All posts by Rodin

JAZZ guitarist Lee Ritenour and saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa will headline the KL International Jazz Festival 2013 on Sept 14.

To be held at Universiti Malaya from 11am to midnight, other international acts slated to perform at the event include Jessy J, Carl Orr, The Subterraneans, Kazutoki Umezu Kiki Band, Ezra Brown and Zamajobe.

More than 100 musicians from North America, Europe, Australia, Iran, Japan, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are expected to perform at the one-day festival, which will also feature the university’s Big Band, led by its cultural centre director Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim paying A Jazz Tribute To P. Ramlee.

One of the biggest names in jazz today is Lee Ritenour, an American guitarist who has recorded more than 40 albums and co-founded (with Bob James) the group Fourplay.

Another big name is Japanese jazz pianist Keiko Matsui who has recorded more than 20 albums, likewise alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahantappa from the United States who absorbs numerous musical genres and creates his own distinctive sound.

And lastly, there are soulful singers Nicole Henry and Lisa Simone Kelly, whose mother was the late great Nina Simone.

These are among the major names who will be jazzing up Kuala Lumpur on April 27-30 at the KL International Jazz Festival 2013.

In its second year, it will be held at Universiti Malaya from 11am to midnight daily. It is organised by KL International Jazz and supported by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall with Mayor Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib as its patron.

The impressive line-up comprises 35 international and 65 local acts, making it the federal capital’s largest jazz event to date. Organising chairman Maizon Omar says: “Jazz enthusiasts and music lovers will get a taste of various jazz genres such as straight-ahead jazz, Latin jazz, smooth and contemporary jazz, and jazz rock among others.

“We will have four outdoor and two indoor music stages, plus art exhibitions, the Earth Day Run and a climb of Gunung Nuang in Hulu Langat.”

Music jazzes up Kuala Lumpur this April with the second edition of the KL International Jazz Festival, now stretching over four days from April 27. It’s not just performances by world-class artistes but the festival will also offer workshops and master classes at the main venue, the University of Malaya, which sits in the heart of the capital city. So far, 30 artistes — running the gamut from Grammy winners to homegrown talents — will participate in the four-day event.

SKILFUL. Spontaneous. Stylish. A legend jazzed up Kuala Lumpur recently and the audience packed the hall for this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Ahmad Jamal befitted the late-night top billing at the inaugural 2012 Kuala Lumpur International Jazz Festival which ended recently.

He is a recipient of the American National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honour bestowed on jazz artistes by the United States.

He sat on the left side of the stage, facing the wings and not the band. Somehow, he managed to direct the way the music flowed, be it on percussion, drums or bass. The music flowed or marched at times. The most improvised was the jazz standard, Invitation. Sometimes, Jamal paraphrased one part of the melody which then segued into a whole new line, all with a finger pointed or a nod.

LOTS of jazz fans were dazzled when they saw the list of performers billed in this weekend’s Kuala Lumpur International Jazz Festival 2012. They should: The legendary Ahmad Jamal, piano phenomenon Hiromi Uehara backed by the indomitable Anthony Jackson on the six-string bass which he pioneered and Ernie Watts.

Of course, in any jazz fest, it is impossible to put together a multi-star act so the idea is to back them with credible players with several outstanding local performers.

It’s been a while since KL has organised a jazz festival of this magnitude, so by the time you read my fortnightly column, you would have been entertained thoroughly by the likes of Dewan Bandaraya Big Band, Patrick Terbrack Quartet,

The KL International Jazz Festival leads the charge to revive the Klang Valley’s interest in this diverse music genre.

LEGENDARY American pianist/composer Ahmad Jamal (aka Frederick Russell Jones) is the sort of heritage act to lift the profile of any jazz festival.

Ahmad (a man even Miles Davis credited as a big influence) is one of the headlining acts for the two-day KL International Jazz Festival (KLIJF) at the Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on May 19-20.

The 81-year-old musician, who is nearly as old as jazz itself, remains a true jazz ambassador with an active touring and recording career.

Ahmad keeps himself busy on the road with a steady supply of European jazz festival engagements. He will be making a rare appearance in Asia as he closes the inaugural KLIJF this Sunday with an inspired backing group, which includes Herlin Riley (drums) and the acclaimed Manolo Badrena on Latin percussion.

The KL International Jazz Festival is set to revive the Klang Valley’s interest in this fast-moving festival bandwagon.

LEGENDARY American pianist/composer Ahmad Jamal (aka Frederick Russell Jones) is the sort of heritage jazz act to light up any jazz festival stage that he graces. The 81-year-old, who is nearly as old as the jazz genre itself, remains as zestful as they come and he is a true jazz ambassador with an active touring and recording career.

THE KL International Jazz Festival 2012 (KLIJF), which makes its debut at the Plenary Hall, KL Convention Centre from May 19-20, is rolling out a unique opportunity for corporations to get involved in sponsoring students and giving them the opportunity to experience the festival.

“Outside the regular jazz fans, we definitely want the new generation of music fans to have contact and be exposed to this far-reaching, all-encompassing music genre. We want to cultivate a fresh interest in jazz in Kuala Lumpur and the many diverse forms that the genre represents,” said KLIJF chairman Maizon Omar at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur recently.

“It’s not just a festival, it is a long-term project to engage the music community in Kuala Lumpur and be a platform to raise the capital’s profile on the international stage,” she added.

The Genius Package, which is part of the festival’s outreach programme, is a novel way for corporations to allign themselves with the KLIJF and the music genre itself.

JAZZ takes on more shine with pianist-composer Hiromi Uehara performing in Kuala Lumpur on May 20. The classically-trained 33-year-old during the 2012 Kl International Jazz Festival (KLIJF 2012), noted for her impassioned keyboard work, entered the jazz world with her 2003 album debut, Another Mind.

But when she was 17, she had a chance meeting with jazz maestro Chick Corea in Tokyo, and was invited to play at his concert the next day. Hiromi went on to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was mentored by jazz legend Ahmad Jamal.

She says: “Ahmad Jamal has been very encouraging and will always be my big inspiration.”

Since her debut in 2003, Hiromi has performed at numerous jazz festivals around the world and toured with the Stanley Clarke Band, with whom she performed on the 2011 Grammy-winning Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

Six-time Grammy-winning saxophonist David Sanborn and his band’s dazzling show in March was just a sign of jazzy things to come for the city as a slew of the world’s leading jazz artistes are joined by local and regional musicians at this month’s maiden two-day KL International Jazz Festival. Saturday’s exciting line up features Meg Okura & the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Carl Allen Quartet, two-time Grammy winner Ernie Watts, Jeremy Monteiro, who is dubbed Singapore’s ‘King of Swing’, and Incognito, the band that was at the forefront of the British acid jazz movement in the ’80s.