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 Tormod Jenset on bass, and Andreas Bye on drums.

The second is of Fabian Gisler of the hugely entertaining Swiss trio, Rusconi. You can see more pictures from the festival in the Music folder of my Portfolio.

I have just returned from the annual Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak, the 14^th year is has been held and the 6^th 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 go this year but am gald I did. There were some  stellar acts including Lisa Haley and the Zydekats from the USA, the Blue Canyon Boys also from the USA, Mamak Khadem from Iran, and the fantastic Warsaw Village Band from Poland. So what persuaded me to get on a plane and travel to Sarawak? Well that would be Paddy Keenan. More on him in the next instalment. Meanwhile, here’s a handful of images of the Zydekats.

One of the highlights of Saturday was Lisa Haley and the Zydekats. The tight band played a rousing blend of Zydeco and Cajun rhythms that whipped the capacity crowd into a frenzy.

Accordion diva and vocalist, Gigi ‘Gee’ Rabe was an energetic performer, singing and jamming with Lisa on the hot and humid evening. Guitarist Chuck Alvarez also added tasty licks to the steamy sound of the Louisiana swamp.

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. I’m particularly looking forward to it because my old mate Paddy Keenan is playing this year. It’s been a few years since we met – I think the last time was at a festival in Had Yai, south Thailand. Irish music fans with know him as one of the members of The Bothy Band from back in the mid-70s. At the Rainforest he is billed to play as the Paddy Keenan Trio and music lovers can expect a great performance. Check out Paddy’s website  

The Rainforest World Music Festival put Sarawak on the map. From humble beginnings in 1997, when a crowd of 300 dedicated music fans gathered in an idyllic spot at the edge of the jungle, the festival has developed into a truly world class event. It is a showcase for local indigenous music and talented musicians from across the globe who are out of the mainstream; a category that is now loosely termed as ‘world music’.

So, how does this little festival, tucked away in Sarawak compare with others around the world? Greg, a technician from Scotland who has worked as part of the crew at the Rainforest World Music Festival for years spoke to me and it was clear he had few doubts as to the very special nature of the event.

‘It’s the best festival in the world, and I go to a lot of festivals,’ says Greg. ‘It’s not a technical thing because in reality it is a very challenging festival to work on. The equipment certainly isn’t what we are used. However, the setting, the atmosphere, the diversity of music…. I can assure you the bands are all elated at the experience of playing here. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. This is as good as it gets.’

Word has certainly spread about Asia’s greatest music festival and people now fly in from around the region to hear a stunning variety of music. This July, the gem of a festival once again promises a fantastic line-up of stunning musical talent from around the globe. Twenty groups representing 12 countries from all continents will play alongside local groups from Sarawak and West Malaysia. Over 20,000 World Music fans are expected to pass through the gates over a three day period to hear music from a diverse line-up that includes Lisa Hayley and the Zydecats from the USA, Mamak Khadem from Iran, Leweton Women’s Water Music from Vanuatu, Kenge Kenge from Kenya and many more.

 You can see the full line-up at the website here.

 Visit Sarawak Tourism’s site for more details about the country here. 

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.

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, Positivity.  

The back cover features an image I took at the festival. He has also used my B&W images on his  newly revamped website.You can order George’s superb album through Amazon.

Just so you can see what a great job the graphic designers have done, here’s the original image.

Other muscians I have photgraphed and had feature articles published about include reggae star, Jimmy Cliff, the superb Touareg band, Tinariwen, jazz guitarists, Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour, guitarist, Steve Lukather, and jazz drummer, Billy Cobham. Next weekend the musical theme continues. I’m flying off to Sarawak to cover the tremendous Miri International Jazz Festival. Highlights of this year’s two-day event include the legendary James Cotton Blues Band, and Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder.

I’ll also be taking a two-day trip up to Limbang and Lawas in northern Sarawak at the invitation of Sarawak Tourism.

Tell your friends you are going to Sarawak for a holiday and the most likely response will be, “where’s that?” In case you don’t know, Sarawak is Malaysia’s largest state on the land mass once commonly known as Borneo, and now divided into Brunei, Indonesia and Sarawak. It offers a diverse range of experiences for adventurous travellers. I look forward to bringing back some great images of the jazz festival and of northern Sarawak’s more remote areas.