Tommy Halferty

Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, he began his musical career in the late 70s taking Jazz Guitar lessons with Louis Stewart, a world class jazz musician. Some of his earliest appearances playing public were with bands such as `Jump' - a jazz fusion group and later on `Nunn' - a trio of flute, double bass and guitar. Most of the material here was drawn from classical, folk and jazz music.

In the early '80s Tommy Halferty formed a trio consisting of guitar, bass guitar, and drums producing fresh sounds, original compositions, and with John Wadham (drums), Ronan Guilfoyle (bass) the trio proved to be a well integrated ensemble and one of the most successful groups in Ireland during this period.

Dave Redmond: All In Motion

by Ian Patterson
September 3, 2025

There is not too much down time for your average hard-working musician. Between scuffling for gigs wherever and whenever they fall, studio sessions and the inevitable teaching bag, it is often a struggle to keep all the balls in the air. Irish bassist Dave Redmond has managed better than many since the turn of the millennium. ...

Dave Redmond: The Next In Line

by Ian Patterson
September 3, 2025

Ireland probably has more good jazz bassists than at any time before but ask who the most in-demand bassist in the country is and the answer is most likely Dave Redmond. The Dubliner has been a key player on the Irish jazz scene since the early 2000s, playing with Irish guitar greats Louis Stewart and Tommy ...

Izumi Kimura: Butterfly Effect

by Ian Patterson
June 5, 2025

Japanese pianist Izumi Kimura has earned plaudits through her various improvisation-based projects with double bassist Barry Guy, percussionist Gerry Hemingway, and guitarists Christy Doran and Tommy Halferty, to cite just a few of her principal collaborators. But Kimura, a long-term resident in Ireland, is equally compelling when going it alone. Over the years, she has clocked ...

Aleka Potinga: Romania: Songs Of Love And Longing

by Ian Patterson
April 15, 2024

You can take singer/cellist Aleka Potinga out of Romania, but you cannot take Romania out of her musical soul. Classically trained in Bucharest, and Dublin-based since 2012, Potinga has slotted into the city's fluid jazz/improvised music scenes, working with Izumi Kimura, Ronan Guilfoyle, Tommy Halferty and Cello Ireland. Her debut album Person I Knew (Self-Produced, 2019) ...

Tommy Halferty, Philippe Aerts, Kevin Brady At Scott's Jazz Club

by Ian Patterson
December 8, 2023

Tommy Halferty, Philippe Aerts, Kevin Brady Scott's Jazz Club Belfast, N. Ireland December 1, 2023 The gentleman had arrived early to secure a table right in front of the stage, a fresh pint of Guinness settling nicely before him. He had seen guitarist Tommy Halferty before. The first time was in ...

RBG Trio: RBG Trio

by Ian Patterson
November 30, 2023

From small acorns and all that. A Dublin gig in 2019 brought Ohio-raised, Derry-based saxophonist Meilana Gillard into the orbit of bassist Dave Redmond and drummer Kevin Brady. That became the springboard for an ongoing collaboration, pandemic be damned, that celebrates their mutual commitment with this fine debut album. All but two of the twelve straight-ahead ...

Scott Flanigan: Walking On Clouds

by Ian Patterson
May 4, 2023

The challenge for any jazz musician is to find a personal voice. Acquiring the language of jazz through countless hours of listening to recordings, through practicing and gigging is not the issue. It is doing so without being shackled to another's style. When Charlie Parker was in his pomp, few saxophonists of the time ...

Tommy Halferty, Cormac O'Brien, Greg Felton At Scott's Jazz Club

by Ian Patterson
April 7, 2023

Tommy Halferty, Cormac O'Brien, Greg Felton Scott's Jazz Club Jazz In The Round Belfast, N. Ireland March 31, 2023 Sergei Rachmaninoff surely wouldn't have minded. As Chamber Choir Ireland was tackling the Russian composer's choral masterpiece All Night Vigil in a Belfast monastery, across town in Ballyhackamore another ...

The Kevin Brady Electric Quartet: Plan B

by Ian Patterson
December 7, 2021

Plan A, which is to say, leading his own acoustic band, has worked pretty well for Irish drummer Kevin Brady. A number of fine small ensemble recordings--with Ensam (Lpr Music, 2016) perhaps the pick of the bunch—has seen him marshal talents such as Bill Carrothers and Norma Winstone, touring the world in the process. With Plan ...