Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Miri International Jazz Festval 2010: Mojo, Magic and Moods!
by Madanmohan Rao
World/Jazz Music Editor & DJ
Tweets: http://twitter.com/MadanRao
With a superb mix of stellar artistes and emerging talent, the Miri International Jazz Festival (MIJF) should now be a notable fixture on the jazz map of Asia. While other regional festivals like JakJazz and JavaJazz will blow you away with a huge galaxy of artistes, MIJF is a more cozy and boutique experience (www.MiriJazzFestival.com).
The mix of artistes and sequencing of acts on each day by festival artistic director Randy Raine Reusch was superb, and his orchestration of the grand finale with representatives of each of the eight bands was absolutely brilliant – but that is getting ahead of the story a bit!
The opening band, Thailand’s Mellow Motif, set the stage with contemporary arrangements of jazz classics. Vocalist Natasha Patamapong was joined by Singapore pianist Eugene Ang, and the youthful singer delivered an endearing performance, especially when she converted a cough into a laugh and then a new note.
Guitarist Jeremy Tordjman played with a trio and created evocative and danceable sonic landscapes covering funk, jazz and blues. The beautiful ballad, “Nostalgia for the Future,” really stood out.
Nobert Susemihl’s New Orleans All Stars brought back to life some of the hallowed traditions and festivities of Louisiana jazz, with six handpicked musicians from five European countries. From swing to dixie, the band regaled the audience with tales and tricks.
The highlight of the first night was the performance by Woodstock veteran Michael Shrieve, drummer for legendary guitarist Carlos Santana. Currently based in Seattle, Shrieve and his aptly-named band, Spellbinder, delighted the audience with a range of ambient and rock-jazz compositions. The emerging star of the night was Farko Dosumov from Uzbekistan, one of the finest bassists I have seen and heard. The compositions included two takes of tracks from the Santana album Caravanserai.
Between jazz sets, Australia’s DJ Sister Bebe spun dancefloor tracks in the indoor hall, which was the venue of the jazzfest in 2009 (moving the festival outdoors was a great idea, despite the heavy rains — but perhaps the beach area could be used better next time).
Day Two opened with Indonesia’s simakDialog, who did Asia proud by blending Indonesian instruments with jazz arrangements. Keyboardist Riza Arshad and guitarist Tohpati have been together for 17 years, and their tight collaboration shone through.
Amina Figarova, originally from Azerbaijan and now based in Amsterdam, showcased her range of piano and vocal skills along with an equally diverse group of musicians; Chris “Buckshot” Strik enthralled the audience with some superb drum solos.
Violinist, composer and arranger Ricardo Herz played a wide range of instrumental Brazilian melodies: choro, samba, xotes and waltzes. He played with musicians from Paris and Brasil. His solo piece with a range of cumulative loops was marvellous in its texture.
The highlight of the festival, almost like a lifetime achievement honour, was blues harmonica legend James Cotton. I first heard him live in the US in 1986 when he was already a star, and his genius shines on through the decades. Born in 1935, Grammy-winner Cotton is regarded as the best of the modern Chicago blues stylists. He has played with the who’s who of the blues pantheon, and this time he was backed on vocals and lead guitar in superb style by Harrison “Slam” Allen. The heavy rains cleared in time for this set and the grand finale.
Staying at the same hotel as the musicians meant we got to meet them not only at daily morning press conferences, but also over breakfast, lunch, dinner, and at the hotel pool! I now have a huge stack of CDs from the artistes to go through, and the Mike Shrieve Spellbinder Live CD is already one of my favourites! Other CD delights are Sketches (Amina Figarova), Mister Fuzz (Jeremy Tordjman), Brasil em 3 por 4 (Ricardo Herz), Trance Mission (simakDialog), Maribo 2007 (Norbert Susemihl), and Mellow Motif.
Each morning began with two-hour press briefings, covering everything from definitions of jazz (no one agreed on one single definition!) and the career of jazz musicians to future artiste projects and the need for more Asian cooperation in festival organisation. A minute of silence was also held in remembrance of Angelina George, Malaysian journalist who had covered MIJF and RWMF for years; she passed away unfortunately earlier this year.
Organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), the festival thus celebrated its fifth anniversary with a blend of blues, fusion, world, New Orleans and Latino beat. STB plans to organise an additional four events next year, and we eagerly await the announcements of themes and lineups for 2011. See you all next year at MIJF 2011!
[Surfboard: www.jeremytordjman.com www.susemihl-all-stars.eu www.myspace.com/simakdialog http://michaelshrievesspellbinder.com http://mellowmotif.weebly.com www.ricardoherz.com.br www.jamescottonsuperharp.com ]