On this week's show, we speak to Eddie Lee a Photography, owner of the 
Sligo Jazz Project, artistic director & Self-employed musician.

Eddie shares his story of how he discovered music and some of his incredible journey - we will have to have him on the show again. He talks about how he arrived back home after a few years away, what he has missed in the lockdown, what he is looking forward to in the future and his favourite places in Sligo.

As a pro musician of more than 3 decades, I’ve guested on a Grammy-nominated Enya album, toured and recorded with artists on several continents across many genres of music, including NoCrows, Dervish, Those Nervous Animals, Stockton’s Wing, A Woman’s Heart and the Pale. In 2013 I sang in Ennio Morricone’s choir for his Irish concerts and was commissioned to co-write a suite of music by the Hawks Well Theatre and appeared in Ken Loach’s Jimmy's Hall as a jazz musician. Each July I have been instrumental in bringing the best jazz musicians on the planet to Sligo to teach and perform at Sligo Jazz Project’s annual summer school and festival. I enjoy travelling through my music career and it’s probably this I really miss the most during the current pandemic.

More recently I have explored my love for photography and the landscape of my home county Sligo in particular. In the lockdown period I have been studying and learning about various aspects of photography and with the uncertainty surrounding the entertainment business hope to forge a career as a photographer over the coming months and years L, branching out into portrait work as well as my landscape and Milky Way/night Sky work.

I have also been doing a Wednesday night jazz & world music show on radiosligo.com

I love sunsets in Cummeen strand, all year round swimming in the sea, trekking the mountains, Sligo Rovers and Sligo’s wonderful music, theatre and arts scene. I’m currently doing a photographic project on our multicultural community. Last winter I discovered the amazing benefits of winter cold water sea dipping and it’s been quite the buzz! I’ve also done the Warriors run 6 times and look forward to it each year building my fitness programme around it.

If you could wave a magic wand what would you fix or bring to Sligo?

We need a radical overhaul in city Centre development policy, landlords need to be encouraged or subsidized in order to reopen sligo city centre for business. It’s a disgrace that so much of the town is owned by so few business people who seem to care less about properties lying vacant. The solution has to come from the top down in order to allow people to rent premises affordably and get new small businesses opening again. This is even more crucial to the town centre in the years following this pandemic, with economic depression a likely situation for years to come. My magic wand right now though would be to be rid of this pandemic and open our music venues again.

I’ve undergone quite an epiphany in the past year, and have really found a new passion in photography and photographic editing. I’m very excited about where this is going to take me, particularly as I’ve started doing portraits recently and found it’s something that I love going.

What are your must-do Sligo recommendations? Hike above Glencar and up Knocknarea, Walk the boardwalk from Slish Wood to Innisfree. Drive round the Gleniff horseshoe, Swim in the Atlantic surf in Strandhill and walk on Aughris head. Eat in Stoked and have lunch in shells. Catch a memorable gig in sligo jazz festival 🤪

You can find Eddie on lnstagram - @sligobass and check out his beautiful images and photos on 

http://eddielee.ie/

https://www.facebook.com/edleephoto/