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 is looking a little fragile and is barely audible when he speaks…but when he plays the harmonica it’s pure magic. 

Other highlights included Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder. Michael was the original drummer with Santana and, at the tender age of 19, the youngest musician to play at Woodstock. The band’s sound, a cool fusion of rock and jazz, featured the great trumpeter, John Fricke.

Saturday night saw Ricardo Herz from Brazil take to the stage.

The wild haired violinist whipped the crowd up into a frenzy with his exuberant playing that touched on samba, jazz and classical.

I really enjoy the challenge of photographing live gigs. It can be a bit hit and miss with constantly changing lighting and there are lots of images to delete after the show but the handful of satisfying shots make it worth. Of course, it’s always great to be in the photographers pit and to be able to chat with the musicians too.