All proceeds from Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival go to charity
KUCHING: The Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival ( KWJF) is doing its bit for charity by selling autographed posters of the 14 performers to the public; and 100 per cent of the proceeds will go to Welfare of Intellectually Disabled Children ( Perkata) and Sarawak Society for Parents of Children with Special Needs ( Pibakat).
This is a great way of giving back to the society while paying homage to the local music scene and welcoming international artistes to contribute to Kuching’s music scene.
“The organiser Sarawak Economic Development Corporation ( SEDC) holds dear these two organisations and thanks all of you for doing your small part, which goes a long way,” said festival advisor Gracie Geikie.
“Giving back to the community is very important to us and we wish for our artistes to be a part of this,” she said at the festival press conference held at Grand Margherita Hotel yesterday.
The festival is held from today till tomorrow (Sept 28 to 29) at the Grand Margherita Hotel.
The concert programme begins at 6.30pm and ends around 12.30am each night.
It’s a free- standing event, coupled with food and beverages, arts, crafts, activities and workshops.
Meanwhile, festival artistic director Asif Pishori said that there is a KWJF preview show tonight ( Sept 28) by Natalie Gillespie Band at 7.45pm onwards at the Rajang Lobby Lounge, at the hotel.
Entrance is free and open to the public.
There’s also music workshops by The Blues Gang, The Natalie Gillespie Band and Tuku Kame Jazz which is free and open to the public.
“At the Narawi Sape Workshop, the public can learn more about the sape and demonstration; The Blues Gang Workshop will feature tips and tricks and learn all about blues.
At The Natalie Gillespie Band, the public can learn about the journey of blues, funk and jazz.”
At the press conference, the performers, Dayang Nurfaizah, Aditya, Sang Voyage, Jolynn Chin, Tuku Kame Jazz and Alemay Fernandez, also said a few words about themselves.
Aditya from Indonesia said RnB is his roots and pop is his soul.
To date he has released two albums, BE MINE and I’M YOURS and also one single ‘Go Away’.
“The best of me is still yet to come, my dream is to be the number one male artist in Indonesia as well as reaching a wider international audience,” said Aditya.
Dayang Nurfaizah’s sultry tone, melodious voice, dazzling vocal prowess and effortless rendering of high pitched ballads has earned her numerous awards since she arrived into the music scene 20 years ago.
In 2017, she was the overall winner of Malaysia’s Annual Music Competition, Anugerah Juara Lagu 2016, for the song ‘Lelaki Teragung’.
She also bagged the Best Vocal Award after her mesmerizing performance, scoring her a hattrick for winning in the same category for three consecutive years.
Dayang Nurfaizah released her 8th studio album last year, a self- titled album that has received rave reviews and media attention.
The digital release of her album reached number one on Malaysia’s iTunes charts, Top 10 on Spotify Malaysia as well as top releases in Singapore and Brunei and was the only Malay language album trending on iTunes at the time of release.
Alemay Fernandez (Singapore) is hailed by TimeOut magazine as one of Singapore’s ‘ best-loved entertainers’.
She is a rising star on the Asian jazz scene.
In her illustrious 18-year career, she has performed with the likes of The Count Basie Orchestra, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, David Foster, Gregory Porter, Ernie Watts, Randy Brecker, Antonio Hart, Lewis Nash, Mitch Frohman, incognito, The Platters’ Bobby Soul, William Close & The Earth Harp Collective and opened for Laura Fygi & Benny Goison.
Incredibly, she has also sung for A-listers like Kevin Spacey, Ethan Hawke, Joss Stone, Kurt Elling, Lea Salonga, Paloma Picasso, Serena Williams as well as Presidents and Prime Ministers.
Sang Voyage is the top winner at the recent KWJF Jazz Band Search 2018 held at the Kuching Waterfront.
The Kuching- based experimental ethnic-fusion jazz band was formed by French Sape player Juhan Cottet and drummer Alexander Ang in February 2017, with aims to apply traditional and contemporary Sape playing to a wider context of modern music; predominantly through modern jazz, fusion and jazz.
Completing the line- up are bassist Jerahmiel George, keyboardist/pianist Luther Nishi, percussionist Jim EIsom and Micheue Wong on flute and synths.
Their most recent line- up addition is saxophonist Armand Abdul Malik.
The band members comprise musicians from disparate backgrounds and ages with varying degrees of musical experience.
While its formative members have been teaching music and playing in numerous working bands for several years, its younger members are mainly music students and music graduates.
Their repertoire consists mainly of original compositions with a few re-imagined jazz standards and traditional folktunes.
Sarawak- born Jolynn J. Chin started her musical journey at the age of five and at the age of 14, fully completed her graded exams (ABRSM) with distinction.
Few months later, she then passed her piano ATCL Recital Diploma Exam.
Soon after, she came under the tutelage of the Malaysian renowned pianist Dr Nicholas Ong, the first Malaysian to receive a doctorate in piano performance at the prestigious Juilliard School in USA, where she continued further training under his coaching up till today.
Jolynn has also studied under many concert pianists such as Andrew Brownell, champion of the 2005 J.N.
Hummel Competition, and Li Ming Qiang, winner of the 4th Chopin international Competition 1960.
Jolynn was offered a place to study at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) in Singapore, in which she went to do her Diploma in Music Performance Course for one year.
Jolynn has also taken part in various competitions worldwide.
She was the second runnerup in the Young Person’s Piano Competition 2014 open category, held at the Dewan Besar Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang and was awarded Gold Prize for the 2016 Asia international Piano Academy Festival and Competition held in Seoui, South Korea.
Jolynn has recently released her first single, TOCCATA, out on major stores such as iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora, etc, which was produced by music producer Roger Montegano, member of the Grammy Recording Academy, New York as well as mastered by Howie Weinberg, award-winning mastering engineer for celebrity bands such as Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Nirvana.
Tuku Kame Jazz, on the other hand, is formed by the energetic musicians of the Sarawak Cultural Village led by Narawi Rashidi.
It is an innovative ensemble, displaying the depth of Narawi’s talent as a composer, arranger and innovator.
The musicians are all seasoned performers, having toured Canada, USA, Australia, The Middle East, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei.
Tuku Kame combines the traditional Sarawakian instruments of thirty ethnic races residing on the Island of Borneo, played in contemporary tunes to create an infectious and exciting new sound.