Motown legend Bobby Taylor at KK Jazz Festival today

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All set for the Jazz Festival...performers and organisers share the stage for a group photo.

All set for the Jazz Festival…performers and organisers share the stage for a group photo.

KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu Jazz Festival, now in its 10th year, has started.

The event taking place at the covered tennis court of the Sutera Harbour Marina & Country Club started yesterday with performances by local artistes the likes of Jonathan Tse, Appy Tots, WVC, Gee Mojina & Elixir, Momain Blues, RTM Combo as well as the top three winners from the recent “Bakat Interact” comprising of students from SM Stella Maris, SM La Salle and SM St Francis Convent.

Today, patrons at the festival will see USA Motown legend Bobby Taylor, the incredible Juzzie Smith, Juwita Suwito, Shanghai Jazz Reprise, 4B’s, Jazz Crash, and Alton Wong. Bobby will also be introducing two of his students during the show today.

The festival will start with the first act at 7pm and ends at about 11pm. Tables and chairs are provided at the venue but availability is based on first come first serve basis.

Food and beverage coupons will be sold at the venue at RM20 and RM50 per book. Apart from food, the festival merchandise and music CDs of the performing artistes will also be sold.

The event is jointly organised by Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu together with Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu Sabah.

The KK Jazz Festival would still feature 50 per cent of local talents, said well-known musician Roger Wang during a press conference held ahead of the show yesterday.

“We are proud that it has made a difference in the music scene in KK,” he said.

He added that KK Jazz Festival had become a platform for local musicians to showcase their craft and talents.

“We are proud that we are building something,” said Roger.

The organising chairperson of the event, Jack Ong who also represented the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu said funds raised during the event would go towards helping  rural folk fight blindness in Sabah.

He said they had a pioneer project where they hoped to raise awareness about eye cataracts among the locals and that so far, they had helped three people at a rural village in Penampang.

He said one of the recipients of the assistance, a woman, exclaimed that after undergoing a surgery to remove the cataracts in her eyes she could start sewing again.

He added that they would like to tie-up with other bodies in the project.