Genting International Jazz Festival 2008

I wouldn’t call the Genting International Jazz Festival a jazz festival per se, but the tagline was spot on – where passion meets fusion. It was all about crossing borders and successfully fusing different genres of music.

GIJF blew the audience away with a repertoire of groups from across the continents. Great selection of top-notch jazz performers, excellent sound engineering and an efficient crew made the festival a success, and here kudos are due to Yeoh Jun Lin and Yeo Yu Puay, the artistic duo that gave Rainforest World Music Festival its distinctive beat and their team (see accompanying story below).

Everything was great. The well-trained and efficient crew took only 10 minutes in between sets to setup the stage, host Kevin Tann was at his entertaining best, the acoustics at the Genting International Showroom were top-notch and the performers were in serious party mood.

Since every other review is going to sound more or less the same, frigglive.com is taking a different angle. We’re going to rate and award the music, bands and performances.

image credit: eugene ong, all dat jazz

When the first band jUnKoFuNc walked on stage I was in for a pleasant surprise. I’ve known Badar for years, and he’s always tucked away in the back behind his beloved percussions. Not this time. Attired in blue denim dungarees and sporting a badass attitude he stirred up the crowd with “Ain’t That Peculiar”. That guy can not only sing, he does it well. Sweet.

Midway through their set, “Anusha” written by Andy Peterson for his only daughter of the same name was performed by Andy, John and Justin. The tempo was then brought down by Albert Sirimal singing a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing”. Badar joined Albert in closing with “Soul with a Capital S”.

Only local band picked by the organizers to play alongside the international line-up, making Malaysia proud – jUnKoFuNc.

image credit: eugene ong, all dat jazz

Next up, Ben’s Belinga proved to be an arresting entertainer as not only is his self-taught mastery of the saxophone evident, he also used his body language to good effect, with facial gestures and scat calls.

The soulful and pensive piano, the throbbing rhythm section, the melodious horns and the ability to juggle Caribbean and Afro-Cuban rhythms carry the ghostly echoes of jazz greats Charlie Parker and John Coltrane.

Ben’s claim that Jazz is in actual fact tribal African music turned out to have a ring of truth to it as there is an African spiritual undertone to his music.

Most enigmatic performer -Ben’s Belinga.

image credit: johan nasir

Diamond Dave and the Doodaddies are not a technical band, but man do they know how to have fun onstage. Their infectious brand of good ol’ Chicago Blues certainly endeared them to the crowd. Diamond Dave Billing and Dave Brewer front the band. Brewer’s wailing electric guitar complemented Diamond Dave’s moving and soulful blues harmonica throughout the band’s repertoire of original material.

Diamond had the audience eating out of his hands and singing along when he walked into and partied with the audience. It turns out the blues don’t make you blue, after all.

People’s favorite - Diamond Dave and the Doodaddies

image credit: johan nasir

Hamilton de Holanda and band established their superior jazz chops, executing complex time changes and deftly navigating tricky melodic and harmonic variations. Holanda is a speed demon on the track, spilling out rippling lead runs, which the supporting musicians have no trouble keeping up with. But technique and tempo are not the only tricks they have up their sleeves as the bulk of the set is gentler and more studied, concerned with conveying emotion rather than impressing.

The Brazilian samba tradition and Flamenco-reminiscent arpeggios; devilish high-speed syncopations apply extreme duress on ensemble work only to come off like a dream; unexpected time gates; scintillating tremolos following bass lines in lock step; sophisticated harmonic progressions; dreamy Tropicana melodies; sneaky percussion art; gorgeous harmonica riffs; suave guitar work.

Best solo - Hamilton de Holanda's "Disparada" on the 10 string mandolin. The big fella is arguably the most virtuosic mandolinist in the world today. His fingers flying around the tiny fret board with each note ringing true and full of emotion is a sight to behold. Truly an awesome performance.

Best duet - Hamilton de Holanda on the mandolin with Gabriel Grossi on the harmonica. It seemed as if both instruments were in perfect sync.

image credit: johan nasir

Salsa Celtica certainly knew how to make a grand entrance as they made their way to the stage through the audience while playing a rousing Celtic number. Salsa dance enthusiasts wasted no time in joining them on stage.

Salsa Celtica’s remarkable success story started with salsa music and the prevailing climate of fusion at that time where some guys joined in the band to jam and it sort of grew organically. When Salsa first started it was a mix of Afro-Cuban music and South American folk music with jazz, a mix of the music in Europe.

They were an immediate hit with the locals and the newly arrived Hispanic community. After recording their debut album 'Monstruos y Demonios' (Monsters and Demons), Salsa Celtica took their music on the road. They eventually landed in Cuba to hang out with salsa groups, including Son14 and Sonora La Calle,

Most successful fusion - salsa and celtic music, complete with bagpipes!

image credit: johan nasir

Singapore’s A Cappella group Key Elements kicked off the second night with an easygoing note by singing a modified rendition of The Sound of Music’s “Do Re Mi” as an introduction to themselves. They performed Chinese numbers and all-time favourites, such as Teresa Teng’s “The Moon Represents My Heart”, and Barry Manilow’s “Meet Me Midnight”.

Most unusual song - their version of the theme from Spiderman. Extra points for the quaint choreography and “fight” sounds effects.

image credit: johan nasir

Best vocalist - Tangora. Her scat improvisations were breathtaking and although I could not understood a word of her singing as it was in French, she proved beyond doubt that music does indeed cross language boundaries.

Best keyboard duel - Mario Canonge on piano vs award-winning organist Emmanuel Bex. Whenever Bex pumped up the volume on the Hammond it was just surreal. Mario on the other hand was absolutely smoking.

Best overall duel - Duvone Stewart from Trinidad and Tobago on the steel pans and Jazz Jamaica trumpeter Abram Wilson. During the finale, most of the performers went up on stage for a mega jam and these two were really duking it out.

It started out fairly simply with a few blasts of the trumpet here and a few tinkles of the steel pan there; but then it got furious and the crowd were on their feet cheering them on.

Stewart eventually lifted the steel pan off its rack, placed it on the floor and spun it around while still playing it!

Best backup band - Tangora again.

image credit: johan nasir

Neander’s Jazz Band’s big band ‘ol skool New Orleans blues certainly got the audience bopping along. Their on-stage antics were very endearing. The Jazz scene in Denmark has never been popular and it’s barely surviving Hans Christian Rosendal, the clarinet/alto saxophone player of the group told us.

Young people don’t care much about jazz simply because they don’t like it he continued. I do hope that we are able to reach out to the younger audience to listen to Jazz because of our energetic and authentic music.

Per Neander’s deep throaty vocals emulating the legendary Louis Armstrong got the most cheers when he launched into 'What a Wonderful World' for their encore performance.

Best on-stage presence - Neanders Jazz Band.

image credit: johan nasir

Schalk Joubert and The Three Continents Sextet is all about crossing borders and fusing different genres of music, South African born bass player Joubert’s influences are the rhythms of Africa and the harmonies of Europe.

We’re all musicians with different musical background and influences from all over with different personas said Joubert. It’s a marvelous hybridisation when we get together and create a fresh new sound that is quite unlike anything we’ve heard before.

As a music composer, it’s a wonderful thing to see the concepts in your own head being understood by other musicians and with that, came alive in three dimensional form, said Joubert.

Best bassist - Schalk Joubert. He’s so into his playing that he actually stuck his finger into his mouth to make a pop sound to punctuate his music. Cool or what?

image credit: johan nasir

Hottest female performer - petite South African saxophonist Shannon Mowday, with her little skirt and boot kit and oh so sexy subtle dance moves.

image credit: johan nasir

Award-winning Jazz Jamaica with special guest Myrna Hague and a brand new set entitled Tighten Up! Proved to be an all-star group as they got the audience on their feet and dancing along to their blend of rock rhythms, ska beats, pumping reggae grooves interweaved with sophisticated jazz swing.

We perform not because of the awards or political messages. It’s solely about music and art said Gary Cosby. Jazz has lost the ability to connect with the audience, and that’s why we play to reach out to younger people and get them on their feet dancing to our music.

Jazz is unique because it can’t be recreated with modern day technologies, and it can only be presented live,” he added. It’s an integration of musicians working together. It’s more than just technology; it’s about the human experience.

Best dressed band - Jazz Jamaica, with their skinny neckties, leather berets, well tailored pants and Kevin Federline look-alike drummer complete with diamond stud earring.

Best all-star jam – all the performers in the finale. The riff from "Flight of The Bumblebee" which morphed into the theme from the Flintstones got roaring approval from the crowd.

My sincere thanks to Ms Yeoh Jun Lin, Ms Yeo Yu Puay and their team for putting together a fantastic show (I can only guess at the logistic nightmare) and Ms Lind Shah of Genting Berhad who ensured that we were comfortable and well looked after.

No prizes for guessing who’s already booked his place for next year.

Yeoh Jun Lin

Yeoh Jun Lin graduated from the prestigious Royal College of Music, London with the G.R.S.M. Honours course and also holds the A.R.C.M., L.R.A.M. and the L.T.C.L.. She passed both Grade 8 in piano and violin with high distinctions at the age of 13, but considers the piano her principal instrument which she studied with, first, her father, then Yeoh Geok Hoon in Penang, and later on the late David Parkhouse when she was 16.

She also pursued the violin with Kenneth Piper. She participated in the debut recording of the BBC’s “The African Sanctus” by David Fanshawe, but Jun Lin was most involved with chamber groups and was in demand as a pianist in duos and ensembles.

Now residing in Kuching, Jun Lin continues with her passion for music. She did a piano concerto in the Mozart bicentennial celebrations, performed with violinist Clarence Myerscough, as a trio with Isin Cakmakciuglu and Rachel Atkinson, with trombonist Gila Rayberg and violinist Fintan Murphy. She was also producer of the Christmas concert with Chan Hui Ling in 1995. She has a select group of students whom she tutors.

Jun Lin was the Chairman of the Sarawak Music Society from 1997-2000 where she organized a series of events which included the Young Musician of the Year Award in 1999. She also sat in the Kuching Festival Committee and adjudicated for several competitions.

She was in the organizing committee for the annual Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching that started in 1998 under the Sarawak Tourism Board. She is perhaps best known as the Artistic Director for the festival 2001-2007. She was also the Artistic Director for the Miri International Jazz Festival (2006 – 2007), the Genting International Jazz Festival and the Penang World Music Festival.

jUnKoFuNc

What do a bunch of musicians who are busy with studio recordings, music festivals, music workshops and traveling for gigs in and out of the country do with their time off? Why, they play more music, of course.

Albert Sirimal, guitar maestro, has put together a funk band for the Genting International Jazz Festival with an ensemble that reads like a Who’s Who of Malaysian jazz musicians.

They are the only local band to join the other 9 international bands flying in for the festival that will be held on the 4th – 5th of April 2008 at Genting Highlands.

Named jUnKoFuNc, the project band was conceptualised by Albert and bass player Andy Peterson. Over a cold beer, I asked his music direction and he replied “Dude, the genre is funk, pure funk”.

Funk music is an American creation of the 1960’s. In the 1950’s, West Coast jazz styles were the chic thing to listen to. These had more European elements, were more experimental, had smaller chamber groups and catered to an elitist upper-class audience.

As a directly opposing reaction, hard bop music came about and moved back to its “bebop” roots – incorporating more gospel, blues and a very dominant bass line.

With the addition of the organ and saxophone and simpler harmonies, the style became what was called soul jazz. The main rhythm groove was more repetitive and less improvised.

Soul jazz then mixed with Rhythm & Blues to become more upbeat and dance based. These were the beginnings of Funk.

The bass line and the drums in funk music still form the dominant anchor. Complex polyphonic rhythms are the aim. The harmony is more static, tending to hover around a single chord.

There is a distinctive percussive timbre in funk music – not just from the drums and the bass guitar with its exciting slap-bass technique, but also from the attack of guitars and keyboards or organ and saxophone.

This off-shoot of bebop jazz is particularly popular with Malaysian jazz bands.

The band consists of Albert Sirimal on guitars and main vocals, Andy Peterson on bass, John Ashley Thomas on drums, Justin on keyboards, Badar on percussions and Ahmad Muriz on saxophone.

ALBERT started his musical career in 1985 as a soloist, playing the guitar and singing in many of the local clubs around Klang Valley.

When he emerged as runner-up in the Carlsberg Top Of The Pubs 1989 competition, Albert expanded his horizon by collaborating with other musicians to form bands, working alongside them in concerts, tours, sessions, music festivals and workshops.

Having played with some of the most talented musicians in and outside Malaysia, he has developed his own finger-style guitar picking.

As a highly-respected sessionist, Albert has been called upon to play with a plethora of local stars including Ning, Sheila, Ferhad, Prema Lucas, Maya Karin, Zainal Abidin, Jamal Abdillah, M. Nasir, Too Phat, Reshmonu and various others.

Albert's distinctive guitaring ability saw him exploring beyond Malaysian shores and performing gigs in Thailand, Singapore, Germany and the UK.

ANDY PETERSON is the most sought after bass player in Asia. An outstanding and amazing bass player, Andy has worked with Jackie Cheung, A-Mei, David Tao, Billy Cobham, Harlem Yu and local artistes like Siti Nurharliza, Steve Thorton, Zainal Abidin and Sheila Majid.

Currently a Yamaha Bass Endorsee, Andy encompasses all genres, be it jazz, rock, soul and in the case of jUnKoFuNc, it’s Andys favourite, funk.

Teaming up with Andy to handle the rhythm section is JOHN ASHLEY THOMAS on drums. A very talented and phenomenal drummer, John started playing drums when he was just 3 years old.

His credits include working with Grammy award-winning flautist Nestor Torres and touring the Blue Note circuit in Japan with Motown legends The Three Degrees, and playing at numerous jazz festivals including Arts Alive! Jazz Fest in South Africa and Jarasum International Jazz Fest in South Korea.

He has performed with premiere Jazz/Latin/Funk musicians and bands like Farid Ali, Steve Thornton, Grey Lyons, Alonso Gonzalez, Akihiko Matsui and Jiro Okada of Junky Funk from Japan, Yu Quan from China and Frank Gambale.

He won the Best Drummer Award 2002 at the Yamaha AsiaBeat Band competition and currently is a Yamaha Drums Endorsee and Sabian Cymbals International Endorsee. John currently heads his own band Funk Mob.

Also in the ensemble is JUSTIN LIM who will be handling the piano and keyboards. Justin has performed and recorded with musicians and artistes of diverse inclinations. His performing experience includes stints with artistes like Isaac Entry, Noryn Aziz, Angelita Li and Kris Dayanti.

He has contributed his talents to various recordings such as the yet-to-be-released album by Greg Lyons Nonet, indie icon Pete Teo's sophomore album Television (2006) and Malay pop artiste Min Malik's single "Jemu" (2000).

From 2004-2005, he was a member of the now defunct indie rock outfit, Her Reverie, playing guitars and keyboards. His compositions and arrangements can be heard on Ong Yuen Kwan's spoken word album The Most Beautiful Time (2007) and also on the independent film Thank God I'm an Atheist (2007). Justin is a recent graduate of the Penn State University with a MMus in Composition/Theory.

When the idea of getting a horn section to be part of the band was brought up, the vote was unanimous. AHMAD MURIZ CHE ROS. A graduate from the highly acclaimed Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, majoring in film score, Muriz may like jazz but his feet can’t stop tapping to contemporary orchestral music.

Currently attached with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Muriz’s extensive work on arrangements and composition exploring the rich heritage of traditional Malay music has been highly respected by music lovers and musicians themselves. Muriz will be playing the saxophone and handle all brass arrangements for jUnKoFuNc.

And to top it all, providing that bit of Latin flair to the whole music arrangements is BADAR. Having associated himself with the likes of Mr Gambus @ Farid Ali and Karen Nunis, Badar is one of the most sought after percussionists in Malaysia.

His dedication towards his profession has taken him all over Malaysia and across Asia. Badar can be caught playing regularly alongside Albert Sirimal and singer Vijay David, shuttling between KL, Singapore and various parts of Asia.

The Genting International Jazz Festival 2008 will feature the largest repertoire presented so far in its run.

Tickets, band information, room packages etc can be found on the website www.gentingjazz.com. The hotline number to call is 03-2718 1118.