Kuala Lumpur International Jazz Festival 2012

all images credit Pein Lee/KLIJ

KL International Jazz Sdn Bhd (KLIJ), the producer and promoter of the festival, intends the festival to be an annual event that will contribute meaningfully to the development of KL as a world city.

Here’s our report on the inaugural KL International Jazz Festival held recently at the KL Convention Centre.

It’s been quite a while since the city folks of KL got to enjoy a jazz festival of this scale (pun intended), being entertained by the likes of the Dewan Bandaraya Big Band, Patrick Terbrack Quartet, Michael Veerapen Quartet featuring Junji Delfino, Trevor Jalla, Meg Okura & the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Ernie Watts & the Jeremy Monteiro International Trio, and Incognito on the first day and RTM Big Band, KL Jazz Project, Jeremy Tordjman Group, Everette Harp, Hiromi The Trio and Ahmad Jamal.

The KL Jazz Project led by Patrick Terbrack, showcased a rather purist approach to jazz, and clearly showed that Malaysia can seduce and keep talent. Along with other luminaries like Steve Thornton, this only serves to reinforce the local development of jazz in particular and other music forms in general.

KL Jazz Project‘s music was smooth minimalism interspersed with hints of bebop.

Terbrack is a music lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara and is also director of the Kuala Lumpur Youth Jazz Orchestra.

JAZZ pianist, composer, musical director and teacher Michael Veerapen had, in the late ‘70s, organised a series of Jazz Rock concerts with Lewis Pragasam, the powerhouse drummer behind Asiabeat.

The Jazz Rock I and Jazz Rock II Concerts happened because the performing bands in KL namely Revolvers, Discovery, Carefree, Delta and Vintage had agreed to perform for free, just for the love of ‘jazz rock/fusion’. University Malaya sponsored the Experimental Theatre and they charged just RM1 a ticket and all 800 tickets quickly sold out.

Although the ticket collection just barely covered the cost of poster printing and expenses, they did much to boost interest in the genre especially among the younger audience.

Veerapen’s set offered a mix of Latin, mainstream, originals and standards tweaked to make them his own. Besides Delfino, who won a Boh Cameronian Best Solo Performance (Vocal) award for a musical theatre show, Veerapen also featured two young and talented fellows in the form of Steve Nansa on drums and Daniel Foong on bass, with saxophonist Patrick Terbrack.

33-year old Perth-based Malaysian Trevor Jala and his blues band comprised  Roy Martinez (bass, vocals), Joe Whittle (drums, vocals) and Hans Fiance (keyboards, vocals) from Australia who combined the influences of BB King, Jimmie Smith, Donny Hathaway, T-Bone Walker and Robert Cray. Jala’s incendiary guitar work and grooving rhythm section earned him a tweet from Datuk Seri Idris Jala “At the KL Jazz festival, listening to Trevor Jalla. Great blues music, powerful voice and solid guitar! @idrislaja” No, they’re not related.

Playing everything from Paganini to Coltrane, violin virtuoso and Er Hu exponent Meg Okura injects a sparkle into her jazz. Formerly a classically trained concert violinist, the composer and jazz violinist has revolutionized the world of chamber jazz by artfully entwining her colorful and moving pieces with inspirations from various cultures and countries to create a purely enchanting experience.

Okura and her band are no strangers to the international scene, having been featured in over 50 concerts all over the world. Her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble has soared to dizzying heights. Meg’s dynamic range on the violin complemented the powerful yet deft and abstract improvisations on piano by Helen Sung and honey-tinted flute work by Anne Drummond. Captivating and testament to the brisk CD sales right after the performance. I unabashedly confess I got an autographed one too and pictures with Meg, Helen and Anne.

What can we say about the legendary Earnie Watts that has not already been said? He is heralded as one of the greatest living tenor saxophonists. Combine him with the Jeremy Monteiro trio, and you once again prove the lack of boundaries that musical collaboration thrives on. Outstanding performances from the much anticipated solos and runs, driven by a carefully put together rhythm section of Swing King Monteiro on piano, Shawn Kelly on drums and Christy Smith on bass. Certainly a standout performance and one of the highlights  at the festival.

Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick and his ever evolving soul-funk-jazz band Incognito managed to pull off not one but two impossible tasks – get the normally passive Malaysians to perform the first standing ovation of the festival, and also to coax most of them to get jiggy with it down by the stage. A fitting and energetic end to the first day’s performances.

Day two started with recognition to the royalty of Malaysian music history - the ubiquitous Soliano family very ably represented by Irene Soliano singing with the RTM Orchestra. It was a nod to Alfonso Soliano, the man who brought jazz to Malaysian shores so long ago.

Frenchman Jeremy Tjordman, backed by his countrymen Alfio Origlio on piano, drummer Roger Biwandu and Indonesian top bassist Barry Likumahuwa provided a very dynamic and groovy experience with his instrumental guitar performance with elements of fusion, acid jazz and blues in the mix to delight six string fans.

Everette Harp’s talents as writer, arranger, producer and performer showed in his enthusiastic sax delivery of pop-R&B-funk-influenced smooth jazz, always silky and sexy and his interaction with the audience made the second evening session come alive. The crowd loved their version of Marvin Gaye’s Kisses Don’t Lie and What’s Going On, while Harp’s tenor horn soared with Coltrane’s Central Park West.

Bassist Barry Likumahuwa from Indonesia and percussionist Steve Thornton were among the musicians who accompanied Harp, playing together for the first time ever. So it was all the more impressive when Harp and his group got the first standing ovation for day two.

By now the crowd was stirring in anticipation as two huge names in jazz were set to take the stage. First up, Hiromi Uehara, the contemporary power jazz queen. 

At first glance, Hiromi resembles a typical cute, doll-like Japanese teenager but once she sits at a piano, she rocks your socks off. She is pure genius on the piano, so gifted that she has gone head-to-head with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke, and performed in some of the world’s greatest jazz venues.

From the get go, Hiromi’s piano filled both the hall and the audience, creating a wall of energy that kept shifting throughout her performance.

Simon Phillips on skins and ex-Steely Dan six-string bassist (which he pioneered, by the way) Anthony Jackson provided the base for Hiromi’s forays through the hall. Her classical training showed in a beautiful version of Pathetique, Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor which sprouted halfway through her set. Her CDs sold out one day before her performance, a solid testimony to her star power.

Finally, Ahmad Jamal ambled on stage and cooly took his seat at the specially arrannged Steinway & Sons grand piano to massive applause. Not surprisingly he opened his set with Blue Moon, the title track of his latest album, and immediately transported the audience to a quintessential land of silky and urgent jazz performance.

Jamal’s trademark stylistic relaxed approach, playing in the blues and long, dreamy lines belies the fact that he’s already 82 years old. His backing trio of percussion, drums and bass worked their own mojo around his soaring and diving scales, the testament of a group that has played together for decades.

That explained why Jamal was able to orchestrate his boys with subtle glances and imperceptible gestures, picked up instinctively by the quartet. Surely the audience must have realised by now that they were witnessing history and magic weaved into a tapestry of feelings and emotions.

Sadly as 1am drew near the inaugural Kuala Lumpur International Jazz Festival was nearing its end, with Jamal playing to a mesmerised crowd as he weaved through his album, some originals and a selection of standards, offering a fresh interpretation in the jazz combo form.

Sure the dust has settled, the numbers crunched and the publicity and awareness studied. The lack of numbers would have been noted and analysed too.  To be fair, Kenny G at Genting probably made a dent in the audience numbers on the first day.

All said and done, kudos to the KL International Jazz Festival 2012 for pulling it off. You have now set the benchmark, and pushed the envelope. The next step is to earn yourself the position of the premier jazz event in the country as you tweak the event to even greater heights.

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