For lovers of great live music, particularly the Jazz and Blues variety, the annual Cotai Jazz & Blues Festival at The Venetian Macao’s outdoor lagoon area is basically heaven for the ears
For four days and nights in October, 12 very talented bands from all corners of the globe competed for a share of the HK$550,000 cash prize pool on offer at the Cotai Jazz and Blues Festival. As well as this year’s competitors, last year’s winners from the Philippines, the Bleu Rascals returned to delight local fans with their awesome blues guitar riffs. Another of last year’s finalists and a group who have developed a big following in Macau, Andy Frasco and the UN, were also back, putting on their characteristically high energy, non-stop performances every evening. Food, drinks, kids activities, street entertainers and a second ‘floating stage’ and chill-out area all added to the great atmosphere throughout the festival.
Handed the unenviable task of having to choose a winner from the very talented lineup, judges Xu Kui, Antonio Cabrita, Michael Cloeren and Tomos Griffiths watched the competition’s 12 finalists each perform 30-minute sets in front of the festival audiences, assessing them on style, improvisation, technique, musicality, performance and audience response.
Six bands were then shortlisted to perform a half-hour set each in Sunday’s final round of the competition. Ultimately the top prize of HK$250,000 went to the sensational The Monreira Project from Mozambique. Taking home HK$150,000 for second place was Old Style Sextet (USA). Finnish group The Northern Governors won the HK$100,000 third prize, and Afro Jazz from Brazil received the Special Recognition Award of HK$50,000.
“These incredibly talented musicians played their hearts out during this competition, helping deliver a superb weekend of entertainment for our festival visitors,” said Ciaran Carruthers, Senior Vice President and Director of Venetian and Plaza Operations, Sands China Ltd. “The response from visitors has been amazing…and we hope everyone enjoyed the outstanding musical performances and exciting live entertainment throughout the weekend.”
Strong but Smooth
Opening this year’s Cotai Jazz & Blues Festival was rising English Jazz superstar Anthony Strong. Hailed as “England’s new Jazz superstar”, a support slot with the legendary BB King and an EP release which reached #1 on the UK Jazz charts, saw this talented singer-pianist grab the attention of some of the world’s top record labels in early 2012. He eventually signed a worldwide recording deal with iconic French label Naïve, and released his debut album Stepping Out in April 2013. Since then, Strong has been described by the British press as “a major talent hotly tipped to take his place in the retro-contemporary Jazz pantheon alongside Jamie Cullum and Michael Bublé.” In November 2013 his debut release reached #1 on the US iTunes Jazz Charts.
Macau CLOSER: When did you first start to take an interest in Jazz music and why?
Anthony Strong: When I was young I went to music college in London to study classical music and was offered Jazz piano as an option. I took the class and since my very first lesson, I was hooked! I have a pretty good ear, and so most of the music I'd heard up until then I could play straight away. That wasn't the case with Jazz, and as well falling in love with all these new colours and sounds, I welcomed the challenge of learning something I couldn't play straight away.
Whose music inspired and influenced you the most in your early career?
Music itself was massively inspirational when I was getting started, but I've also been lucky and had some really inspirational teachers. My earliest music teachers opened up my mind to ideas about music and creativity, and also turned me on to music such as Take 6, Pat Metheney, Quincy Jones and Harry Connick Jnr.
Your latest album Stepping Out is having great success on iTunes and Amazon, and Jazz charts around the world. Can you tell us a bit about the album?
Well it was my first album after I signed the deal with Naïve Records, so for me it was a dream come true! I suddenly had a budget and backing from a company to work with. The next thing I knew I was touring it around the world with my band, doing TV shows and getting number ones on the Jazz charts. It was a bit of a whirlwind year!
In the past decade Jazz seems to have made quite a comeback in terms of popularity and more mainstream exposure. What are your thoughts on this and where the genre is at today?
I think we have the likes of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack to thank for that. They were the epitome of cool, with their dress and styling, so putting this unbelievably classic music aside, it's an era which will be drawn from for a while to come in fashion and art. People like Michael Bublé and Amy Winehouse have also done great things for raising the profile of 'the Jazz vocalist' and have really opened doors for artists like myself.
