Borneo Jazz 2013 will see a fresh set of explosive acts that makes it the most anticipated Borneo Jazz festival to date. With notable names such as The Nylons, Jump 4 Joy, Lisa Young Quartet and Mo’ Blow, to name a few, festival goers can expect a weekend full of swing, groove and musicality.

As a preview, let’s look at one of the groups that will be gracing the stage this 11 May: Mo’ Blow.

Mo’ Blow hails from Germany; a young, energetic group that would make the first-time listener an instant follower. Listening to their groovy tunes will get you moving along to their rhythm. With piece titles such as “Ricky the Lobster,” “Coke & Baked Beans” and “How Jules got his Cool Back,” you sort of get that nonchalant, casual connotation, and when coupled with listening to the actual melodies played out, there you have Mo’ Blow; a quintessential group with dynamic music to play.

“That’s groovy Jazz-Funk of the very best kind, intelligent and moving, yet with a generous helping of fun and great good humor.” – Norddeutsche Neuste Nachrichten, Germany.

For a young group, Mo’ Blow have done themselves proud; getting lavish praise from places such as Germany, Russia, Netherlands and Croatia. Now, they are geared up for making their mark in South-East Asia, christening their maiden show in Borneo the ‘Gimme the Boots’ concert, in conjunction with the release of their latest album.

Along the way they have pocketed enviable awards as well. The Winner of Berliner Jazz & Blues Award, Winner of Future Sounds Award 2011 and Winner of ‘Jazz am see’ Award for best concert of 2011. Berliner Zeitung has endorsed them as “one of the hottest live bands.”

Founder Felix F. Falk plays saxophone and percussion, Matti Klein – electric piano, Tobias Fleischer on bass and André Seidel keeping the groove on the drums. These four certainly epitomize the meaning of detail and precision, without being bland or rigid.

Mo’ Blow is a big name you do not want to miss.

The full list of performers at Borneo Jazz 2013 is: West Jazz Band (Sarawak); Lisa Young Quartet (Australia); Scott Martin Latin Soul Band (USA); The Nylons (Canada); The Asian Jazz All Stars Power Quartet (Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan); Hazmat Modine (USA); Mo’ Blow (Germany); Jump 4 Joy (Sweden).

Borneo Jazz 2013 will be held at Park City Everly Hotel, Miri Sarawak from 10-11 May. Tickets are priced at RM 60 (USD 20) per day or RM100 (USD 33) for a 2-day pass. Children aged 3-12 years enter at half price. For more information, visit the Sarawak Tourism Board website.

Image credit: Moblow.de

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It was a cool summer night when James Brown’s own saxophonist Maceo Parker funked up Perth City of Westren Australia, and when it comes to funk time, Mr. Maceo Parker is the man of the hour.

The 7th of February 2013 was the eve of the Perth Festival, and Parker was a perfect match for a night that special. The Perth Festival is the oldest annual international multi-arts festival in the southern hemisphere and offers some of the world’s best theatre, music, film, visual arts, street arts, literature and free community events, For more than 50 years, the three-week long festival that kicks off in February of each year, has been a host for the world’s greatest artists.

At the festival eve, Parker lined up with an “all groove” band, that featured keys, lead guitar, bass guitar, trombone and drums. It was a whole lot of jazz being played but Parker’s jazz is not just any jazz; and definitely not the jazz that would make you want to take five. It was that kind of  jazz that had the audience grooving to each single beat and note for two hours, non stop.

Maceo Parker goes way back to when funk and its father James Brown were teaching the world a thing or two about “the groove.” It was around 1964 when Parker and his drummer brother joined Brown’s band until 1970.

By 2013, the now 69-year-old Parker continues to delight fans in live concerts by not just play his alto saxophone, but singing too. Some see James Brown in Parker when he sings, especially when he gives a Brown’s “HEY!” and a “COME ON!” .

Instrumentally speaking, Parker and his band were playing right and tight whether it was a group song or an instrumental solo. It was an impressive performance where each musician had at least one solo and complimented each other.

And so begins the Perth International Arts Festival 2013, with a special evening by Maceo Parker.

Information about the festival and its events can be found on the festival’s website.

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WorldService Project (WSP) is a young British jazz/punk/experimental quintet formed by Dave Morecroft (keyboard/compositions), Tim Ower (saxophones), Raphael Clarkson (trombone), Conor Chaplin (bass), Neil Blandford (drums).

Dave Morecroft, keyboarder/compositor and leader of the band tells to Toonari Post the whole story of WSP and their unconventional music mash-up experiment.

Toonari Post (TP): How long have you been playing together and how did you start?

Dave Morecroft (DM): WSP in its current form has begun approaching three years ago, [but] we have known each other for a lot longer because we all went to the same sixth form college in Alston, Hampshire, where four out of five of us studied at the age of 16 to 18. We were there in different years and times.

Our average age is 23 years and 2 months, I think, because of the actual gap between the oldest – Neil, the drummer, who is 26 – and the youngest – Conor, our bass player, who is 20. The great thing about this college is that there was a very active music department. There were computer LAN night shows where we knew about Neil.

Me, Neil, Conor and Tim, the sax player, were very familiar with each other playing, and we met up and played together. We have been playing since a very young age, especially myself and Conor.

We did our first gig when he was 12 and I was 15. So, we’ve  known each other playing for a long time and I think that it really helps and gives a kind of brother fit to the band. When I left the college, I went to university in York, in the north of England, and I met Raph. [That] was when WSP started. Raph joined in with us just to see how it worked out and then in 2009, we recorded an EP and that was the real start.

TP: In 2010, you got the prestigious Peter Whittingham Jazz Award for best emerging jazz band. Can you tell a bit about this experience and how it affected your path?

DM: In 2009/2010 we were working on some material and defining the sound — and rehearse as much as possible. Then, in the winter 2010, we were very fortunate to be awarded with the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award which creates fantastic opportunities to young musicians. If you look in the scene there is no[t] really many other things like it, it’s very unique. The musicians kind of curate the benevolent fund that comes from the Peter Whittingham Award and the Whittingham family. There is nothing else like it, especially for this kind of music.

If you look at the previous winners there are some fantastic British jazz musicians from several generations. I think it really did kickstart on to what we are doing now – the “Match&Fuse” – that is the project proposal we’d submitted for the Peter Whittingham.

TP: Your music is a patchwork of styles, how would you define it and how did you come up with this mash-up?

DM: As you said, the music we play is a patchwork of styles. Defining is always very interesting and difficult. Sometimes we’ve done gigs and people came up at the end saying different things. Some people listen in a very kind of gestural sense, or they see just diversity of colors on [a] structure scales, completely [choosing] the contradictory term. Some people listen in a way like ‘oh you must listen to Frank Zappa’ or ‘there is a bit of Meshuggah’ or ‘you really like Weather Report’ and that’s how we came up with this mash-up and what every individual member of the band brings to WSP.

Neil the drummer is very interested in metal and funk as well as 80’s music. I’ve studied in university all kind of improvisation, contemporary and 20th century classical music like Stravinsky and Meshuggah, so that’s what I brought compositionally. Conor is very much the kind of funk bass player and strains at jazz classics, Raph and Tim the horn players are [into] all ranges [of] stuff, it’s really a mixture.

There [is] a press review we use that says our music is a kind of “a four-way cage match between Stravinsky, Meshuggah, Weather Report, and Frank Zappa” or something like that. It’s the mash-up literally of the composers I’ve listen to, combined also with the mash-up sense of each individual band member’s different sound that go together and form who we are.

A Punk-Jazz Interview with WorldService Project – Part 2

Image Courtesy of  http://worldserviceproject.tumblr.com

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TJL Productions announced today that SUPERSTARS OF ’70s SOUL LIVE, the very first installment of its acclaimed MY MUSIC series, will return to PBS stations nationwide in March 2012 by popular demand. Hosted by Grammy award winner Patti LaBelle, SUPERSTARS OF ’70s SOUL LIVE is a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of R&B legends performing some of the greatest hits of the decade.

This emotional concert special, captured live in Atlantic City in November 2003, features performances from some of the biggest names in R&B, soul, disco and funk. Highlights include two numbers from host Patti LaBelle, including her chart-topping smash “Lady Marmalade”; the Commodores’ hard-funk classic “Brick House”; the get-up-and-dance anthem “We Are Family” by Kathy and Joni Sledge of Sister Sledge;

“Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” by McFadden & Whitehead – the duo’s last performance together, recorded months before Whitehead’s passing; and a historic reunion of the Chi-Lites with original lead singer Eugene Record, in what was to be the group’s last performance with Record before his passing in 2005.

“This special is a dream come true, to gather the original voices and talents that define the ’70s soul era,” says MY MUSIC executive producer TJ Lubinsky. “You may not remember all their names, but you know each and every one of their songs as the music that defined the soul of the ’70s.” Lubinsky spent two years tracking down the artists for the special, finding Yvonne Elliman (“If I Can’t Have You”) retired in Hawaii and convincing her to perform again in public for the first time in 27 years.

In addition, Lubinsky has produced a new CD collection exclusively for PBS titled MY MUSIC: POP SOUL MASTERS SERIES. The 7-disc set, available exclusively at PBS.org, represents the most comprehensive hits package of ’70s soul ever compiled, all mastered from first generation tapes and featuring many remixes plus New York and Philly club rarities from the era.

SUPERSTARS OF ’70s SOUL LIVE: MY MUSIC is part of special programming premiering on PBS stations beginning March 3, 2012. Check local listings for stations and times.

Image Courtesy of    http://www.flickr.com/photos/graffitiphoto/

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