Festival Founder Gehan Fernando
The Mercedes Benz Colombo Jazz Festival opened on the 18th and 19th of February at the Galle Face hotel . Following on the success of it ’ s inaugural festival in 2016 , this year ’ s event expanded to cover two days . The concept behind the festival was music , culinary and art event that promised to combine and showcase the talents of the best international jazz artists as well as artists of national renown .
The stunning heritage property the Galle Face Hotel , in Colombo , welcomed global music fans to jazz-centric celebration , where fans of all types of jazz-related music rub shoulders with aficionados of the genre . When putting together artists such as this , Mainstage Events , the organizers aimed to capture all that diversity , all that makes this art form so beautiful , in a weekend of performances .
The lineup was the culmination of the festival ’ s commitment to bringing a diverse and unique group of jazz musicians to Colombo to deliver a collection of performances that included , exciting new artists , international and local jazz legends and groups all connected around presenting unique musical experiences in a first for Colombo .
Incognito , which has been labeled as everything from pop band to Latin jazz ensemble , from ' 70s-styled funk crew to acid-jazz collaboration headlined the festival . Another legend who performed was Mud Morganfield who describes the resemblance of the tone and timber of his voice to that of
his father ’ s voice as a double edged sword . The similarity is evident in For Pops : A Tribute To Muddy Waters . Morganfield launched his music career in blues clubs on the south side of Chicago , where he performed a mix of his father ’ s material and his own original works .
From afternoon to midnight The Mercedes Benz Colombo Jazz Festival took place at the iconic Galle Face hotel , designed to meet festival-goers ’ every need , in the heart of Colombo with the beauty , sounds of the ocean and the cool breeze that drifts in , as its spectacular setting .
We had a quick chat with the Festival Founder Gehan Fernando about the show .
How do you compare the response to the Colombo Jazz Festival this year against the last year ?
This was our second year while the first year was a one day inaugural one . We had about 1500 people last year and this year we have sold more tickets , lot of corporate clients and so on .
What are your intentions behind organizing this festival ?
I ’ m a restaurateur ! I have always looked at Colombo and wondered why there is not much tourism here . I wanted to change that mainly to attract more people to visit here . Jazz is very close to my heart and hence I wanted to have an international festival with artists performing in Colombo . This
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Photo Credits : Sandun de Silva