In her first major gig since selling out the Galway International Arts Festival’s Big Top this summer, legendary jazz and blues singer, Mary Coughlan, plays the Black Box Theatre, next Friday, December 19.
Mary Coughlan’s career in music has been one hell-of-a-ride. Often described as one of the greatest female vocalists ever produced in Ireland, Coughlan proudly stands alongside some of the world’s most iconic jazz singers.
She is unique in blending whisky-blurred, smoke-seared, husky notes with the laconic wit of Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee. She traces a line of deep, down and dirty blues singers back to Bessie Smith, with the sardonic, bitter-sweet defiance and despair of Edith Piaf. Yet Mary Coughlan delivers it all in a delicious and unapologetic Irish drawl: skeptical, rueful, mournful and melting and ardent for love.
"At 69, Mary has never been in better voice. And never in better form. She positively exuded happiness as she captivated the house…" wrote The Connacht Tribune of Coughlan’s Galway International Arts Festival (GIAF ) show, which saw her celebrate 40 years in music."Her voice is rich, authentic, and very much her own, her charisma undeniable," wrote The Irish Examiner.
Coughlan’s latest album Repeat Rewind, released last year via Strange Brew, marked her fourth decade in music.
It received widespread accolades: RTÉ broadcaster John Creedon named it his Album of the Year 2024; RTÉ Radio 1 named it Album of the Week upon release; The Irish Times named it in their Top 5 Jazz Albums of the Year 2024; it was shortlisted for three Hot Press Reader’s Poll Awards; The Financial Times wrote about Mary’s “irresistible hooks” and MOJO magazine commented on her lyricism: “Adult disappointments dissected in strong, lo-fi set by honey-voiced Irish national treasure” - in its four star review.
Over 40 years, Coughlan has made the most grown-up, uncompromising, wholly personal yet utterly universal music on either side of the Atlantic, mostly about what goes on between men and women, since her 1985 debut album, Tired and Emotional.
Tickets €35 for seated concert from www.tht.ie
