Asean Jazz Festival To Feature Collaborations

Batam, Riau Islands, Sep 16 (Antara) - The ASEAN Jazz Festival, which will take place in Batam from September 20 to 21, will feature collaborations between local and foreign musicians on the stage, with Harbour Bay scenery as the background. "The ASEAN Jazz Festival will feature musician collaborations, and this is what distinguishes it from the Java Jazz," said ASEAN Jazz Festival Director Dwiki Dharmawan on Monday. Several promising collaborations have been prepared by the organiser, such as the collaboration between Singaporean Jazz Maestro Fabian Lim, Indonesian singer Nita Aartsen and composer Dwiki Dharmawan. Meanwhile, Turkish singer Aslan Burhan is scheduled to perform with former member of Debu Band Naseem Wahid. "There will be a number of interesting collaborations," he noted. He believes that these cross-nation collaborations will attract foreign tourists. He added that many people will attend the performance by Fabian Lim and Nita Aartsen. Dharmawan mentioned that these collaborations were made based on the type of Jazz played by the musicians. He mentioned that Aslan Burhan�s music rhythm resonates with Malays, which is why he will be performing with Naseem Wahid. Yuri Jo, an Indonesian guitarist, who is popular in Australia, will collaborate with former GIGI`s drummer Budhy Haryono, since their music has a tinge of rock. The two-day festival will not only focus on plain old jazz, but also on swing, fusion, and acid, scheduled to be performed by 50 artistes from seven countries. Performers of the ASEAN Jazz Festival include Barry Likumahua, Rieka Roslan, Sierra Soetodjo, Andien, Dira Sugandi, Trie Utami, Steve Thornton (Malaysia), Fabian Lim (Singapore), Glen Dauna Jazz Quintet, Toninho Horta (Brazil), The Brag Pag (Netherlands), Sandra Viraj (Philippines), Natasha Pattamapongs (Thailand), and Kamal Mussalam and The Eastmania (Dubai). Meanwhile, the head of the Batam Tourism Office has invited local and foreign lovers of jazz music to the annual show at Bay Harbour Restaurant. "This show is free of cost," he said.