Honor Heffernan & Jim Doherty - Christmas Songbook

The Sofa Sessions presents The Christmas Songbook

Honor Heffernan - vocals
Jim Doherty - piano
Dave Flemming - bass
Cormac Larkin - drums

9pm / No Cover Charge / Roaring Fire

The Sofa Sessions invites old friends and new to celebrate the solstice with us at our annual Christmas Songbook jam.

This year we are proud to welcome back to the Sofa Sessions three genuine legends of Irish jazz, vocalist Honor Heffernan, pianist Jim Doherty and bassist Dave Fleming.

Space is limited so get in early to grab a sofa!

About Honor Heffernan

"a riveting performer, combining the talent of a jazz musician with the power and pathos of a leading lady"

The Irish Times

Honor Heffernan is an internationally acclaimed jazz/blues singer who has been performing as both a singer and actress for over 30 years. She has released three solo albums- ‘Chasing the Moon’, ‘Fire and Ice’ and ‘The Other Side’ and one duo album entitled “Two heads are better than one” with guitarist Hugh Buckley.

Singer/Actress Honor Heffernan began her career in 1971. Over the years she's sung pop, folk, rock, blues and jazz, but has concentrated on jazz since the 80s. As an actress she is best known for her roles in Neil Jordan's 'Angel' and the RTE soap opera 'Fair City'.

Her jazz career took off in the early 80s when she began singing regularly in Dublin with the jazz pianist Jim Doherty and collaborated with Noel Kelehan. She has released three solo albums- ‘Chasing the Moon’, ‘Fire and Ice’ and ‘The Other Side’. Her second album 'Chasing The Moon' [1991] was recorded with Kelehan and featured Peter Ainscough, Richie Buckley, Mike Nolan and Martin Curry. Since then, she has sung with top Irish musicians such as Noel Kelehan, Stephen Keogh, Richie Buckley, Dave Fleming, John Wadham, Mike Nielsen and Louis Stewart. In October 2005 she released 'Fire and Ice' with Barry Green (piano), Jeremy Brown (bass) and Stephen Keogh (drums) which was very well received.

She became a regular attraction at the annual Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. She worked in Norway with the Knut Mikalsen Trio and the Sandvika Big Band conducted by trombonist/ arranger Rob McConnell. She also sang with the BBC Big Band, recording two concerts for radio with them.

About Jim Doherty

Pianist Jim Doherty has been a key figure on the Irish jazz scene for the last half century. As well as leading his own award-winning groups, both at home and abroad, Jim was a lifelong collaborator of the great guitarist Louis Stewart. The two released the critically acclaimed duo album, Tunes, in 2014, one of Stewart's last recordings.

Jim is also responsible for many of the more familiar RTÉ title tunes over the past number of decades and was musical director of the Late Late Show for many years. He has written music for numerous theatrical productions including the Abbey Theatre's first musical, Innish in 1975. Jim is the father of the actor and playwright Mark Doherty ('Trad', 'A Film With Me In It') and the Perrier Award-winning comic David O'Doherty.

Location of event - Get Directions

Venue Information - Billy Byrnes

Billy Byrnes is a family run tradional Irish bar and first opened its doors in 1954. We are centrally located in Kilkenny City, just around the corner from the train and bus station.