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.
