14 years of jazz
Musical performances, workshops and after-hours jazz are among the highlights of the Penang Island Jazz Festival 2017, writes Dennis Chua
Catch Amy of Search (left), Noh Salleh of Hujan and Nidji in Konsert Gegaran 2017.
THIS year’s 14th edition of Malaysia’s longest running annual jazz festival, The Penang Island Jazz Festival, will be held from now until Sunday. A number of musical activities will be held in various venues on the island such as an opening performance at 23 Love Lane and an exhibition at The Black Box — Penang House of Music in Georgetown, Fringe Stages in the lobbies of Hard Rock Hotel and Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Feringgi and Jazz By The Beach in the gardens of Bayview Beach Resort. Besides musical performances, there will also be workshops conducted by participating artistes and the after-hours jazz jam.
This year’s main stage programme showcases a diverse and eclectic line-up of performers on the Jazz By The Beach stage with Italian fingerstyle guitarist Peppino D’Agostino, jazz, blues and swing band Adam Hall & The Velvet Playboys, jazz saxophonist and opera singer Haakon Kornstad, a Polish-Indonesian collaboration Grzegorz Karnas Formula, creative jazz drummer Eva Klesse and her Eva Klesse Quartet, ethnic fusion bands SE:UM and Modern Pansori from South Korea, modern jazz Luxembourg-US collaboration trio Reis Demuth Wiltgen, acoustic folk jazz quartet Holler My Dear and Penang’s own jazz quintet Tonal Alchemy.
The Penang Island Jazz Festival 2017 is supported by Penang Global Tourism, Goethe Institut, Redcon Music Factory, Music LX, LBS Music World and Roland Asia Pacific, among others.
Modern Pansori originates from the Korean traditional genre of musical storytelling performed by a singer and a drummer.Pansori is recognised by Unesco World Cultural Heritage as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and a performance can last up to eight hours with a singer singing about the beauty of contemporary emotions.
Founded in 2016 by vocalist Song BongGuem, Modern Pansori is built on a blend of traditional and modern experimental musical styles and instruments through the collaboration with classical music and jazz.
The other members are Shineui (DaeGeum), Suji Jeon (piri, taepyongso), Sungsoo Kim (keyboards), Dongil Choi (bass) and Seongbeom Kang (drums). German drummer Eva Klesse has been hailed as a “shooting star of the European jazz scene”.
In 2014, Eva met Evgeny Ring (saxophone), Philip Frischkorn (piano) and Robert Lucaciu (double bass) in Leipzig, Germany where they played a handful of concerts together.
In a short span of time, they displayed a remarkable diversity of musical styles and a strong creative drive, and six months later, they recorded their debut album Xenon, which later earned them the Jazz Echo (German Music Award) Newcomer of the Year. Cats In Love began as a rock band and comprises Lohan (guitars, vocals), Wong (keyboard), Zedes (bass) and Ash (drums). The band is on the cusp of releasing its debut album, No Paws For Regret.
Neon Waves got together early this year and made its debut performance at Little Penang Street Market. The response to its performance encouraged it to continue and the duo - Mable (keyboards and vocals) and Ahlleenh (vocals), who won first place in a Georgetown busking competition, continued to build up their repertoire experimenting with their own arrangements of a wide variety of songs from various genres.
The Eilvane Trio was formed by singersongwriter Eilvane from Kota Kinabalu, and she has been in the Sabah music scene since 2012. She came out second in the very first Unplugged Acoustic Competition and in 2013, she won the KK Jazz Talent Search.
Joining her on stage are seasoned keyboardist and music arranger Damian Paul and saxophonist Khairul Azree. The trio, who cover a wide selection of jazz and contemporary musical styles, perform regularly at Souled Out, Kota Kinabalu.
Venue: Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Feringgi, Penang.
Time: 6pm onwards.
Tickets: RM85. Call 03-7880 7999/032011 4725/012-296 7800/012-356 5544/016-360 7091.
Eva Klesse, Cats In Love, Eilvane Trio and Neon
Waves.