Kota Kinabalu: Native musical instruments like Sabah’s “sundatang”, Sarawak’s “sape” and the “kulintangan” joined western ones to enliven the opening of the 14th edition of the KK Jazz Festival, marking its successful return after a five-year post-Covid 19 hiatus.
The bands that entertained the audience were last Saturday at Hongkod Koisaan’s KDCA Hall Rolou Pomogunan, X.E.E Trio, B2P Band, Dynamics, Native Highlander, Appy & The Cosmic Soul, Megan Hen & The Wilson Quah Quartet, Fluffbox x Teriver feat, Dasha Logan, Velvet Aduk, Shun Ng Trio feat, Yuuki Shiojima & Arthur Kam, and Anthony’s Groove Ensemble. They played classic and contemporary jazz to soul, funk and modern fusion.
Songs rendered the whole night were not only in English, but also Malay, Kadazan, Dusun, Mandarin and Cantonese. The sizeable Caucasian and Afro attendees could not understand the non-English lyrics, but they could somewhat feel the spirited jazzy soulful renditions.
Sabah’s sundatang belongs to the lute category of stringed musical instruments and resembles a guitar in basic design, with two strings.
Advertisement
