Rising jazz star Nils Kavanagh returns to Limerick with debut album

JAZZ pianist Nils Kavanagh performs at Dolan’s Upstairs on Sunday November 2 at 2pm, bringing his acclaimed debut album back to the city it was recorded in.

Originally from County Sligo, Kavanagh has performed with Irish band Those Nervous Animals and co-leads the group Saffron, with whom he has appeared at Sligo Jazz Festival and Limerick Jazz Festival. He was Young Artist in Residence at Sligo Jazz Project 2023, working alongside a star-studded faculty including Tony Kofi, Liane Carroll and Liam Noble.

Currently based in Cardiff, Kavanagh performs professionally in the UK while studying jazz performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama under world-renowned pianists Huw Warren, Elliot Galvin and Nick Weldon.

After winning the inaugural Young Irish Jazz Musician of the Year award in 2022, Kavanagh is gaining recognition as a young talent and bandleader in his own right. Leading an energetic and explorative piano trio, the group presents original compositions and arrangements of their favourite music.

His debut release, No Expectations, was recorded at University Concert Hall, Limerick in August 2023 when he was just 21. The album journeys through Kavanagh’s unique upbringing, rooted in the northwest of Ireland’s mystic landscapes, while also exploring the sense of unity and introspection present in Denmark and broader Scandinavia.

Speaking about the album, Kavanagh said: “The music on this record was inspired by one main question: what does it mean to ‘dwell’? Being Irish and Danish, and having moved to Wales to study, my personal relationship with the idea of dwelling has come to the forefront of my mind in recent years.”