All-Star show from Paddy

Paddy Cole and his All-Star Band are coming to Glór on Thursday, October 22. For 50 years, Paddy has been touring and has built up a sizeable following throughout Ireland, having been ever present on the scene from the showband era into the 21st century.

While many people associate him with jazz, Paddy says he has always had an open mind and kept eclectic tastes, meaning that there will be a variety of genres on the night.
“I’m not a musical snob,” he jokes. “I wouldn’t like to have a one-track mind, I always try to keep an open mind on music. I love traditional music, for instance. I do a radio programme on Sunday mornings on CountryMix (a Dublin-based station) and I’d play everything from the Kilfenora Céilí band to Deep South blues. People who listen to it say there’s a big cross-section.”
He says that people attending the Glór concert won’t be listening to jazz all night. “At our shows, we’d have a complete mixture. We’d have ’60s music, jazz and popular music from people like Van Morrisson. We try and give a good variety.”
Paddy says that after so long performing, he’s able to think on his feet and tries to respond to what audiences want. “We’d have a concert programme prepared but you have to be able to read the audience too. Depending on the audience, you might have to change a few numbers.”
The love of performing is still undimmed, despite the length of his career. “Oh yeah, I love it. After Ennis we’ll be going to Cork for the jazz festival. I’d still be very enthusiastic and I love the buzz you get from the audience and the communication that you’d have with them.”
It will be Paddy’s first time playing Glór but he has been coming to Ennis for many years. “I’ve been there an awful lot. When I was with the Capitol Showband we used to play at Paddy Con’s (the new hall) and at the Old Ground as well. I’ve been going to Ennis for a long time.
“My wife’s father and mother were from Clare and we always used to go on holidays in Lahinch, so I would have big connections with the county.” Earlier this year, he performed at the Doonbeg Jazz Festival.
Paddy is best known for his mastery of the clarinet and the saxophone and while he sings a bit too, he’s under no illusions about his abilities in that area. “Like I’ve often said, I’m not a good singer and I’ve got the records to prove it!”
The concert is a fundraiser for the Clare and Ennis branch of the Samaritans, Glór’s chosen charity for 2009. They may be purchased from Glór, online at www.glor.ie, or from Heaslips newsagents, O’Connell Street Ennis and Clarecastle Post Office.