Since its debut five years ago, the festival has attracted thousands of fans from around the world who converged at the rather small, air-conditioned "Pavilion" hall located in the Parkcity Everly Hotel in Miri, Sarawak (and next to the picturesque South China Sea).

This year, the fifth installment of MIJF is scheduled for May 14 and 15, and is expecting a turnout of 8,000 to witness performances by eight foreign headliners trafficking in blues, fusion, world, smooth and Latino beats.

The headliners include James Cotton Blues Band and Michael Shrieve's Spellbinder from the US, Amina Figarova Sextet from the Netherlands, Ricardo Herz from Brazil, Mellow Motif from Thailand, SimakDialog from Indonesia, the multinational Norbert Susemihl's New Orleans All Stars, and Jeremy Tordjman from Switzerland.

One possible crowd-pleaser will be the Jakarta-based jazz outfit SimakDialog. Famous for their energetic performances, this band is renowned for fusing the traditional sounds of the gamelan ensemble, ancient temple music, jazz, Sunda rhythms and even psychedelia, to create a sublime hybrid of jazz.

Notably, the group has performed extensively in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Simak Dialog is expected to hit the road for a North American tour in November, with Indonesian government backing.

Unless you live under a rock, you can't be forgiven not knowing about the James Cotton Blues Band. Led by blues music legend James Cotton, the band is currently entering its 66th year in the blues scene. Cotton's history is inimitable.

Orphaned at the age of nine, he was raised by blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson, and toured as a teenager with Howlin' Wolf, and shared the stage with Muddy Waters before forming his own band.

Cotton's recording with Muddy Waters Hard Again won a Grammy Award in 1977. He got his own Grammy in 1996 for his album Deep in the Blues, and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006, and to the Smithsonian Institute in 1991. He has also won numerous W.C. Handy Blues Awards.

Cotton has performed with the who's who in rock and blues, including B.B. King, Johnny Winter, the Allman Brothers Band, Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Sam and Dave, and The Grateful Dead.

At the festival, expect to be wowed by Cotton's powerful blues harmonica playing, which has impressed audiences around the world.

Also look out for Michael Shrieve's Spellbinder. With a long eminent career, Shrieve has written, produced and performed on albums that have sold millions of copies worldwide.

As the original drummer for Santana, Shrieve - at of age 19 - was the youngest performer at Woodstock, and helped create the first eight albums for the legendary group.

Shrieve's recording credits include collaborations with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Pete Townsend, Steve Winwood, John Mclaughlin, Freddie Hubbard, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Horvitz, Bill Frisell, Zakir Hussain, and Airto Moriera. In 1998, Shrieve was inducted into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame.

For an avant-garde fare, Amina Figarova will not disappoint. Known as one of the most productive and accomplished jazz composers and pianists in Europe, her work ranges from mainstream-progressive to avant-garde, funk fusion and classic post-bop, all the while proving that music is her natural language.

Also memorable is her measured, graceful, and touching piano-playing styles that easily compliment her intricately relaxed ensemble writing. Figarova has performed throughout Europe and in Tunisia, Israel, Bahrain, the US, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa (among others).

While Norbert Susemihl's New Orleans All Stars are a relatively new international band on the European jazz scene, they are nonetheless cosmopolitan. Having already won a legion of fans, the NOAS feature six handpicked musicians from five countries, each skilled in their own instruments. Susemihl has spent more than 10 years traveling between Europe and New Orleans, performing with the top musicians in jazz, particularly all forms of New Orleans jazz.

Whether it's jazz, blues, rock, funk or world music, Jeremy Tordjman is renowned for being a versatile guitarist who offers deeply nuanced and melodic fusion-jazz ballads.

His aim is "to move and touch with the groove I've learned when studying and performing with African musicians in Africa and Europe," Tordjman said.

His repertoire cultivates contrasts - whether it sounds sparse or percussive, upbeat or downtempo, all inspired by the traditional jazz form. "My music will surely appeal to neophytes and music lovers."

For more information, visit www.ticketcharge.com.my or www.mirijazzfestival.com

Popular

Air quality worsens in Greater Jakarta as govt yet to curb pollution

Don't let deep sea become 'wild west', UN chief tells world leaders

Prabowo, Megawati get cozier amid calls for Gibran’s impeachment