Stage Set for Major Jazz Festival in Bray

A 2002 Grammy Award nominee will head up a star studded cast as this year's third Bray Jazz Festival that takes place on the May Bank Holiday week-end.

The Grammy award-winning Mike Stern

American jazz guitarist, Mike Stern, who was nominated for a Grammy award for his third time at this year's prestigious music awards ceremony, will top the bill at the three day festival.

The Mike Stern band will headline the festival on Saturday night, May 4th while the other week-end bill toppers will be fellow US compatriots The Scott Colley Group, featuring the son of one of jazz music's legends, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and the nine piece latin jazz ensemble, `Nois' led by Brazilian singer Monica Vasconcelos.

Centre-piece concerts at this year's festival will take place in the north Wicklow town's newly build E7 million auditorium, The Wicklow Arts Centre. Concert performances, recitals and pub gigs will take place over the bank holiday week-end at more

Brazil's Monica Vasconcelos leads the 9-piece 'Nois' ensemble

than 16 venues around the town.

First established in the millennium year, Bray Jazz Festival will once again play host to some of the top name musicians working in Ireland and amongst a strong supporting bill over the week-end will be a nine-piece Latin jazz band, Havana Che, Bostonian jazz singer, Marie Tecce and the Jazz Exiles, The Richie Buckley Quartet and the Honor Heffernan Quartet.

You can catch all the finer details of the festival on the festival website www.brayjazz.com.