MARCO PETRASSI
Marco Petrassi has a great reputation as a trumpet player and has commanded respect among his peers in the industry. He has wonderful stamina and will play for hours, without a rest.
He also performs with smaller groups and has entertained weddings and corporate events world-wide with his wit and sense of fun.
His Italian father started Marco off playing the mandolin, which didn t last very long. He went on to become a session accordion player and a drummer, but fell in love with Harry James and decided to learn the trumpet aged16.
Band leader, Marco s been blowing his heart out ever since and says that the Cork City Jazz band are one of the best Dixie bands he s ever played with - a great band and a great bunch of guys.

MICHAEL LYNCH
Michael Lynch is a reed man and has played with the Cork City jazz band for 15 years on saxophone, clarinet and flute.
Michael s been playing jazz at home since he was 12 and used to enjoy busking around Cork.
He went on to become a professional musician with the Army band and gigs with the Cork City Jazz band as often as he can - work permitting.

MICHAEL O'BRIEN
Mick O'Brien got involved with the jazz scene in the early 1970 s when a jazz gig started up at the Metropole Hotel, with  Harry and Friends , as a result of this a certain famous jazz festival was born!
In the early 1980 s he played with the Second City Jazz band for a few years. And he also formed his own Dixieland band and played for a number of years in the Metropole at the said festival.
Towards the end of the decade he joined Jack Brierley, but has found his home, recently, with the Cork City Jazz Band at Actons Hotel and has become an essential part of the equation.

PADDY COLE
Paddy Cole s distinguished career began with the Capital Showband in the Arcadia in Cork and he went on to play with Brendan Bowyer in Las Vegas for five years.
Back in Ireland, he formed the Paddy Cole Band and performed with Twink for seven years, as well as running the family bar and restaurant in Monaghan.
Nowadays, The Paddy Cole Band is doing cabaret in the Blarney Park Hotel and doing guest spots with the Cork City jazz band, who welcome him to the jazz festival every year.

GEORGE HART
George Hart has been  resident in West Cork for nine years now and has played with a wide variety of bands and musicians. His career spans over thirty years and draws influence from rock, pop, blues, soul,  reggae and jazz.
Starting out in college bands, in which he played guitar, drums, keyboard and bass, he settled on bass in 1967. After moving to Ireland, he became interested in Jazz, and joined Billy Crosbie in 1998, and soon switched to double bass.
He is interested in recording and production, and is currently working on songs for his own album.

GERRY WALSH
Gerry started with the  Martell's , one of Cork's top groups of the 1960's.
In the early 1970's he toured Britain with the  Mystic  and  Regal  Showbands, until he joined Michael O Callaghan Showband in the middle of that decade and one the highlights was touring America with the band.
Gerry initially moved to jazz, playing bass guitar, with the late Tommy Rooney s  Second City Jazz Band  in 1981. Their Sunday gig at the Powermill Inn in Ballincollig, caused quite a stir for a few years.
From this band, came two of the founder members of the Cork City Jazz Band, namely Gerry and Billy Crosbie.
Gerry slowly dropped the bass guitar and is now a very fine instrumentalist, on the keyboard, with the Cork City Jazz Band on Sunday mornings.
He recently qualified with distinction from a music course at UCC.

JOE MAC
Joe Mac, a Cork legend, started off with two terms of percussion at the Cork School of Music.
His first band was the Butter Exchange Band, where he learned to play brass but fell in love with the drums, with Jean Krupa as his idol.
The late 1950 s saw Joe getting more into jazz and he had a big interest in the Louis Armstrong sound.
Since then, Joe has played from Sneem to Carnegie Hall, from Las Vegas to Bahrain, all over the world, playing all sorts of music. Much of that in the early days was with the legendary Dixies Showband.
Jazz is his favourite, but it won t always pay the bills, so you can find Joe Mac performing whatever is popular at a wedding, club or pub near you.

SONNY KNOWLES
Sonny Knowles started life as a saxophone player, not a singer.
While playing with Earl Gill & his orchestra he was asked could he sing and ended up playing and singing.
By the time he joined the Pacific Showband, they just wanted him to sing. He stayed with them for six years before moving to Canada to play cabaret at the end of the 1960 s.
Back home, he took his music to the cabaret lounges and was an instant hit.
He has spent 10 years guesting with the Cork City Jazz band and continues to pack entertainment venues around the country with his mix of wit, melody and showmanship.
But the highlight of his year is coming to the Kinsale Fringe Festival and playing with the Cork City Band and enjoying the warm and friendly hospitality at Actons Hotel.

SHARON CROSBIE
The powerful voice of Sharon Crosbie kicked-off aged four with the Tiny Tots and developed further as a soloist with local choirs.
At 17, she won a scholarship to the School of Music and studied opera under Robert Beare.
At 18, Sharon sang at the Nice Opera House at the invitation of the French Government but when a house guest at home left a Dean Martin record behind, Sharon was hooked to a new style and Dean and Peggy Lee have been an inspiration ever since.
She spent 12 years part-time with the Cork City Jazz Band before moving to Dublin where, for three years, she sang at George s Bistro and recently released a hit single  Amazing Grace/Never Ever  in aid of the Next Step charity.
Sharon plays the Kinsale Fringe Festival every year and describes herself as schizophrenic when it comes to music - opera, reggae or jazz, she loves them all!

JACK BRIERLEY
Jack Brierley started with the Regal Showband in 1954 and played with them for five years.
He then formed his own band called:  The Jack Brierley Showband  and played with them throughout the 1960's.
Writing music with George Crosbie is a passion of Jack's and they came second in the National Contest with the song  Kinsale  in 1968. But they eventually won the contest and represented Ireland, in Luxembourg, in 1973, with a song entitled:  Do I Dream , which was sung by Maxi.
Jack loves his cabaret work and is to be found in many lounge bars and he never misses the fun of the jazz festival every year.
Jack is one of the finest exponents of his instrument, and one of the best that Cork city has produced.

IAN DATE
Jazz guitarist supreme.
Born outback Australia, he is largely self taught
Began professional career in Australia at age 14, playing in pubs and clubs in rural NSW Australia.
Moved to Sydney in 1981 and began a jazz career. He has appeared at festivals and events throughout Australia, Asia and Europe.
He has made numerous TV, radio and recordings.
He supported Sarah Vaughan on her last Australian tour and has played with many visiting jazz artists to Australia.
Latest album “The Stringband’
He moved to Ireland with his pregnant wife Ilse in January 2002 and they now reside in Cloyne, Co, Cork with their young son Ted.
Ian will be joining the Cork City Jazz Band at some of their gigs over the weekend in Actons Hotel.

FRANK IRELAND
East End of London boy Frank Ireland is 82-years-young and still blowing the saxophone with The Cork City Jazz band after 13 years.
Frank was a gunnery instructor in the Middle East when the RAF band asked him to join them on saxophone. He went on to play all over the world with them.
He has played with many great bands over the years, including Syd Deane and his band in Brighton, with whom he recorded over 500 broadcasts of Glenn Miller-type music.
In October 1988, Frank moved to Cork and joined the Cork City Jazz band in 1989. He also plays with the Billy Crosbie Quartet and supports the Apple Blossoms (Kinsale based Andrews Sisters style singers).