Ronan Guilfoyle

Ronan Guilfoyle is a major figure on the Irish jazz scene with an international reputation as a performer, teacher and composer. He began his career in the early 1980’s with Louis Stewart, then studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts with guitarist John Abercrombie, bassist Dave Holland, and saxophonist Steve Coleman. Ronan is one of the acoustic bass guitar’s leading exponents, and is in demand as a jazz bassist, both in Ireland and internationally. He has performed with saxophonists Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Benny Golson, and Sonny Fortune, pianists Kenny Werner, Brad Mehldau, Jim McNeely, and Richie Beirach, guitarists John Abercrombie, Larry Coryell and Emily Remler, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and drummers Tom Rainey and Keith Copeland. He has led his own groups since the mid-1980s, and has toured widely in Europe, Asia, and North America. He has recorded extensively both as a sideman and as a leader, including the award winning "Devsirme" in 1997, for which he won a Julius Hemphill Jazz Composition award. Ronan composes for classical ensembles too, specialising in compositions featuring both improvised and written music. His large body of work ranges from solo piano to chamber works, to orchestral compositions. He has had commissions from ensembles and organisations ranging from the RTE Concert Orchestra, The Opus 20 String Orchestra in London, and the European Jazz Youth Orchestra. He has written commissioned works for many soloists including saxophonist Dave Liebman, violinist Michael d'Arcy and virtuoso accordionist Dermot Dunne. A formidable jazz composer, his music has been performed by jazz luminaries like Dave Liebman, Kenny Werner, Kenny Wheeler, Keith Copeland, John Abercrombie, Andy Laster, Simon Nabatov, Richie Beirach, Tom Rainey, Julian Arguelles, Rick Peckham, and Sonny Fortune. He is well known for the teaching advanced rhythmic techniques for jazz improvisation and his book, "Creative Rhythmic Concepts for Jazz Improvisation" is seen as the standard text for this. He has taught at many schools including Berklee College of Music, The New School, the International Music Congress (UNESCO) in Copenhagen and is an associate Artist of the Royal Academy of Music in London. Ronan founded the jazz department at Newpark Music Centre in Dublin before it transferred to Dublin City University as a BA in Jazz performance, for which he is the course director.

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