THE recent Penang Island Jazz Festival 2009, held from December 3 to 6, in many venues scattered around the island, was in its sixth edition and has evolved into an important music festival in the region.

All About Jazz, a crowd-sourcing website produced by a volunteer staff of jazz enthusiasts, revealed that the "bar has also been raised in terms of the quality of music on offer, and the Penang Island Jazz Festival is beginning to stand out from other jazz festivals in the Pacific Rim region which often tend to cater to more populist or smoother tastes." (The 6th Penang Island Jazz Festival: December 3-6, 2009, All About Jazz, 15.12.09)

In another review, Daryl Goh of Star Online, also raved about the festival, saying that if you want a properly curated jazz festival in this country, "the Penang Island Jazz Festival has become the music fan’s reliable and consistent choice... Whether recognisable international names, obscure yet provocative European acts, regional favourites or local stalwarts on stage, the modestly-managed festival has remained well-grounded and, to date, it has punched far above its own weight in gaining recognition and credibility.” (The tide of change, Star Online, 10.12.09)

View gallery below for slideshow from the event. All photographs are from the organisers of the festival.

Reference

• The 6th Penang Island Jazz Festival: December 3-6, 2009 (All About Jazz, 15.12.09)
• The tide of change (Star Online, 10.12.09)

Related links

• Hello Dreams on the PIJF
• Penang Island Jazz Festival pictures on flickr

We reproduce below for the post-event press release for the festival by the organisers:

The sixth Penang Island Jazz Festival (PIJF) came to a close on the first weekend of December 2009. Presented by Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, the sixth edition saw more than 3,500 jazz lovers attending the festival. The successful festival kick started with the Penang Island Jazz Festival Young Talent Competition on Dec 3rd which was jointly organized by The Capricorn Connection and the National Department for Culture and Arts (Ministry of Information Communication and Culture) with the support from Bayview Beach Resort, JS Music, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, InterGlobal Music, Music Mart and the Penang Jazz Community.
 
The finalists comprised of Jazz Jam Crew from the Penang Free School, all-girl cello group CGDA, Ocean of Fire + 1, University Sains Malaysia (USM) students SynThmPhoNycs and graduates Apex Jazz Ensemble. Each group was required to perform two songs; one of which has to be a national folk song (lagu rakyat). The panel of judges comprising of Haniah Hassan from the National Department for Culture and Arts, Managing Director of InterGlobal Music, Cheah Mun Kit and German pianist/trumpeter Sebastian Studnitzky from Studnitzky Trio selected Ocean of Fire + 1 as the winner and SynThmPhoNycs in the runner up position. The Most Promising Young Musician Award went to Flautist / Vocalist Mohd Yusof from SynThmPhoNycs.

The later part of the evening saw the first performance of the festival being staged with “An Evening with Michelle Nicolle Quartet”. The Australian songstress gave a roaring performance to a packed G Spot at G Hotel.

PIJF 2009 saw the inclusion of 2 foreign exhibitions to the Festival’s existing Jazz Gallery and the collaboration with the Penang State Art Gallery exhibition of selected art pieces from the Penang State Art Competition entitled “Interpretation of Music Through Visual Arts”. The foreign exhibitions were the travelling Goethe Institut German Jazz Exhibition of rarely seen photographs reflecting the history of German Jazz and American endorsed jazz photographer William Ellis ‘Keeping Time’ jazz photography exhibition which included images of Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis. The British photographer also conducted a jazz photography workshop entitled ‘Stolen Moments’ in which Ellis gave away a photograph valued at £320 (RM2,000) of Pat Metheny playing the Picasso guitar in a raffle for the attendees  of the workshop.

Each year the Festival gives back to the community with the Jazz with a Heart Charity Dinner. This year PIJF collaborated with the International Women’s Association Penang (IWA) to raise funds for the various charities and organizations supported by IWA Penang and the Shammah Homes, Butterworth. The Charity Dinner saw more than 300 people in attendance.

The sixth edition of the Festival also saw an additional fringe stage venue at the new Hard Rock Hotel (Rock Stage) added to the two existing stages at G Hotel (G Stage) and Bayview Beach Resort (Bayview Corner). The fringe stages provided local young and upcoming bands a platform to showcase their talents on an international level. KL based bands such as Rhapsody, Tokyo Blue, Ray Cheong Trio, Unit and SquareCircles stepped up to the challenge and put on an amazing performance. High Society, G Spot Band, Mellowtones, WGF & Ray, Ocean of Fire, De Leon Jazz Experience and the runner up of the Young Talent Competition - SynThmPhoNycs were the selected groups representing Penang putting on a great performance. It was encouraging to note that the musicians were not taking the smaller stages lightly by putting on high quality music performances.

This year, the Festival received applications from more than 200 groups from all over the world expressing interest in being a part of the Festival. Recognition and support from various government agencies enabled the Festival to programme a host of quality international acts which included In The Country from Norway, Michelle Nicolle Quartet from Australia, Sizhukong from Taiwan, Paulo Bellinati & Cristina Azuma from Brazil, Organamix from Singapore, Studnitzky Trio from Germany, Dainius Pulauskas Group from Lithuania and Buzz Bros Band from Holland to perform on the main ‘Jazz by the Beach’ stage. The line up was also strengthened by the appearance of Janek Gwizdala Project from USA/Norway, Charlie Jung Band from South Korea, Band of Brothers from Thailand and Malaysia’s own Island Palm Beach Boys.

Day one of Jazz by the Beach went on without a hitch (even with the threat of rain by way of a slight drizzle which eventually went away) in the early part of the evening which did not dampen the ambience nor shun the audience away. The Island Palm Beach Boys decked up with Hawaiian shirts and lei (a wreath of flowers) did Penang proud with their Hawaiian jazz tunes. Their performance set the mood for the night. A laid back evening filled with high quality music. Day one ended with a party mood compliment of Koh Mr. Saxman and his Band of Brothers.

The clear sky and cool breeze set Day two in motion with South Korean band, Charlie Jung Band taking stage with their brand of Blues and smooth jazz. The next Act to take the stage, Paulo Bellinati & Cristina Azuma showed their professionalism and experience by continuing with their performance without a missed note or beat when the stage lights went off for a couple of minutes and the crowd did not even seem to notice it. The evening continued smoothly after and the four day long Festival came to an end with a stellar performance by USA/Norway group, the Janek Gwizdala Project. Led by bassist Janek Gwizdala, the quartet, which included World renowned Swiss drum legend – Jojo Mayer, gave a very improvisational yet entertaining performance, which reminded Festival goers they can trust the Penang Island Jazz Festival to serve high quality music.

Entertainment aside, the Festival also gives attention to the education aspect of jazz music. Three workshops were offered this year to provide the community an opportunity to learn from the best. Festival goers were given an insight to the acoustic harmonic blending of two guitars by Brazilian duo Paulo Bellinati & Cristina Azuma, the fusion of eastern instruments and musical techniques with jazz by Taiwanese band Sizhukong and the understanding of vocals with a musical trio format by the Michelle Nicolle Quartet from Australia.

This year, PIJF also invited a number of Jazz Festival Organisers and Promoters to participate in the inaugural Island Jazz Forum discussing the topic, “Jazz and The Creative Economy”. The panel consists of Antanas Gustys, founder, artistic director and producer of Lithuania’s oldest annual jazz festival – the Vilnius Jazz Festival, Jae Jin In, founder and artistic director of Jarasum Jazz Festival, South Korea, Peter Lee, founder and director of the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival, Henk Van Leeuwen, founder and owner of Australia Northern Europe Liaisons and Natasha E. Gerold, jazz promoter and manager of Buzz Music. The five gave an insightful view into the workings of a jazz festival by sharing their experiences and its impact on the economy where the festival is held.
 
PIJF 2009 continued its community drum circle led by members of Aseana Percussion Unit and Tugu Drum Circle. The hour long session saw the participation of about 100 people from various age groups (young and old). The calming sound of waves hitting the Batu Ferringhi shore was accompanied by a steady uplifting beat of drums playing in unison. The cool breeze and warm sun set the tone for the final day of the Festival.

In keeping in line with the vision of creating a total Festival experience, the Penang Island Jazz Festival, has in the past five editions, established a firm foundation and grown from strength to strength. The sixth edition of the Festival has seen it raise the bar once again, drawing a higher number of attendees from outside of Penang and gaining global recognition. Those who missed this year’s Festival can be assured that the seventh edition in 2010 will continue it’s tradition of keeping the Festival relevant with a programme that’s of international standard and quality.

The 6th Penang Island Jazz Festival was presented by Mercedes-Benz Malaysia with partners Bayview Beach Resort and RedFM. It is supported by Australia-Malaysia Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of The Culture of The Republic of Lithuania, Royal Netherlands Embassy Kuala Lumpur, Embassy of Brazil, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Goethe-Institut Malaysia, Council for Culture Affairs Taiwan, National Department of Culture and Arts Malaysia, Penang Global Tourism, G Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Penang, Eastern & Oriental Berhad, Starbucks Coffee, Musikkprofil Norway, Penang State Museum, InterGlobal Music Sdn Bhd, JS Music, Roland Asia Pacific, The Guitar Store, Homegrown Productions, Composers & Authors Society of Singapore, American Jazz Museum, Heineken, Danai Spa, Tropical Spice Garden, Little Penang Street Market, Penang Jazz Community and GR8 Music.

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