Gareth Lockrane Octet

Sligo Jazz Festival 2026 Season Ticket - €150. All 7 Hawks Well Theatre shows. One unmissable week of world-class jazz. To purchase, call Hawk's Well Theatre Box Office: 071 916 1518

Gareth Lockrane — Flutes
Freddie Hendrix — Trumpet
Paul Dunlea — Trombone
Cathal Roche — Tenor Sax
Micheal Murray — Alto Sax
Sun-Mi Hong — Drums
Conor Murray — Bass
Scott Flanigan — Piano
Paul Clarvis — Percussion

One of the UK's most celebrated jazz musicians, Gareth Lockrane is a bandleader, composer and widely regarded as one of the finest jazz flautists working today. His flute soars across movie soundtracks — including Netflix's The Laundromat — and has graced recordings and stages alongside artists as stylistically diverse as Quincy Jones, Lianne La Havas, Seal, Corinne Bailey Rae, Emma Rawicz, Bokani Dyer and Natalie Williams.

For Sligo Jazz Project 2026, Lockrane assembles a stunning nonet — nine musicians drawn from the front ranks of British, American and Irish jazz. Freddie Hendrix brings a New York trumpet voice of rare power and beauty; SJP Young Artist in Residence Sun-Mi Hong is one of the most in-demand drummers on the European scene; Scott Flanigan is a Belfast-born pianist of international standing; and percussionist Paul Clarvis is among the most versatile and sought-after players in the UK. Alongside them, Paul Dunlea, Cathal Roche, Micheal Murray and Conor Murray round out an ensemble that is, quite simply, exceptional.

This is large-ensemble jazz at its most adventurous — rich in texture, alive with colour, and built around one of the instrument's true masters.