The island’s biggest jazz festival returns next week on the 16th – 17th of August
The Ubud Village Jazz Festival is known for showcasing sub genres for all Jazz enthusiasts, starting from traditional to contemporary and fusion, funk, smooth Jazz, Latin Jazz all through to rhythm & blues.
This seventh year’s line-up dazzles with some of the best talents going, including artists from Indonesia’s thriving Jazz scene as well as international stars from around the globe. We caught up with organiser and great Jazz pianist in her own right, Astrid Sulaiman to find out a little bit more on what to expect this year.
What are the highlights of this edition of the festival?
As usual, the musicians themselves were well curated by the organisers and stay within the Jazz guidelines (not being too mixed with other genres) and the stage layout will have different designs again this year although it happens at the same place.
Describe the venue and what punters can expect when they get there.
We have three stages (Padi, Giri, Subak) which have Balinese local wisdom. Padi is the symbol of rice farming, Giri is the symbol of Mount Agung with its gigantic size, Subak represents the water system which Balinese use for their farming. We have more than 35 booths for food and beverages, handycrafts, wardrobe, kids corner, bar, etc.
And how about the road show this week, any particular big one we should look out for?
We have 14 pre-post events around Bali. Please come to one of the shows. Each one is a different line up and experience. Definitely check out Sthala on the 15th of August with award-winning Sri Hanuraga Trio feat. Dira J Sugandi and 14 Aug at Tandjung Sari with the highly acclaimed Aaron Goldberg Trio from the US (our highlight artist this year) as well as Aryaduta Bali with Voyager 4. They are a French Jazz Rock group. I’ve seen their performance before which is amazing! And the futures of Jazz; 13-year-old pianists Jacob Jayasena and Nadine.
Make sure you get along to the pre-festival and festival shows next week. Sounds like it’s going to be a splendid week of incredible Jazz!
Tix and more at ubudvillagejazzfestival.com.
