EVER SINCE BERT Stern's classic film Jazz on a Summer's Day from 1959, there has been a happy association between jazz and the sea.
If Thailand has an equivalent to Newport, Rhode Island, it's probably Hua Hin, the upmarket beach resort town that will host music lovers from all over Asia next weekend for the first of the kingdom's two annual jazz jamborees. Apart from the Hua Hin Jazz Festival, the other highlight of Thailand's jazz calendar is the Bangkok Jazz Festival on December 19 and 20.
Both events will give Thai audiences the opportunity to hear world-class international acts, and also to provide the most successful or promising Thai jazz performers with an opportunity to be heard by large crowds. Because of its resort location, the Hua Hin event generates a good party atmosphere, and this year promises to deliver plenty of fine music as well.
Performances will be split over two stages - one on the beachfront outside the grand dame-style Sofitel Hotel, long one of the town's most popular attractions, and the other in front of the Hilton. Many performances will take place simultaneously at the two locations, so some forward planning will be required. The main international attractions on the first day of the festival will be Bill Bruford's Earthworks, the Ben Besiakov Trio featuring Thomas Fryland, and Lazaro Valdes.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Earthworks, the jazz group Bruford formed in 1986 after making his mark in progressive rock drumming with Yes, King Crimson, Genesis and UK. The style and lineups have varied considerably over the years, but the current incarnation of the band features ex-Chick Corea saxophonist Tim Garland, pianist Gwilym Simcock, and bassist Laurence Cottle. The band have had some enthusiastic reviews.
Danish pianist Ben Besiakov is a veteran jazzman. In addition to having played with just about all the best-known Nordic names, he has shared stages with a long list of jazz legends that includes Ben Webster, Joe Henderson, James Moody, John Scofield, Steve Swallow and Kenny Wheeler. His trumpeter, Thomas Fryland, is a brassy bebop-oriented player who has been making a name for himself with the Danish Radio Big Band, in which he is a prominent soloist.
Cuban pianist Valdes will bring the first night to a close with his band's unique variety of timba - a fiercely rhythmic style of Cuban dance music, strongly influenced by salsa. The international component of the event is somewhat skewed towards Scandinavia, and there is more Danish jazz on Tuesday from the rather un-Nordic sounding Ibrahim Electric - a classic Hammond organ trio in the Jimmy Smith/Jimmy McGriff tradition, but with a few more modern influences.