Sean Og of Dublin's Bottlenote collective

Producer and musical pioneer Brian Eno once described the avant-garde American composer John Cage as "a polar explorer", meaning that he was someone who was concerned with the frontiers of music. For most listeners, the comparison is apt. Cage's music is remote and inaccessible, with not much happening, but it is important that someone has gone to see what's out there. We admire the endeavour, without necessarily wanting to join the expedition.

Something similar may be said for the members of Dublin's Bottlenote collective, whose festival of new music takes place in Dublin next weekend. Individually, the members of Bottlenote – including keyboardist Justin Carroll, saxophonist Seán Óg, guitarist Shane Latimer and bassist Simon Jermyn – have been amongst the most daring and challenging of the younger generation of creative musicians that emerged in Ireland in the last decade. And now collectively, the Bottlenote identity is becoming an important focus for a new sense of adventure in Irish jazz, challenging the post-bop orthodoxy and facilitating music that would really struggle to find any commercial support.

The Bottlenote Fesitival 09, which takes place in the Twisted Pepper on Dublin's Abbey Street next Friday and Saturday, will feature a variety of collaborations between the members of the collective and a small but talented group of visiting musicians from Norway, France, Denmark and the UK. As well as a series of concerts over the two nights, the members of the collective will also be giving workshops during the day.

Free, abstract music is not going to find its way into the CD player all that often, but live, in the hands of musicians like these, it can be a revelatory experience. And for those who consider themselves musically literate, the occasional expedition to the frontier is a vital part of appreciating your own backyard. More details from www.bottlenotemusic.com.

Music education in Ireland has come a long way since the days when non-classical musicians had to teach themselves or seek an education abroad. Now there are full-time third-level courses, up to masters degree, available in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. The DIT masters course, directed by guitarist Mike Nielsen, has just produced its first graduates with honours all round, and now comes the news that Newpark Music Centre, which has been to the forefront of non-classical pedagogy in Ireland for 20 years, is to start its credit-transfer programme with Berklee College of Music in Boston next September.

The new arrangement means that students who enrol in the Berklee Track at Newpark can have their studies in Ireland count towards their Berklee degree, guaranteeing automatic entry into Boston's internationally renowned school and potentially shortening the stay in Boston, which will make Berklee a lot more affordable. Entry to the new course is by audition and interview, and more information is available by emailing newparkmusic@eircom.net.