Penang Island Jazz Festival

The Seventh Edition of The Penang Island Jazz Festival will this year be held from the 2^nd to 5^th of December 2010 and feature more than 190 musicians on one (1) Main Stage, four (4) Fringe Stages and the Big Band programme.

As in past years, the “Jazz By The Beach” Stage (Main Stage) programmes a variety of groups with different styles and this year is no different with varied musical styles being performed from a thirty five (35) piece Philharmonic to World Renowned Solo Guitar Players to Standard Jazz Trio / Quartet to an Aca Pella group to Funk / Fusion Bands to Experimental / Nu jazz / Ethnic jazz groups in an idyllic open air setting beneath the stars by the side of a beach.

Keeping in line with past editions, the performers for the main stage programme this year are a mixture of local Malaysian and International acts. They are Penang Philharmonic featuring Ray Rozells and James Boyle, Celso Machado (Brazil), SC Yun Trio (South Korea), Electric Barbarian (Netherlands / USA / Brazil), Stouxingers (Germany), Carefree (Malaysia), Roger Wang Trio (Malaysia), Boi Akih (Netherlands), Rain Sultanov Quartet (Azerbaijan), PELbO (Norway), Tommy Emmanuel (Australia) and ZHAN (Malaysia / Japan / Australia).

The afternoon Fringe stage sessions have increased from three (3) last year to four (4) stages this year – the “ORIS Stage” at Bayview Beach Resort,  the “Rock Stage” at Hard Rock Hotel Penang, “G Stage” at G Hotel and “Javana Stage” at ParkRoyal Hotel. Performances are held from 3.00pm to 5.00pm simultaneously at all four (4) stages on Friday, 3^rd Dec. and Saturday, 4^th Dec. On Sunday, 5^th Dec. there will only be performances at the “ORIS Stage” at Bayview Beach Resort.

The performers for this year’s “Fringe Stage Programmes” are Rozz & Frequency, Raggy Project, Sound of Light, Florence Koh Quartet, PRIORity, Sax Organ Project, Ocean of Fire & Dasha, JazzHats, Aseana Percussion Unit, sTrAiT sAx aHeAd featuring Russell Curtis, Reza Salleh, Clair V Rozells & Allan G. Murrilon, Jonathan Tse Trio and Winner of “Get Inspired” Competition. 

Other supporting activities for this year include the ongoing “An Evening with series” at G Spot at G Hotel and this year the featured acts for the series are Aca Pella group - Stouxingers from Germany on Thursday, 2^nd Dec. and Malaysia’s own Carefree on Friday, 3^rd Dec. The “Jazz With A Heart” Charity Dinner will this year be jointly hosted by Bayview Beach Resort and City Bayview and the “After Hours Jazz Jam” sessions will as usual be held at Celsius Pub at the lower lobby of Bayview Beach Resort.

There will be five (5) “Workshops” this year – “Brazilian Guitar and Rhythms” by Celso Machado, “Musical Unity in Diversity” by Boi Akih, “Voices in Harmony” by Stouxingers, “Boogie Woogie Piano” by Razif “Jeep” Mohd and “Finger Picking Guitar” by Tommy Emmanuel. The annual “Community Drum Circle” will once again be held at the Bayview Beach Resort Gardens.

Exhibitions being held in conjunction with the Festival this year are the Penang Musical Heritage Exhibition at the Penang State Museum from end November to end December.  The Jazz Gallery at the Bayview Beach Resort will house the exhibition of the past editions of the Montreux Jazz Festival posters courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival and supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Malaysia, the Photography exhibition of renowned jazz photographer William Ellis, Festival’s collection of photographs, posters, paintings and percussion instruments, the ORIS Tribute Poster Collection, Musical Instruments and other exhibitors.

For the first time, the Festival will be introducing a “Big Band Programme” featuring two (2) Big Bands performing for 30 minutes each per day in the afternoon on Saturday, 4^th Dec. and Sunday, 5^th Dec. at the Grand Ballroom of the Bayview Beach Resort. The featured bands for this year are PFS Jazz Jam Crew, Northern Jazz Ensemble, Jeep Jazz Band and UPSI Big Band from Sultan Idris University of Education Malaysia.

Tickets for the “Jazz By The Beach” – Main Stage programme on Saturday, 4^th Dec. and Sunday, 5^th Dec. are RM60 per day. Ticketing information is available at www.ticketpro.com.my.

The Penang Island Jazz Festival 2010 is organized and managed by The Capricorn Connection, with Partners, Bayview Beach Resort, Mercedes-Benz Sdn. Bhd., ORIS, Red FM and supported by Embassy of Brazil, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Ministry of Culture & Tourism and Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Embassy of Switzerland, Goethe-Institut Malaysia, Penang Global Tourism, Penang State Museum, IJM Land Berhad, AmBank Group, KK Jazz Festival, G Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Penang, ParkRoyal Hotel, Starbucks Coffee, Heineken, JS Music, Roland Asia Pacific, The Guitar Store, Homegrown Productions, LBS Music World, Penang Philharmonic, Danai Spa, Tree Monkey @ Tropical Spice Garden, Little Penang Street Market, Penang Jazz Community and GR8 Music.  

For more information on the Festival, please visit the Festival website at www.penangjazz.com