The Mercedes Benz Colombo Jazz festival, was held at the Galle Face Hotel. This gave the unique opportunity to festival goers to listen to diverse collection of music. The jazz festival saw many musicians from a range of styles coming together, but with an emphasis on the contemporary. “We always look for a balance and try to showcase some traditional artistes, blues artistes, vocalists and New Age people,” said festival founder Gehan Fernando.
The two-day jazz event saw festival goers enjoying the music, food, wines, PR designers market, pop up Spa Ceylon spa and shisha lounge all set up on the green lawns of the venue.
Incognito who were headlining the festival have been labeled as everything from pop band to Latin jazz ensemble, from ‘70s-styled funk crew to an acid-jazz collaboration. They were one of the main features of the event. The audience were singing their tunes long after the encore, after witnessing the work of a band who have produced over 16 hit albums.
Geoffrey Fernando of Purple Rain fame finished his set with up and coming stars such as Sannie Fox, described by The New Age as “belting out the blues like she was born in a Louisiana swamp” and Major Minor also getting the crowd moving.
Mud Morganfield, transfixed the audience with his deep soulful Chicago blues, intensity of stage presence and catch phrase “take it slow”. Marco Menoza and El Trio scorched the stage as the finale act of the music festival, which closed to the audience begging for more!
Jazz is a genre that evokes such powerful and varied emotion and The Mercedes Benz Colombo Jazz Festival captured all that diversity, and all that makes this art form so beautiful, in a weekend of unique performances. Jazz is symbol of openness and inclusiveness and if the festival has a message, it can only be to hang on tight to the preciousness of that special idea.
