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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Snow Patrol made a triumphant return to Belfast on the first of the band’s three-night, sold-out engagement at the city’s Odyssey Arena. After two dates in Dublin, the British rock band brought their Fallen Empires tour to Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on Monday January 23rd for the first of three consecutive dates to be played at the venue.

These dates mark Snow Patrol’s first appearance in Belfast since the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards which were held last November, and it was clear from the words of frontman Gary Lightbody that this homecoming was an important one as the band’s promotion of their sixth studio album, Fallen Empires, gets underway.

Supporting Snow Patrol on this night was Everything Everything, a British indie band whose embryonic sound set the stage aptly for the headlining act’s stadium-friendly setlist.

While this tour is primarily in support of Fallen Empires, the band made sure to play plenty of fan favourites, ranging from the soft rock tones of “Run” to their classic hit “Chasing Cars.” In between, Lightbody proved himself to be quite the personable star as he entertained the audience at one point with anecdotes of failing to meet Justin Bieber before segueing seamlessly into a more poignant moment during which he paid tribute to his 72-year old father.

In spite of Lightbody’s vibrant engagement with the crowd, the band as a whole had plenty of moments to come together as a collective unit and deliver the type of uplifting anthems for which they are most commonly known. They were at their strongest during a performance of new single “This Isn’t Everything You Are”, a track which allows Lightbody to harmonise with his fellow band members during the rousing chorus section.

Given Snow Patrol’s habit of allowing their music to be used in film and television soundtracks, it was unsurprising to see their back catalogue consisting of so many well-known, yet probably forgotten hits; this, however, is what makes the band all that bit more accessible to the casual listener and why they remain one of the few British bands from the last decade to achieve success in the North American music market, with Fallen Empires in fact continuing the band’s trend of increasingly-higher debuts on the US Billboard Album Chart.

Their gratitude and lack of ego were consistently evident throughout the concert and explain why the band will enjoy two further sold-out dates at this venue over the coming days. Without question, the best-received tracks of the night were “Chasing Cars”, “Open Your Eyes”, “Run” and “Just Say Yes” – the latter of which served as the final performance of the evening.

Lightbody encouraged the crowd into participating in a sing-along during “Run”, a song which has enjoyed a second life since being covered by Leona Lewis in 2008. Bringing the concert to a close with “Just Say Yes” was an appropriate choice given the song’s infectious positivity and simple message about taking a leap of faith and not being paralysed by fear.

Snow Patrol certainly demonstrated through the cohesion of their sound the charisma of their frontman that they have no fear once they step onto the stage and do what they do best.

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