Grammy-award winning Joss Stone, Cuban legends Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club to headline Sing Jazz 2016
By Nurul Azliah Aripin
Grammy-award winning soul singer Joss Stone and Cuban legends Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club will be headlining 2016’s Singapore International Jazz Festival, happening from 4 to 6 March, organisers announced on Wednesday.
At the Art Science Museum, organisers said Sing Jazz 2016 would be a “jazz-for-all” event as they will be featuring a more extensive variety of jazz-influenced genres including Afrobeat (Seun Kuti & Egypt 80) and more blues and soul genres (Taylor McFerrin, Hiatus Kaiyote).
Discerning jazz lovers in Singapore can look out for more traditional jazz acts such as Enrico Rava and Candy Dulfer, who used to be a saxophonist for iconic musician, Prince.
“The Third edition of Sing Jazz will be more dynamic than ever! We are presenting a more diverse collection of international artists, collaborating more with Singapore-based artists and our production team is putting an altogether more enhanced festival experience,” said co-founder and artistic director David Lyndon Smith.
Stone made her breakthrough in 2004 with her sophomore album, Mind, Body & Soul, and has over 12 million album sales to date. This will be her second show in Singapore, after performing in 2013 for the Mosaic Music Festival.
Orquesta Bueno Vista Social Club is also returning to Singapore after first performing at Timbre Rock & Roots Festival in 2010. This will be their final visit to Singapore, which is part of their farewell tour titled Adios.
More affordable tickets
As part of efforts to reach out to a wider audience, organisers have also made ticket prices more affordable.
Tickets are priced between $65 for a general early bird pass, and $225 for a VIP pass. This is lower compared to ticket prices for Sing Jazz 2015, which ranged from $80 for a general pass to $720 for a VIP box pass. Tickets are available from Thursday at Marina Bay Sands’ ticket box or EventClique.
Smith said visitors could also expect to see two stages at the event instead of one - the main stage and the second stage - to provide seven hours of back-to-back performances on each day.
The second stage will feature a combination of both Singapore and international acts, more of these acts will be announced in the coming months, organisers said.
Collaboration with Singapore music collective Darker Than Wax
This is also the first time organisers are collaborating with a local collective to curate its opening day, which will see Canadian jazz and hip-hop band BADBADNOTGOOD, singer Taylor McFerrin and Australian soul-quartet Hiatus Kaiyote.
Darker Than Wax is an independent music collective founded by Dean Chew and Kaye in 2010. It is made up of a group of electronic DJs who are big supporters of “black music”, and are very much influenced by “afrobeat, blues, soul and jazz” music.
Chew told the media a “core group of selected DJs” from Darker Than Wax would be spinning in between performances at the festival.
