Global jazz at 2nd CCP International Jazz Festival

MANILA, Philippines - Jazz fans can’t ask for anything more when jazz artists from all over the world gather and create rhythm, music and starlight at the 2nd CCP International Jazz Festival from Sept. 17 to 22 at various venues of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Featuring more than 100 artists and 15 bands from the Philippines, USA, Europe and Asia, the 2nd CCP International Jazz Festival will offer performances of jazz music in all its styles, from the big band, swing, blues, fusion and experimental.

The 2nd CCP International Jazz Festival also features workshops and lectures on the various jazz genres.

Bands and artists slated to perform at the event are the Dutch quartet, Buzz Bros Band, drummer Harald Huyssen, Low-Cal, Johnny Alegre, Humanfolk, Indonesian guitarist Wayan Balawan, Italian accordionist, pianist and guitarist Fabio Turchetti, Japanese guitarist Shun Kikuta, Malaysian acoustic guitar player Roger Wang, Royal Hartigan and Blood Drum Spirit, Bob Aves, Sitti, UP Jazz Ensemble, Emi Munji and his orchestra, UST Jazz Band, New Musicians Guild and Anything Goes, A.M.P. Big Band, jazz band Akasha, chamber jazz trio MAJAM, jazz vocalist Charito, Indonesian group Bandung Blues Project, Brown Fix, Brass Munkeys, Argentine-born guitarist Neris Gonzalez, Filipina jazz singer and recording artist Sandra Lim Viray.

Various venues of the CCP will be used for the festival. The CCP Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo will feature performers and groups whose production and equipment set-up would call for a larger stage and expected audience size, while the Silangan Hall will cater to jazz aficionados who prefer a more intimate setting. In addition, partnerships with some hotels enable some of the Festival performers to provide a sampling of their expertise in these venues.

The 2nd CCP International Jazz Festival, CCP president Raul Sunico said, is a recognition of the jazz genre as a major style of musical creativity through improvisation as well as the distinct theories in its harmonic, scalar, and rhythmic components that are both appealing and inviting to the listener.

“The global attraction of jazz has reached a wide spectrum of enthusiasts including Asia where its own brand of Eastern and ethnic music seems to fuse well with its style,” Sunico said. “Through the Festival, CCP hopes to bring the Philippines into the mainstream of global jazz activity and make it a legitimate and recognized venue for International Jazz Festivals.”

Another objective the CCP hopes to achieve thorough the CCP Jazz festival, according to Sunico, would be to create a harmonious relationship among the country’s jazz figures and groups.

“With the establishment of so many of these ensembles, it is imperative for the CCP to provide a prestigious venue for our talents to perform and be discovered, to play and to listen, to seek a camaraderie with which to collaborate with other groups, and to help propagate this wonderful musical genre for everyone to enjoy,” Sunico said.

In August 2011, the CCP held its first international jazz festival billed “The Story of Jazz: 1st CCP International Jazz Festival.” It featured more than 150 jazz musicians from all over the world in a series of performances and lecture-workshops.

For tickets and information, call the CCP Box Office at 832-1125 local 1409 and direct line 832-3704 or visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.