Sabah Jazz International Jazz Day draws 2,000
Published on: Wednesday, May 03, 2023
The crowd enjoying performances at the recently held Sabah Jazz International Jazz Day.
Kota Kinabalu: The third edition of the Sabah Jazz International Jazz Day returned this year with a resounding success which saw the participation of some 2,000 attendees and even the support of Sabah Tourism Board.Organised by the Sabah Human Development and Empowerment Association (SAHDEA) at Riverson, The Walk, the event held on Apr 30 from 12pm – 5pm has been officially listed on Unesco’s International Jazz Day Celebration, making it the only official Jazz Day event in Borneo.ADVERTISEMENT
SAHDEA Vice President Jessel Yansalang said: “We wanted this year’s celebration to be slightly bigger than last year, and with Sabah Tourism Board’s support this year, we were able to invite six quality jazz performers from all around Sabah to perform on stage”.
Held in collaboration with Urban Tamu, this year’s edition featured six top Malaysian Jazz bands on stage namely Blue Note Band headed by Malaysian Latin Jazz songstress Joan Jim, Monokroms, Angelyca Laura, Jess & The Deaf Katz, The Aphrodites and neojuice.
The jazz event was also held in conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) designated International Jazz Day, which is celebrated all around the world.
Performer Joel Moriga said: “It’s so refreshing to see an event such as Sabah Jazz, because it is the only jazz event in Sabah that features Sabahans as the majority of invited performers on stage, it was clearly obvious that all of us had a great time”.ADVERTISEMENT
“We probably saw around 2,000 people last weekend and after seeing the positive reception from the event, we would also like to continue our artist development programme this year because we see great potential in raising the profile of our very own Sabah-based jazz bands within the region,” Jessel said.
The Sabah Jazz Artist and Youth Development Programme was first initiated by SAHDEA in 2019.
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They sent four different Sabah-based jazz bands to four locations around the region (Labuan, Bangkok, Kuching and Singapore) prior to the pandemic to raise their profiles.
SAHDEA will be assisting Sabah based jazz band, Blue Note Band, to perform at the next Borneo Jazz Festival later this year as well as two other jazz bands to Bangkok and Singapore.
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