Penang Jazz Revisited
Here’re another couple of moments captured at the fantastic Penang Island Jazz Festival. The first is of the extremely photogenic Eva Bjerga Haugen. She was the finalist in the prestigious Norwegian jazz competition “Jazz Intro”. At the Penang Island Jazz Festival she was supported by the Espen Eriksen Trio with Espen Eriksen on piano, Lars [...]
Michaela Rabitsch
One of the highlights for me at the recent Penang Island Jazz Festival in Malaysia was the Austrian trumpeter and vocalist, Michaela Rabitsch, and her partner, composer and guitarist, Robert Pawlik. The jazz repertoire is pretty standard but Michaela’s approach and Robert’s distinctive playing give it a touch of funk and fusion. You can find [...]
Penang Island Jazz Festival
I have to confess that as a long-term expat there are few things that I miss about my past life in the UK. The first is good beer, and by that I mean real ale, and a few very particular foods such as stilton, and…errr…decent bacon. Everything else, I fear, is pure nostalgia and probably [...]
Mamak Khadem
Another highlight of the Rainforest World Music Festival this year was the Iranian singer Mamak Khadem. A former member of the cross-cultural fusion ensemble, Axiom of Choice, Mamak is now based in the USA. She continues to draw on her roots in Persian classical music and infuse it with Western musical traditions. The result is [...]
Blue Canyon Boys
It may be a vibrant and colourful event but to my eye several of the acts at this year’s Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak called for a black and white treatment. One of those was the brilliant Blue Canyon Boys from the USA. The quartet of talented musicians cooks up an infectious brew of Colorado [...]
Paddy Keenan
As I said in my last post, my main reason for going to the Rainforest World Music Festival this year was to meet up with Paddy Keenan. I’ve known Paddy for several years now. We first met up when I was photographing him at a festival and we hit it off immediately. He’s one of [...]
Rockin’ the Rainforest
I have just returned from the annual Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak, the 14th year is has been held and the 6th one I have attended. As usual there was a good vibe at the festival and an eclectic line-up of musicians from around the globe. Truth to be told I wasn’t going to [...]
Rainforest World Music Fest 2011
Just a quick reminder that the annual Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak is coming up from July 8 – 10. If you are in the region, this stellar festival is really worth going to. This year’s line-up is as great as ever, and if the rain holds off it will be another fantastic event. [...]
Musafir Gypsies
On Sunday night at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak, the Musafir Gypsies of Rajasthan gave a spirited performance punctuated by tight tabla beats and intense flashes of colour from Asha, a beautiful and totally captivating gypsy dancer. Musafir means traveller in Farsi, and the group’s compositions feature Rajasthani rural folk music, along [...]
Leila Negrau
A highlight of this year’s Rainforest World Music Festival was the appearance on Saturday night of Leila Negrau. I can’t for the life of me understand why this powerful performer was not given the headline spot that night. A singer and percussionist, Leila comes from the Reunion Islands, 750 kilometres east of Madagascar in the [...]
Rainforest World Music Festival
Mount Santubong cuts an impressive sight. Rising in all its chiselled glory from the northern-most tip of Sarawak’s Santubong Peninsular it casts a primeval shadow across the land. While the lower reaches of the mountain slip seamlessly into the clear saline waters from where it once emerged, the upper bulk, 810 metres of limestone outcrops, [...]
Lee Ritenour
At the recent Hua Hin Jazz Festival I had the chance to sit down and chat with Lee Ritenour. I last interviewed him three years ago so it was great to find out what he’s been up to. This year, Lee Ritenour marks his 50th year playing the guitar but he is still sounding as fresh [...]
Hua Hin Jazz Festival
Hua Hin, a beach resort town 200 kilometres south of Bangkok, recently held its ninth annual jazz festival. In the past, I have been extremely critical of the festival due to poor organisation and lacklustre line-ups. You could certainly be forgiven for believing that most live jazz performed in Thailand is in the Kenny G [...]
Miri Jazz
I’ve just returned from the superb Miri International Jazz Festival in Sarawak. The event is held in the beachfront garden of a hotel and attracts a crowd of around 3,000 jazz lovers. This year’s festival featured the legendary harmonica player James Cotton who fronted a very tight blues band. Now in his 70s, Mr. Cotton [...]
George Anderson
Last year, at the annual Hua Hin Jazz Festival the organizers invited me to interview the Brit-funk outfit, Shakatak. They were a great bunch of guys and very kindly allowed me to spend the entire gig on stage to photograph them. Bass player, George Anderson, recently sent me a copy of his debut solo album, [...]
