Lois Gilbert
March-2nd-2005, 01:59 AM
A mosaic of music in Singapore
By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop International Herald Tribune
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
SINGAPORE Normally staid Singapore is trying to jazz things up. With 10 days of eclectic performances by internationally known jazz musicians and world music award winners, the Mosaic Music Festival will gather masters and upstarts alike for jam sessions celebrating a wide spectrum of music.
In recent years, Singapore has worked hard to carve a name for itself on the Asian arts scene. The most significant of its efforts was the 2002 opening of the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, which has quickly become one of the most important venues in Asia by attracting such performers as k.d. Lang, Yo-Yo Ma and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
With so many music festivals in Asia, the Esplanade is hoping its collaboration with the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Putumayo World Music label will help it give the Mosaic festival a unique identity when it runs from March 11 to 20.
"We felt it was important to create something distinctive, planting the seeds for this festival to grow hopefully into something iconic for this part of the world," said Benson Puah, the Esplanade chief executive. He called the cooperation a "meeting of minds rather than a financial or contractual relationship."
"The motivation is really not just to develop audiences, but also to create an artistic platform where artists would want to come to this festival," Puah said, "because it's not only fun, but also it offers them a tremendous window to intermingle with other artists in this region and maybe explore a new dynamic expression."
While the Montreux Jazz Festival has worked with other cities over the past 20 years (Atlanta, Detroit and Tokyo, to name a few), its participation in the Mosaic festival "is a testament to the Esplanade's growing reputation among the international arts community," said Stéphanie-Aloysia Moretti, the Montreux festival's special events coordinator and program coordinator for jazz concerts and educational matters.
The Mosaic festival will feature Barbara Hendricks in its Montreux Jazz Special Concert. Better known to the opera world, Hendricks made her "official" jazz debut at Montreux in 1994, but she says she started singing jazz while studying mathematics during her university years. "This was even before I started singing classical," she said in an e-mail message. "Jazz is a way of living."
Hendricks called her first participation in the Montreux festival "a magical evening." Since then, she has performed regularly in jazz festivals, singing the works of her favorites: Gershwin, Porter and Ellington. At Mosaic, she will collaborate again with the Grammy award-winning Magnus Lindgren Quartet "Jazz Project" from Sweden. "I performed in Singapore before, but with what I've heard about the Esplanade Concert Hall, this time should be fantastic," she wrote.
Mosaic is Singapore's most ambitious foray into jazz and world music, although in summer the city serves as the host of WOMAD, a World of Music, Arts and Dance festival. "We had wanted to put a jazz festival together even before we opened the venue in 2002, but a good festival is not just about bringing in artists and selling tickets; it's also about substance," said J.P. Nathan, the Esplanade's director of program development.
Jazz will be the festival's core, with participants including James Moody and Shirley Horn, but Mosaic will also feature the Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, who won a Grammy this year, and the American conga master Poncho Sanchez, another Grammy winner.
The rock band Tortoise will bring its mix of avant-garde jazz with classical minimalism, British electronica and ambient and space music. The band pairs tried-and-true punk and rock influences with a variety of left-field musical genres.
"Many of the artists will be presented with somebody else because they wanted it that way," Nathan said. "It's like a party with friends, and the R.S.V.P.s are still coming in."
Moody, who turns 80 in March, is an early jazz innovator who played with Dizzy Gillespie. At Mosaic, he will perform with local jazz musicians including Jeremy Monteiro.
"Musically, James Moody is still on top of his game, so it is always very enriching to make music with him," Monteiro said. "He pushes me to the edge of my ability, and I find that exhilarating.
"We've played together five or six times now in Singapore as well as in Hong Kong and Macau, so I am no longer overwhelmed with the 'awe' aspect of playing with him while I am on stage," he added. "Still, after I head to my hotel room, it always hits me: I've just played with one of the pillars of bebop jazz and a living legend."
In other performances, local and regional artists will team up for a night of blues, and Trio Toykeat from Finland will share a bill with Australia's top jazz-world band, Monsieur Camembert, a five-piece group that has performed at Montreux and has been invited to perform there again in July.
The Putumayo World Music label, established in 1993, is helping stage a two-day outdoor dance party. On one day Sanchez and his 11-piece band will play; and the next day will feature two prominent female artists: Kaïssa, who blends rhythm and blues, jazz and hip-hop with African and Brazilian fusion, and Sushella Raman, who weaves Western influences into Indian music with traditional instruments such as the tabla.
The founder of Putumayo, Dan Storper, said, "I've always been drawn to beautiful female voices, and we feel that women's voices with world music instrumentation often result in some of the most compelling songs."
Putumayo is also contributing an exhibition of its CD covers painted by the British artist Nicola Heindl, while Montreux will screen archival concert footage and black and white photographs of jazz greats like Gillespie and B.B. King.
Mosaic will spread over the Esplanade's numerous venues, from its concert hall and small studios to its rooftop and outdoor stages, where free events will take place every evening. These performances will be complemented by activities such as workshops, autograph sessions and visual arts programs.
"We believe this festival is a step toward developing new audiences for jazz and other music genres and, more importantly, will contribute significantly to Singapore's cultural calendar," Nathan said.
While Singapore has done much to create and develop the infrastructure for a vibrant arts scene, it is still struggling to develop local audiences and artists. Puah hopes that the Mosaic festival, by interweaving Singaporean artists with foreign talent, will help develop both local talent and audiences.
The Esplanade has lowered ticket prices to attract a wider audience. "I can't whet your appetite if you don't sample the food," Puah said. "In the arts, if you just throw money at it, it won't alight because there is no magic. What we're trying to do here is to ignite the flame."
Puah said he plans for the festival to be an annual event, giving it room to grow through time. Festival details are available on the Esplanade Web site, www.esplanade.com.
By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop International Herald Tribune
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
SINGAPORE Normally staid Singapore is trying to jazz things up. With 10 days of eclectic performances by internationally known jazz musicians and world music award winners, the Mosaic Music Festival will gather masters and upstarts alike for jam sessions celebrating a wide spectrum of music.
In recent years, Singapore has worked hard to carve a name for itself on the Asian arts scene. The most significant of its efforts was the 2002 opening of the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, which has quickly become one of the most important venues in Asia by attracting such performers as k.d. Lang, Yo-Yo Ma and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
With so many music festivals in Asia, the Esplanade is hoping its collaboration with the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Putumayo World Music label will help it give the Mosaic festival a unique identity when it runs from March 11 to 20.
"We felt it was important to create something distinctive, planting the seeds for this festival to grow hopefully into something iconic for this part of the world," said Benson Puah, the Esplanade chief executive. He called the cooperation a "meeting of minds rather than a financial or contractual relationship."
"The motivation is really not just to develop audiences, but also to create an artistic platform where artists would want to come to this festival," Puah said, "because it's not only fun, but also it offers them a tremendous window to intermingle with other artists in this region and maybe explore a new dynamic expression."
While the Montreux Jazz Festival has worked with other cities over the past 20 years (Atlanta, Detroit and Tokyo, to name a few), its participation in the Mosaic festival "is a testament to the Esplanade's growing reputation among the international arts community," said Stéphanie-Aloysia Moretti, the Montreux festival's special events coordinator and program coordinator for jazz concerts and educational matters.
The Mosaic festival will feature Barbara Hendricks in its Montreux Jazz Special Concert. Better known to the opera world, Hendricks made her "official" jazz debut at Montreux in 1994, but she says she started singing jazz while studying mathematics during her university years. "This was even before I started singing classical," she said in an e-mail message. "Jazz is a way of living."
Hendricks called her first participation in the Montreux festival "a magical evening." Since then, she has performed regularly in jazz festivals, singing the works of her favorites: Gershwin, Porter and Ellington. At Mosaic, she will collaborate again with the Grammy award-winning Magnus Lindgren Quartet "Jazz Project" from Sweden. "I performed in Singapore before, but with what I've heard about the Esplanade Concert Hall, this time should be fantastic," she wrote.
Mosaic is Singapore's most ambitious foray into jazz and world music, although in summer the city serves as the host of WOMAD, a World of Music, Arts and Dance festival. "We had wanted to put a jazz festival together even before we opened the venue in 2002, but a good festival is not just about bringing in artists and selling tickets; it's also about substance," said J.P. Nathan, the Esplanade's director of program development.
Jazz will be the festival's core, with participants including James Moody and Shirley Horn, but Mosaic will also feature the Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, who won a Grammy this year, and the American conga master Poncho Sanchez, another Grammy winner.
The rock band Tortoise will bring its mix of avant-garde jazz with classical minimalism, British electronica and ambient and space music. The band pairs tried-and-true punk and rock influences with a variety of left-field musical genres.
"Many of the artists will be presented with somebody else because they wanted it that way," Nathan said. "It's like a party with friends, and the R.S.V.P.s are still coming in."
Moody, who turns 80 in March, is an early jazz innovator who played with Dizzy Gillespie. At Mosaic, he will perform with local jazz musicians including Jeremy Monteiro.
"Musically, James Moody is still on top of his game, so it is always very enriching to make music with him," Monteiro said. "He pushes me to the edge of my ability, and I find that exhilarating.
"We've played together five or six times now in Singapore as well as in Hong Kong and Macau, so I am no longer overwhelmed with the 'awe' aspect of playing with him while I am on stage," he added. "Still, after I head to my hotel room, it always hits me: I've just played with one of the pillars of bebop jazz and a living legend."
In other performances, local and regional artists will team up for a night of blues, and Trio Toykeat from Finland will share a bill with Australia's top jazz-world band, Monsieur Camembert, a five-piece group that has performed at Montreux and has been invited to perform there again in July.
The Putumayo World Music label, established in 1993, is helping stage a two-day outdoor dance party. On one day Sanchez and his 11-piece band will play; and the next day will feature two prominent female artists: Kaïssa, who blends rhythm and blues, jazz and hip-hop with African and Brazilian fusion, and Sushella Raman, who weaves Western influences into Indian music with traditional instruments such as the tabla.
The founder of Putumayo, Dan Storper, said, "I've always been drawn to beautiful female voices, and we feel that women's voices with world music instrumentation often result in some of the most compelling songs."
Putumayo is also contributing an exhibition of its CD covers painted by the British artist Nicola Heindl, while Montreux will screen archival concert footage and black and white photographs of jazz greats like Gillespie and B.B. King.
Mosaic will spread over the Esplanade's numerous venues, from its concert hall and small studios to its rooftop and outdoor stages, where free events will take place every evening. These performances will be complemented by activities such as workshops, autograph sessions and visual arts programs.
"We believe this festival is a step toward developing new audiences for jazz and other music genres and, more importantly, will contribute significantly to Singapore's cultural calendar," Nathan said.
While Singapore has done much to create and develop the infrastructure for a vibrant arts scene, it is still struggling to develop local audiences and artists. Puah hopes that the Mosaic festival, by interweaving Singaporean artists with foreign talent, will help develop both local talent and audiences.
The Esplanade has lowered ticket prices to attract a wider audience. "I can't whet your appetite if you don't sample the food," Puah said. "In the arts, if you just throw money at it, it won't alight because there is no magic. What we're trying to do here is to ignite the flame."
Puah said he plans for the festival to be an annual event, giving it room to grow through time. Festival details are available on the Esplanade Web site, www.esplanade.com.