By Mallika Naguran

Singapore, 3 May 2010. The Miri International Jazz Festival 2010 will be held at the seaside Parkcity Everly Hotel in Miri, Sarawak fromFriday May 14 and Saturday May 15. The festival is organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board for the fifth year running, which is supported by the Tourism Ministry, state Tourism and Heritage Ministry and Tourism Malaysia.

Eight bands will raise the temperature in sleepy Miri this year with a mix of blues, fusion, world, smooth and Latino beat: James Cotton Blues Band (USA), Amina Figarova Sextet (Holland), Ricardo Herz (Brazil), Mellow Motif (Thailand), Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder (USA), SimakDialog (Indonesia), Norbert Susemihl’s New Orleans All Stars (Denmark/Germany/USA) and Jeremy Tordjman (Switzerland).

Festival director Randy Raine-Reusch tells Gaia Discovery what jazz lovers worldwide could experience at this year’s festival:

“This year the Miri International Jazz Festival will host some legendary performers. James Cotton is a living legend and one of the last of the great American bluesmen. He stands on equal footing with BB King, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker and has played with all of them. His music has inspired the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and a whole generation of rock, jazz and blues.”

“Micheal Shrieve brings his group Spellbinder. Shrieve was Santana's drummer for many years and performed with Santana at Woodstock, and he is quite prominent in the movie about Woodstock.”

“Norbert Susemihl's New Orleans All Stars are quite frankly exactly that, literally the who's who of the New Orleans jazz scene. Brazil's Ricardo Herz is simply one of the most amazing violinist that you will ever hear. Holland's Amina Figarova is a stunning jazz pianist with a prominent worldwide reputation.”

“Since booking Simakdialog from Indonesia I am amazed at how many people from Europe and America rave about them. Last but certainly not least is Mellow Motif from Thailand whose career is growing literally mo nth by month with tours throughout Asia, I have never seen an artist progress so quickly.”

“I am very excited about this year's lineup, we have never been so fortunate to get this many prominent and famous musicians before, and if you are not there, you will not be part of history in the making!”

This year’s Miri International Jazz Festival is expected to draw 8,000 music lovers, according to Datuk Rashid Khan, chief executive officer of the Sarawak Tourism Board. Last year, the show attracted 6,000 people, not bad for a quiet little oil town called Miri. So music fans, head on to Borneo!

The festival will be held on May 14-15 at ParkCity Everly Pavillion. Tickets  priced at RM60 for adults and RM30 for children between 3 and 12 years are available at Eclipse Booking Hotline (03-7729 3829/016- 6881119).

Tickets can also be purchased at Visitors’ Information Centres in Kuching, Sibu and Miri. Bookings and enquiries are also possible via email to mijf@eclipsecomm.net or Eclipse Events at L5.10 Wisma BU8, Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama 47800 Petaling Jaya.

http://mirijazzfestival.com

Plus, make a date and come on down to the Rainforest World Music Festival - July 9-11, 2010, http://www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com

Images courtesy of Sarawak Tourism Board.