John Donegan – The Irish Sextet

“We Will Meet Again, Sometime”

(Jayde Records)

John Donegan- piano, composer, Michael Buckley – alto & soprano saxophones, flute, Richie Buckley – tenor saxophone, Linley Hamilton – trumpet, flugelhorn, Dan Bodwell – double bass, John Daly – drums
with guest High Buckley – guitar

JOHN DONEGAN BIOGRAPHY

Born in Cork John Donegan is an Irish jazz pianist and composer now based in Hertfordshire. He has become a prominent figure on the UK jazz scene as well as maintaining links with his native Ireland.

I first became aware of his playing in 2020 when I gave a favourable review to his album “A Kite For Kate” recorded with an Anglo-Irish sextet with a similar instrumental configuration to the above.
Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/the-john-donegan-sextet-a-kite-for-kate

Donegan spent periods living in Dublin and Bristol and played on the jazz scene in both cities, the years in Bristol representing a particularly productive time for him.
British and Irish jazz artists with whom Donegan has worked include trumpeters Bruce Adams and Steve Waterman, vocalist Christine Tobin, guitarists Louis Stewart and Nigel Price,  bassists Arnie Somogyi and Jeff Clyne and drummer Clark Tracey.

International artists with whom he has performed include such big names as drummer Art Blakey, who once sat in with Donegan’s trio at Cork Jazz Festival, trumpeter Art Farmer, guitarist Barney Kessel and saxophonist Greg Abate.

Donegan names his main pianistic influences as being Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Hampton Hawes, Bud Powell, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and Kenny Barron. As this list might suggest Donegan’s music is a kind of modern mainstream with the emphasis on original composition. One suspects that the sound of the Blue Note label also represents a significant source of inspiration.

As a composer Donegan has frequently been inspired by the members of his own family and several of his releases have been dedicated to family members, beginning with his 2009 début “Song for Ciara”, which was dedicated to his eldest daughter. This featured a mix of standards and originals and was recorded in a variety of instrumental formats with a pool of Bristol based musicians.

“Amarie”, dedicated to the pianist’s wife Marie, was also recorded while Donegan was still living in Bristol and follows a similar format to his début.

“Jen’s Progress”,  released in 2016, was dedicated to Donegan’s second daughter and was a solo piano album comprised entirely of original material.

A prolific composer Donegan has written a suite consisting of twenty one short pieces that combine elements of jazz and Irish traditional music. This work has been released on two separate CDs “Siamsa, Volumes One and Two”. The recordings include solo, duo and trio performances with contributions coming from Tommaso Starace on saxophones and Donegan’s daughter Catherine (or Kate) on vocals. The later “A Kite for Kate” was dedicated to her. A third volume of Siamsa is planned and will include the “Elegy Suite”, written to commemorate all those who lost their lives during the pandemic.

Another ongoing project is a series of arrangements of Chopin piano pieces for jazz quartet. Five pieces were performed at the 2022 Chopin Festival at Jazz Cafe POSK in London in 2022 and a further five at Burford Jazz Club in 2023. Donegan hopes to be able to record the project in due course.

“A Kite for Kate” was Donegan’s sixth album as a leader and sowed the seeds for this current project.  When Donegan was touring the music In Ireland in February 2020, just before the pandemic, plans were made to form a new all Irish sextet.

The resultant band features some of the cream of Irish jazz musicians. Saxophonists Michael and Richie Buckley are the sons of Dick Buckley, with whom Donegan once played on the Dublin jazz scene. Trumpeter Linley Hamilton is a bandleader and composer in his own right and also a respected jazz broadcaster. Donegan is keen to emphasise that the members of the sextet come from all corners of Ireland, himself from Cork, the Buckleys from Dublin, Hamilton from Ulster, Bodwell from Galway and Daly from Limerick.

Lockdown was a creative and productive time for Donegan that saw him composing twenty new pieces for eventual performance by the Irish sextet over the course of two albums.

The First of these,“Shadows Linger”,  was recorded in Dublin in April 2022 with Donegan’s regular producer Bernard O’Neill at the controls. It featured ten new compositions from the prolific Donegan, some of them again dedicated to family members. My review of that album, from which the above biographical details have been sourced, can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/john-donegan-the-irish-sextet-shadows-linger

Released in October 2023 “Light Streams” presented Donegan’s other ten lockdown compositions. Featuring the same personnel that made “Shadows Linger” this new music was recorded in April 2023 at Dublin’s Camden Studios with Bernard O’Neill again acting as producer. Several of the compositions were again inspired by members of Donegan’s family and although    he wasn’t actually present at the recording session bass guitarist Ronan Guilfoyle added perceptive liner notes that offered pertinent insights into the other inspirations behind the music.

My review of “Light Streams”, from which the above biography has largely been sourced, can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/light-streams

WE WILL MEET AGAIN, SOMETIME

Released on Donegan’s own Jayde Records imprint “We Will Meet Again, Sometime” represents a continuation of the two previous Irish Sextet recordings, but also breaks exciting new ground. The core personnel remains the same but some of the pieces also feature the guitar playing of Hugh Buckley, a cousin of the saxophonist brothers Richie and Michael. For the first time there are also two solo piano performances, these included at the suggestion of album producer Bernard O’Neill.
Ronan Guilfoyle again provides the insightful liner notes.

All twelve tracks are Donegan originals and the album commences with “Blues For A Few Bucks”, a title that acknowledges the presence of all three members of the Buckley jazz dynasty on this tune, the first time that Michael, Richie and Hugh have actually recorded together. Although he puts a very personal and individual slant on it Donegan’s music is rooted in the American bebop / hard bop tradition and this piece is no exception and represents a bluesy, uplifting album opener with a strong melodic hook that provides the opportunity for vibrant and colourful ensemble playing and fluent and expansive soloing from Richie Buckley on tenor, Hugh Buckley on guitar, Hamilton on trumpet, Donegan at the piano and Michael Buckley on alto

Hugh Buckley’s guitar also features on “Like One Moment”, an elegant performance featuring the Brazilian Baion rhythm that sees Donovan and Buckley trading solos in addition to a further series of guitar and piano exchanges. Much of the tune is played in a trio or quartet format with the horns being used sparingly to provide both colour and punctuation. A word too for the flexible and versatile rhythm section of Bodwell and Daly, the latter gravitating between brushes and sticks as the music requires.

“I’m Just Nearby” is a delightful jazz waltz performed in an an unusual quartet configuration with the leader’s flowingly lyrical piano teamed with Michael Buckley’s softly mellifluous flute. Bodwell and Daly provide unobtrusive and sympathetic rhythmic support, with the drummer this time deploying brushes throughout.

The gentle mood continues through the solo piano piece “By The Waters of Glencar”, a homage to Donegan’s Irish roots and named for the Glencar Waterfall in County Leitrim. It’s a reflective piece that features folk inspired melodies, while Donegan’s crystalline piano playing exudes beauty and exhibits something of a timeless quality.

“Rendezvous” picks up the pace again and features the full sextet. It moves through a number of time signature changes and at times reveals something of a Latin influence. It includes succinct solos from Donegan on piano, both of the sax playing Buckley brothers, Linley on trumpet and the impressive Bodwell on double bass.

The name of title track perhaps harks back to the lockdown period, but it also references jazz’s sense of tradition and community. It’s a gospel tinged ballad that features the sounds of the composer’s piano and Richie Buckley’s warm, deep and soulful tenor sax. Donegan also functions as a soloist, as does Bodwell with a delightfully spacious and melodic double bass feature. Daly provides understated brushed rhythmic support as the rest of the ensemble sit out.

“Edgy Moments” is as vibrant and energetic as its title might suggests and features the full sextet. Colourful horn arrangements combine with shifting rhythms and Donegan delivers a thrillingly percussive piano solo, followed by Hamilton on brightly toned trumpet and Richie Buckley on tenor sax.

The second solo piano piece is “La Vita E Bella”, a spontaneous improvisation played over a beautiful harmonic framework. Like its companion piece “By The Waters of Glencar” it’s a lyrical and reflective piece with a title subsequently bestowed upon it by the album’s Italian recording engineer Alessandro Di Camillo.

Unaccompanied piano also introduces “Round & About”, a more rumbustious offering rooted in the blues and bebop and loosely inspired by the Charlie Parker composition “Confirmation”. The full sextet comes back into play, sounding bright and vivacious on both the ensemble sections and the individual solos. These are led off by Hamilton on trumpet, followed by Richie Buckley on tenor and Michael on alto. The three horns then enter into a series of vigorous exchanges with drummer Daly.

“A Ballad For Louis” is dedicated to the memory of the late guitarist, composer and bandleader Louis Stewart (1944-2016), an acknowledged great of Irish jazz and a mentor and good friend to Donegan. All of the musicians on this album had worked with Stewart at one time or another and he remains a hugely influential figure in Irish jazz circles. It’s appropriate that this ballad, a truly heartfelt tribute, should feature the full sextet, plus guest guitarist Hugh Buckley, who emerges from an introductory horn chorale as the first featured instrumental soloist. His elegant solo is shadowed by piano, bass and brushed drums, before his cousins, Michael and Richie,  take over on alto and tenor respectively. Leader Donegan then pays his own brief, but lyrical, personal tribute at the piano.

“Little Miss Cleo” was written for one of Donegan’s grand daughters and is a bossa style piece that features the fluent trumpet soloing of Linley Hamilton, who was recently awarded an MBE in the 2025 New Year’s Honours list for services to the Music Industry in Northern Ireland. In addition to his work as a musician and composer Hamilton is also a prolific broadcaster, educator and all round facilitator. A relaxed and joyous sextet performance also includes sax solos from both Buckley brothers, each of whom playfully slides in a quote from “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise”. Donegan features too, with a sprightly piano solo towards the close.

The album concludes with “Quick Now”, a final excursion into blues and bebop / hard bop territory with its colourful and stirring ensemble passages and bright and incisive solo. Delivered at a suitably rapid clip it features solos from all three Buckleys plus Donegan at the piano and Hamilton on trumpet.

“We Will Meet Again, Sometime” represents a worthy follow up to this sextet’s two previous albums and adds something a little bit extra thanks to the addition of Hugh Buckley plus the inclusion of two solo piano pieces. Although unified in terms of aesthetics and overall feel the well sequenced programme is also admirably diverse and embraces a wide variety of jazz styles and instrumental formats. Donegan’s writing is intelligent, accessible and sophisticated, a rare and impressive combination, and the standard of the playing from all the musicians involved is excellent throughout. The players are also well served by engineer Di Camillo and producer O’Neill, who again ensures that all of the players are heard at their best. It’s another impressive piece of work from the prolific and consistently creative Donegan, a jazz talent surely worthy of far greater public recognition.

The album may honour the jazz tradition but as Guilfoyle observes after the release of three high quality albums Donegan and the Irish Sextet are beginning to create a bit of a tradition of their own.

 

 

 

 

blog comments powered by Disqus