City of Derry Jazz Festival 2024

SPOTLIGHT ON JAZZ
Julian Siegel
Julian is an in-demand saxophonist on
the UK and European Jazz scene who
has worked with many of the top figures
in music. He was awarded the 2007 BBC
Jazz Award for Best Instrumentalist and
is currently touring with the Julian Siegel
Quartet, featuring pianist Liam Noble,
bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer Gene
Calderazzo. The Quartet’s first CD ‘Urban
Theme Park’ was awarded the 2011 London
Jazz Award and in February 2018 the
Quartet released their new album ‘VISTA’
on Whirlwind Recordings. Since the
release of ‘VISTA’, the band has performed
internationally at festivals including Inntöne
Jazz Festival in Austria, Made in The UK at
the Rochester International Jazz Festival,
NY, Jazz Standard NYC, JazzFestival
Göttingen, Germany, Limerick Jazz Festival
Ireland, UK’s Love Supreme Festival,
Bristol and Manchester International Jazz
Festivals and an extensive 2018/19 Arts
Council England UK Tour.
The John Donegan Sextet
UK based, but originally from Cork, John
is a modern jazz pianist and composer. His
music has been featured on the BBC, Jazz
FM, RTE and independent radio stations in
the UK and Ireland. He has performed with
International artists such as Art Blakey, Art
Farmer, Barney Kessel, Greg Abate, Louis
Stewart and many more. John’s major
influences are Bill Evans, Kenny Barron,
Chic Corea and Keith Jarrett and he has
performed in France, Spain and Portugal
and at Birdland in New York. His 2019
album, ‘A Kite for Kate’ was dedicated to
his youngest daughter and comprised of
totally original pieces has already been
featured on RTE, BBC, K 107FM and other
independent radio stations. A 4* review
from ‘The Jazz Mann’ says “an impressive
offering in which he demonstrates his
command of a variety of styles, as both
pianist and composer. As a writer, he also
demonstrates an unfailing gift for melody.”
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