We spent Sunday at an outdoor stage in front of Marina Bay Sands, with a view over the bay, watching some jazz. For some reason I think my dad is a Courtney Pine fan, so maybe this will make him jealous!
Marina Bay Sands is an architectural work of art, three towers joined at the top by a massive slab lying across them. Earlier in the week with Tones we drank cocktails at sunset at Ku Dé Ta, the bar at the very top. It’s also trying its best to be a gaudy monstrosity. The self-indulgent “The Shoppes” shopping centre at the bottom comes complete with a river running through the middle and gondoliers to take you from Prada to Louis Vuitton.
Anyway, the Jazz Festival is a recent addition to the bay, in its second year. After a brief threat of a storm we settled down for the afternoon on a comfy beanbag – all very civilised.
- Roy Ayres – cranked out the classics, ultimately the band are great but he’s a bit rickety these days
- The Steve McQueens – technically fantastic but so complicated rhythmically as to be impenetrable at times. Drummer seems to magic extra time from thin air, wonderful.
- Courtney Pine – top notch effort to get the crowd involved!
- Yuma – pretty tight poppy Malaysian singer-songwriter humblebrag of a group that would be right at home on Jools Holland. Not terribly interesting, and she really needs to stop asking how the crowd are doing, and get on with the songs.
- Brand New Heavies – “slightly beyond middle-aged white men playing funk” is fair, but they were excellent as always. They were the only group to have the whole crowd up and dancing. The dance troupe that joined the stage from the audience were a fun surprise!