The Philips International Jazz Festival 2003

How cool is this? The next Philips International Jazz Festival is due to take place at Bukit Kiara on 6 December 2003. Ah, I have great memories watching people like Michael Veerapan, Lewis Pragasam and the incomparable Diana Krall at previous festivals, and this time they're only charging RM42 for the event (which is pretty reasonable for 7 hours of music).

This year, I only recognise the household names: Shiela Majid (yay!), Camelia and Ning Baizura, as well as Indonesian singer Anggun. I can't help thinking that the decision to invite so many high-profile pop names to sing jazz is more to attract crowds then to promote innovation and invention in Malaysian jazz (although Shiela Majid does have a "jazzy" background).

Nevertheless, I do look forward to it and hope it's better than my worst fears.