Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Entertainment
Peter McGoran

New east Belfast jazz club bringing life to the east of the city

Scott's Jazz Club in East Belfast has been on a 20-year mission to bring the music to a wider audience and introduce some of Northern Ireland's finest exponents of the genre to the general public.

The venue was partly formed by Scott Flanigan, a local musician who wanted to share his passion for jazz.

Scott explained how he was first contacted by Cormac O'Kane, who encouraged him to start up something that would showcase the talent in the city.

Scott told us: "I was approached by Cormac, who does a lot work in a whole range of venues. He'd done a lot of work in Ballyhackamore Working Men's Club, at the top of the Sandown Road. It has a lovely, lovely room at the top.

"Cormac is a big jazz fan and knows how much talent is undiscovered here, so he approached me and asked if I wanted to set up a jazz club. We had it so that he'd deal with the venue and I'd work on finding the right music, and we'd both of us together focus on bringing in the audience."

The club joins the likes of the well-established Berts Jazz Bar, in the city centre, in showcasing how the demand for this type of music is growing in Belfast. Scott said that there's more talent in Northern Ireland than people might realise and this club is a chance to highlight it.

He added: "The focus is on the music and it's about bringing great music to local audiences so that they can really hear what's happening in Irish jazz. People have been loving it week after week."

He added there's been a real appetite for it in the city.

Scott said: "I think there's a real thirst for jazz in Belfast. People here really do like the music and there hasn't been a dedicated place for people to experience jazz, in Belfast, in the last number of years which is a real shame. But people have really responded to it."

He also added people might have a certain preconception about jazz music - that it's lofty or snobby or pretentious - but that experiencing it in the flesh is very different.

He added: "Jazz music is actually very accessible. When you give it a chance, it's not actually horrendously complex music, it's not people sitting around stroking their beards. It's not a negative thing - it's lively.

"We've had people who've come along, who would never normally describe themselves as jazz fans, but they've come along because they feel the energy and they see the passion from the musicians. If you go along and let the music wash over you and enjoy the ride, you'll be happy here."

Scott said that the jazz club has allowed him to work with some of the great music talent in Northern Ireland.

"I'd have to mention Cormac O'Kane, Colin Harper and Karen Smyth, who were all involved in the creation of the club. Then I'd also mention that the jazz scene in Northern Ireland is very strong.

"There's a handful of jazz players around Belfast, and there's a jazz scene up in Derry. It's developing. You have the likes of Linley Hamilton, a trumpet player who specialises in jazz and who teaches up in Magee College.

"There's lots to discover out there, and what I want this club to be is a celebration of all the jazz musicians from Belfast, some of whom have been working away in this part of the world for years, decades."

Find out more about Scott's Jazz Club here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.