); Gaby Smyth (financial adviser); Dr. Colin Doherty (consultant neurologist); and Cormac Larkin (journalist).

Launching the Fund for Phil, his close friend and confidante Honor Heffernan, one of Ireland’s leading jazz vocalists, said “Phil brought so much joy and light into the world with his playing. Now in his darkest hour, he needs our help. I know times are tough for everyone, but Phil is going through a life-changing illness and I hope his friends, and his fans, will dig deep to support his recovery.”

Speaking from her home in the England, Phil’s half-sister Alison Cooke said “I am so touched and extremely grateful, that Phil has such wonderful friends in Ireland. He has made a great career and home for himself in Dublin and I really appreciate that his friends, there and elswhere, are rallying around to help him through this tragic ordeal. I am hopeful that with the right support, Phil will continue to progress.”

All donations to the Fund for Phil should be made here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-fund-for-phil

COMMUNITY
New Album listings and Live Stream Concerts

We are so grateful that Ireland's unbelievable jazz and improvising musicians are still turning out some amazing ONLINE concerts to liven our lockdowns! Be sure to tune in, support each other and have some fun.

There's also loads of new albums recently and soon to be released over on our Albums Not Listings page. 

Got a project you'd like us to promote? Just get in touch!

RESOURCE
Giving the gift of Music for Christmas - Open Call Out to Musicians

Halloween isn't even over yet, but with everyone stuck at home holiday shopping online is in full swing. As we’re approaching Christmas (and other seasonal holidays which involve gift-giving), a lot of people are wondering how they can give friends and family members a gift of music this year. Live concerts are difficult to plan, but people may still want to #buyirish, support Irish music and musicians and bring some vibrant new music into someone’s life.

So, Musicians of Ireland, we’re asking you if you have any options for Christmas gifts in your merchandise, patronage, or other platforms? We’d like to share these opportunities with our audiences all through this winter, so please let us know if you have any ideas!

We’ve gathered some ideas at the link below, but we’d love to see any creative ideas you might have. Please email us on admin[at]improvisedmusic[dot]ie if you’d like to add some Christmas gifts to our listings!

QUICK-SHOT NEWS & LINKS
Upcoming Funding Deadlines, Job Opportunities & Industry News

• The Contemporary Music Centre (CMC) present free CPD Online Events: A series of CMC Continuing Professional Development (CPD) events throughout November 2020

• Job Opportunity: Musician Educator: Music Generation Kilkenny wishes to recruit and place on a panel suitably qualified and experienced part-time Musician Educators.
  DEADLINE November 4th 12:00PM
   
• Arts Council Professional Development Award: The purpose of the Professional Development Award is to support practicing artists and arts practitioners to upskill through access to a professional development or training opportunity. Applicants can propose a specific once-off training or developmental opportunity. This can be accessed digitally or in person, in-line with COVID-19 guidelines.
  DEADLINE November 19th 17:30PM
   
• DCC Arts Grants and Bursary Awards 2021: Dublin City Arts Office have a wide range of funding available and are now accepting applications.
  DEADLINE November 16th 12:00PM

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Jazz trio Origin Story (formerly F-JoB) release debut album 'Good Friday'

As individual artists, the three members of the Dublin based jazz trio Origin Story have been at the forefront of many artistically and commercially successful projects in creative Irish music over the last 20 years. Formerly known as F-JoB, the trio kicked off the autumn 2019 run of IMC’s flagship Signal Series, and at the time they chatted to us about their music and stylistic approach for our ‘Other Side of the Tracks’ series.

Pianist Greg Felton, bassist Cormac O’Brien and drummer Matthew Jacobson began writing and performing as a trio in 2016, after many years of collaboration and friendship.

Felton, Jacobson & O’Brien quickly garnered national acclaim, with The Irish Times proclaiming them "one of the freshest voices in Irish jazz and a must-hear for anyone who wants to know where the piano trio is headed in the 21st century."

In 2018 they recorded and mixed their debut album, featuring original compositions from all three members, at The Meadow in Co. Wicklow with Rian Trench. The resulting record embodied the group’s founding in the jazz tradition, their interest in groove, their affection for free improvisation, as well as their propensity for provocative rhythms. Influences for this record included Ornette Coleman, Craig Taborn, and Deerhoof.

Origin Story independently released their debut album, ‘Good Friday’, on October 15th. You can purchase the album digitally or on CD from their Bandcamp.

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