Paddy

The City of Derry jazz festival started back in 2002, which was really exciting for me because at that time my greatest passion was playing trumpet in a jazz band. Since then it has just grown and grown, and is now an amazing 4 days of music. If you ever fancy visiting Derry, then the May bank holiday weekend is the time to do it!

I haven't been to the festival for a few years, but yesterday I looked up the schedule and took a real notion to come down to see a couple of bands. I messaged a journalist friend who I knew would be there to review some acts and made plans to drive the 2 1/2 hours from my shoot location this afternoon to meet him.

I caught a little bit of a local trumpeter Linley Hamilton, then saw an amazing performance by the Neil Cowley Trio, which totally blew me away. But the real reason I came to Derry today was these guys, Les Swingin' Lovers! They are a jazz band based in Paris, and I first saw them perform at a wedding I was shooting back in December of last year - they are absolutely amazing. The lead singer is a guy called Paddy Sherlock, and he is pretty much the perfect frontman - he's Irish, he's handsome, he has a great singing voice, he plays trombone like a dream, he sings in French (ooh la la) and he flirts with pretty much every woman on the dancefloor (and the dancefloor is always filled with women!). Seriously, this guy can flirt. Here he is in action :)