News and Upcoming Events

Happy New Year! Here’s a little update of some the things I’ll be doing musically over the coming year in case any of these might be of interest to you.

(Tom Rainey, Dave Binney, RG, Chris Guilfoyle)

New CD recording!

Just recently I was in New York recording my new CD featuring Chris Guilfoyle and two of NY’s finest musicians - Dave Binney, and Tom Rainey. We recorded at the wonderful Systems Two in Brooklyn and I’m very happy how everything turned out. Everyone played great and it was great to have the opportunity to record some new compositions. I’ll be mixing and mastering it in the coming months and then getting it out – watch this space!

New rhythm teaching video series

I am very excited to say that (at last!), I’m getting around to putting together a new rhythm teaching video series. I published my rhythm book over ten years ago, and it seems that it continues to be of use to musicians, which is something I find very gratifying. This book is very much aimed at jazz musicians and jazz techniques, but while teaching this material over the years, I noticed that there was a real need for some other material, material that covered more basic things like how to develop your time, how to be able to perceive rhythmic relationships etc.

I’ve been promising (threatening?), to put together all this material for several years now, but at last I’m getting around to it. The format for the material will be through a series of videos which will act as a comprehensive rhythm course for any and all levels of musicians, and for people in any genre. I’m happy to be doing this at last, and I will keep you all posted of how it’s coming along and when it will be ready

Upcoming performances and teaching events

I have a variety of things happening on the playing front over the coming months. February 6^th, in JJ Smyths in Dublin, will see the first performance by the Guilfoyle/Nielsen Trio in nearly four years. The GNT was a group that was very important to me, especially regarding the development of my rhythm concept, and over a fifteen year period we really developed something unique. I’m really looking forward to this reunion!

(Counterparts at the Mermaid Arts Centre)

Later in February I’ll be touring in Ireland with Michael Buckley and two great US musicians -  the guitarist Rick Peckham, and drummer Bob Gullotti, while in March I will be performing with two other great American musicians the saxophonist John O Gallagher and the drummer Jeff Williams. In June I will be performing with my ‘Counterparts’ group at the Centre Culturel Irlandaise in Paris, and in July I will be performing in South Africa at the Grahamstown Festival with Pekka Pyllkannen and Nick Smart, and in September I will be touring in Denmark with the wonderful Danish musicians Lars Moeller and Jonas Johansen. This tour will be celebrating the release of our CD ‘Divisions’ which was released last year and which I am very proud to be part of.

There are various other activities in the works for this year, and I will let you know of them as they develop and come to fruition. In the meantime, I hope you will find something in these various events that will interest you – thanks for listening and I hope to meet as many of you as possible in the real world in the upcoming year!