Tolu Makay & Zaska

Cyprus Avenue, Caroline St.

Sat 24th Oct, 2:00 pm

Tolü Makay’s commanding voice and emotionally direct performances have taken her to stages across Europe and the United States. Her breakthrough cover of The Saw Doctors’ “N17” introduced her to a much wider audience, moving Graham Norton to tears and leading to a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington.

Since then, Makay has opened for Disclosure, supported Gabrielle at the 3Arena and appeared alongside Lewis Capaldi and Niall Horan in an RTÉ documentary. Her song “Aye” featured in the television adaptation of Conversations with Friends, while appearances on The Late Late Show and The Tommy Tiernan Show have brought her music into homes across Ireland. Her EP People Still Cry in the Summer continues her exploration of personal, emotionally charged songwriting through alternative pop and soul.

ZASKA is the band led by guitarist, songwriter and producer Max Zaska. Combining modern soul with jazz, funk, R&B and hip-hop, his music is built around intricate guitar work, strong grooves and a collaborative approach that has brought together some of Ireland’s finest vocalists, including Hozier.

His third studio album, NECTAR, features shiv, Gemma Dunleavy, Melina Malone, jarjarjr, J Smith and Republic of Loose’s Mik Pyro. It follows It Takes a Village and A Better Way, further developing a sound that draws on both classic soul and contemporary jazz. On stage, that music takes on a lively, danceable character, with performances spanning upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s in London, Prague’s Mladí ladí Jazz festival and the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival.