Borneo Jazz Festival 2018 attracts over 4,000 audiences
MIRI: Jazz music enthusiasts from here and abroad were really entertained after three nights of high-octane performances during the Borneo Jazz Festival 2018 (BJF18) – one of the longest running jazz festivals in the region – at Coco Cabana here recently.
The 13th edition of the annual festival, organised jointly by Sarawak Tourism Board and Kuala Lumpur’s premier jazz club No Black Tie, saw crowds of over 4, 000 jazz-loving audiences mostly expatriates thronging the main and fringe stages to catch the showcase of 30 international and local jazz singers and musicians.
Among the headliners were Sarawak’s very own gem Pete Kallang – dubbed the vocal ‘Prince of Borneo’ by many of his fans and is best known for his deep and soulful voice and jovial persona – and Zee Avi – a renowned singer and songwriter who was bestowed the Youth Icon (International) Award by the state government in 2011.
Other BJF18 performers included top national jazz acts Datuk Zainal Abidin, Michael Veerapen, Dasha Logan, Bihzhu, Mei Lin Hii and Elvira Arul.
These national acts shared the stage with big names on the international jazz music scene Tony Lakatos from Germany, Christ Stalk (France), Grzegorz Karnas Formula (Poland), Roby Lakatos (Belgium), Cecilia Brunori (Italy), Denis Chang (Canada), QSound (USA), Isao Miyoshi (Japan), Gaoyang Li (China) and Jeremy Monteiro (Singapore).
The highlight for many festivalgoers was the highly-anticipated performance of Zee Avi who is a Miri native who shared the stage with closing band for BJF18 Nadir alongside Bihzhu and performed late into the night on the third day with crowds singing along to their progressive ethno-jazzfusion songs.
Apart from the spectacular stage performances, the festival also featured a mini workshop titled ‘Me, Myself and I’ where jazz fans got the opportunity to meet Malaysia legendary singer Datuk Zainal Abidin who shared his experience on how to take over the stage and make it their own, among others.
Those who attended the festival also got the opportunity to savour local flavours at stalls displaying varieties of traditional and modern bites and mesmerised by electrifying performances during the nightly jam sessions after the final performance for each of the three nights.
A panel discussion themed ‘Connecting Europe & Asia through Jazz’ was also held during the festival. This panel discussed European and Asian elements in jazz, the flexibility of jazz in incorporating disparate elements for diverse cultures and the collaboration in jazz between Europe and Southeast Asian musicians.
As part of this year’s festival, the organisers also launched the first ‘Borneo Jazz Talent Search’, which kicked off in early March this year. It was meant to provide a platform for emerging talents from Borneo to perform in front of an international audience at the festival.
The Embassy of Italy and the Italian Trade Agency were sponsors of BJF18, and in support of the festival and in collaboration with the Italian Festival 2018, there were a few side-events prepared during the festival. These included free movie screening at TGV cinema for those who claimed their tickets at Coco Cabana or registered at the front desk at the cinema.
Avid food lovers also got the chance to meet a renowned Italian chef Emil Sassolini, who displayed his cooking talent and served authentic Italian cuisine to the festival invitees.
First staged in 2006, the BJF was originally called the Miri International Jazz Festival until 2011, when it was rebranded. BJF was organised to create another international music festival in Sarawak as well as to promote Miri as a resort city.
It has since then become a wellknown addition to the myriad of festivals that Sarawak has to offer, making Borneo Jazz Festival as one of the event highlights for Visit Miri Year 2018 campaign that has received tremendous response from music enthusiasts, especially jazz fans.