While Sarawak has mixed cultural heritage, it’s one that’s forever changing and evolving. Just over a decade ago Sarawak staged the first Rainforest World Music Festival on the outskirts of Kuching to display to the world its own musical heritage while showcasing global exponents of world music to an enthusiastic local audience which was keen for anything new. The Rainforest Festival, now staged annually in July, has put Kuching on the map for those who appreciate world music and generally who enjoy having a lot of fun in the rainforest setting of the Sarawak Cultural Village.

Music is universally appreciated and Sarawak Tourism has also championed it to promote Sarawak’s northernmost city of Miri. The first Miri International Jazz Festival was staged in the oil-rich city in 2005. This festival has proven to be so popular that it has become an annual event ever since and this year’s festival will staged on Friday, May 14 and Saturday, May15.

Jazz is a musical style that evolved in Western music, but it is known for its significant contribution made by American musicians of African descent. It has been influenced by the delta and Chicago bluesmen as much as the tribal beat of Western Africa. While a disciplined musical form, jazz is also noted for its improvisation.

To enlightened aficionados jazz isn’t something that’s black and white and this has been a feature of previous Miri jazz festivals. Confronted with staging music in a city that’s not overly familiar with the jazz genre, the organisers have taken a diverse and popularist approach in putting the concert together.

Performances at the Miri festival have ranged across the whole jazz spectrum from contemporary to commercial with some traditional delta blues, boogie woogie, intricate Cuban dance rhythms and energetic African beat music. The main purpose of the festival has been to entertain audiences while exposing them to a range of musical styles. Based upon the reaction of past audiences, the only conclusion to be made is that the festivals so far have been a huge success.

For many, the event is equally as important as the music. True musical devotees will know some of the bands that will perform this year (or research them on the worldwide web), but for most, they remain unknown. As they are considered some of the best in their specific area, they’re will prove to be excellent exponents of what they do. This year’s programme provides a good balance of regional bands and international acts.

Eight bands will appear at this year’s festival and include musical genres covering many areas of jazz. These include on Friday evening Mellow Motif (Thailand), Jeremy Tordjman Project (Switzerland), Norbert Susemihl’s New Orleans All Stars (USA, Germany and Denmark) and Michael Shrieve’s Spellbounder (USA). Saturday night kicks off at 7pm with SimakDialogue (Indonesia), Amina Figarova Sextet (Holland) Ricardo Hertz (Brazil) and the James Cotton Blues Band (USA) will be the last act on before the traditional all-group jam on Saturday night just before midnight.

The festival will be staged in the spacious grounds of the ParkCity Everly Hotel situated beside the South China Sea. Its extensive andscaped gardens and refreshments tents full of cool beverages provide an inviting setting in which to stage the musical festival. Markets and food stalls will also be set up to offer a range of souvenirs, artists CD’s, drinks and food. If you like your jazz, you’ll already have the festival date marked in your diary.

If you’ve never been to Miri before and have an interest in eclectic music; head on over to Borneo this May.

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Contact: The Miri International Jazz Festival is organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board (Tel: +6082 423 600, www.sarawaktourism.com) while tickets enquiries should be directed to the hotline (Tel: +603 9222 8811). Buying tickets in advance is advisable as they sell out quickly. Daily Ticket prices are RM60 (RM30 for children aged between 3–12).

Get all the details on the festival at www.mirijazzfestival.com and stay in the ParkCity Everly Hotel
(Tel: +6085 418 888, www.vhhotels.com).