Leading contemporary Jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour and Alto Saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa who has been voted “Alto Saxophonist of the Year” in it’s fifth year running, are set to headline the KL International Jazz Festival 2013 where contemporary jazz, smooth jazz, straight ahead jazz, classic jazz, jazz – rock, r&b, swing, funk, classic rock and blues converge.
To be held on 14th September at the University Malaya, other international acts slated to perform at the one day Jazz Festival include Smooth Jazz Lady saxophonist Mexican-American Jessy J, ex- Billy Cobham guitarist Carl Orr from London, Progressive Jazz Rock Fusion groups The Subterraneans from Sydney, and Kazutoki Umezu Kiki Band from Tokyo, and R & B Sax player eZra Brown from New York. Making a debut in Asia at the Jazz Festival in Kuala Lumpur is the lovely singer /songwriter from South Africa, Zamajobe.
More than 100 musicians from North America, Europe, Australia, Iran, Japan, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia will perform at the explosive Jazz Festival.
KLIJF is a signature event for KL and a premier Jazz Festival for Malaysia. KLIJF is a “must be there” event – a major city attraction for music lovers, lifestyle seekers, tourists and expatriates. KLIJF is a critically acclaimed Jazz Festival and is winner of the coveted The Brand Laureate Best Brands Awards 2011-2012 “Country Brand Award” and 10 awards for the International Artistes who performed at the KLIJF 2012. KL International Jazz joins the global community subscribing to UNESCO’s declared virtues of jazz music as an instrument of world peace, cooperation and international culture.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights this year:
Lee Ritenour 
A Grammy award winner, and one of the most outstanding guitarists in modern jazz, Lee Ritenour was a founding member of Fourplay, the most successful band in contemporary jazz. The first Fourplay album in 1991 spent an unprecedented 33 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart.
Beginning as a session player at the age of 16 with the Mamas and Papas to accompanying Lena Horne and Tony Bennett at 18, his career spanning over forty years is highlighted by a Grammy Award win for his 1986 collaboration with Dave Grusin, Harlequin; 17 Grammy nominations; numerous #1 spots in guitar polls and the prestigious “Alumnus of the Year” award from USC. He has recorded over 40 albums, with 35 chart songs, notably the Top 15 hit “Is It You,” which has become a contemporary jazz radio classic.
From the styles of Wes Montgomery to Brazilian music, from rock to blues to jazz, he has recorded over 3,000 sessions with a diverse set of artists such as Pink Floyd (The Wall), Steely Dan (Aja), Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, B.B. King, Frank Sinatra, Simon & Garfunkel, Ray Charles, Peggy Lee, Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand. Lee has also collaborated with some of the biggest names in jazz and contemporary music including Phil Collins, Brazilian greats Ivan Lins, Caetano Veloso, Djavan and Jao Bosco, George Benson, Chaka Kahn, Herbie Hancock, Michael McDonald and opera great Renee Fleming.
Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Samdhi 
Alto saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa is one of the rare musicians to embody the expansive possibilities of his music with his culture. Time and again, Mahanthappa has eloquently displayed the capacity to absorb numerous styles and genres of music, combine them with the language of modern jazz, and emerge with a new form still recognizably jazz.
Honored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation as a 2013 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award recipient, one of only twenty individuals to receive the award in the fields of contemporary dance, jazz and theatre, He has also been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and commissions from the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, Chamber Music America and the American Composers Forum.
Mahanthappa has received a number of prestigious nominations, awards, and grants. Mahanthappa won a 2013 Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) Jazz Award for “Alto Saxophonist of the Year“, his fifth consecutive JJA win and was named alto saxophonist of the year in Downbeat’s 2011 International Critics Poll.
These impressive accolades, as well as critical praise from such influential outlets as NPR, the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice and the New Yorker, spotlight Mahanthappa’s expanding role as a pioneer in the contemporary jazz world.
Mahanthappa who lives in New York leads or co-leads seven projects. Despite the vast variety of influences on display throughout numerous disparate projects, one constant is the voice that the New York Times has hailed as possessing “a roving intellect and a bladelike articulation.”
Jessy J
After graduating from University of Southern California Jessy J worked with Michael Bublé and toured with The Temptations, Jessica Simpson, Michael Bolton, and Seal. Jessy J also performed as a member of the Henry Mancini Jazz Orchestra.
Her song “Tequila Moon” from her album “ Tropical rain” hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Jazz chart. Her song “Tropical Rain”, from her 2009 release, reached the top of the Groove Jazz Music chart and also took the #1 spot on the Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown, as well as the R&R and Billboard Jazz charts. Jessy’s Album “Hot Sauce” debuted at #1 on Billboard Jazz and was featured in People Espanol and Latina Magazine. The album includes performances by Jazz Legends Joe Sample, Harvey Mason, and Ray Parker Jr.
Mahanthappa recently earned a MAP Grant to complete his work with the Ragamala dance group in Minneapolis. The program, which will take place in May 2014 at the Walker Art Center, is a new dance work conceived by Aparna Ramaswamy and created in collaboration with Mahanthappa – the pair received the grant as a team. The program, titled “Song of the Jasmine,“ will demonstrate how two first-generation Indian-Americans have been influenced by their cultural identities in two different ways.
Zamajobe
South African emerging top female vocalist and songwriter Zamajobe Sithole is making huge waves with her debut album already achieving GOLD status ((sales in excess of 25 000 units). Released through SONY BMG Music Entertainment/Giant Steps label, NDAWO YAMI (My Place), the album announces the arrival of a substantial new talent on the African continent’s recorded music scene.
Growing up listening to funk, jazz and many other genres of music she is equally comfortable with a broad range of styles including jazz, folk, traditional, Latino even, pop and adult contemporary. With an astonishingly beautiful voice, she captivates her listeners with ease and simplicity.
Never overpowering, her singing strikes a balance with just enough high of emotions.
Zamajobe has never been one for the strident, at times overbearing vocals beloved by so many of today’s stars: as NDAWO YAMI more than reveals, Zamajobe uses her voice at times sparingly, often with a slightly breathless edge, and always plump with just enough emotion to talk directly into the heart of anyone in hearing range.
One of the highlights of her career is when American Guitarist Lee Ritenour spotted her talent and requested her to sing the Bill Withers hit song “Lovely Day” and the Stereophonics composition “ Maybe Tomorrow” in his albums.
Who Else?
The Christy Smith Quartet and the KLK will focus on straight ahead jazz. Ex- Heritage guitarist Chris Ong from Singapore will pay homage to the blues and classic rock. Supported by Color Codes, he will play a mix of songs by Sonny Boy Williamson, Free, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Rush and other blues masters.
Iranian outfit TrioMyn led by Keyboardist Maziyar Khavajian will perform a fusion of Persian, Arabic, Indian and western contemporary music and rhythms.
Ex-James Brown drummer Eric Hargrove and Hong a top jazz drummer from Bangkok will also play at the festival.
Home grown talents include Jose Thomas and Jordan Rivers both leading jazz guitarists from KL. Both Jose and Jordan are familiar faces in the local scene and have been around for more than 30 years. Others include Cats in Love, UiTM Jazz Ensemble, UCSI Contemporary Ensemble, Ballads & Blues, John Thomas Trio, Jazz pianist John Dip Silas leading his trio, Koolskool, Square Circles, Steve Thornton and Razak Rahman with The KL Jazz Project, and from Penang Viv Adram and the Northern Jazz Unit.
Festival Village Entry Tickets @ RM 60.00 and All Excess Tickets @ RM 138.00 onwards. All Excess ticket holders will be entitled to the village stages as well as all the in-door shows at the Dewan Tunku Chancellor.
Tickets are available at: Ticket Hotline