Jazz festival to be held in Johor Bahru for first time

Some big names in jazz music will perform at the inaugural Johor Bahru Jazz Festival this month.

The festival will be held over four days from Feb 26 to Mar 1 at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Malaysia's southern-most city.

The festival will feature a lineup of various local, regional and international jazz artists, most notably Mr Sadao Watanabe, who is known as one of Japan's greatest jazz musicians.

Other acts include Singaporean musician Jeremy Monteiro, who is one of Southeast Asia's best-known jazz pianists, Italian jazz a-cappella quintet Mezzotono, and renowned percussionist Steve Thornton, who has worked with artists such as Miles Davis, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey.

Mr Yap Siong Cheng, founder of the Johor Society for the Performing Arts, which is organising the festival, said the lineup featured a good blend of established stars and up-and-coming talents that would showcase different styles of jazz throughout the festival.

He also revealed that the Johor Bahru Jazz Festival would be the first of a series of festivals under the Johor Bahru: International Festival City initiative, which aimed to position the city as a leading festival city in the region.

Tickets for the festival is available in three tiers, ranging from RM50 (S$19) to RM468 (S$175).

For more information, contact +60197139900 or follow JB Arts Festival on Facebook.

seanyap@sph.com.sg