Jazz festival wows out till next year

The week that gave Georgian jazz fans high quality music and incredible rhythms has come to an end. The12th Tbilisi International Jazz Festival featured 6 days of musical discoveries and different interpretations of jazz which provided a welcome live experience for the local audience as after a 2-year pause high quality music returned to the capital.

From October 27 to November 1 the newly renovated Tbilisi State Concert Hall hosted living legends including two-time Grammy Award winner Marcus Miller, Tutu Revisited, the James Carter Quintet, The Music of Miles Davis featuring Christian Scott, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Kurt Elling Sings Coltrane/Hartman featuring Ernie Watts, the Scott Kinsey Group, Kool & The Gang and Georgia’s Dini Virsaladze Group and the Georgian Jazz Trio featuring Azeri musician Rain Sultanov.

“We are very happy that the audience is contented and had a really good time over these 6 days. I will say that this was our goal, to give Georgians the chance to listen to good music,” Marketing Director of festival organizer Eastern Promotion Kakha Kandelaki said.

The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Monument Protection, Tbilisi City Hall and numerous commercial sponsors including Bank Republic, Madneuli, Quartzite, the building company Redix, Sheraton Metekhi Palace Hotel, Turkish Airlines and various media outlets supported this event. “I must say that without our sponsors huge support holding the 12th Tbilisi International Jazz Festival would have been put in serious jeopardy,” Misha Giorgadze of Eastern Promotion said on November 1.

The festival was closed by international stars Kool & The Gang. Misha Giorgadze described their participation as a dessert for fans. The group sang all their popular hits, including Celebration, Cherish, Jungle Boogie, Summer Madness and Open Sesame and made the audience sing along and dance non-stop for 2 hours. “It was my dream to listen to Kool & The Gang live and I am extremely happy to see them here in Tbilisi. The concert was fantastic and I must say that the fabulous experience of these 6 jazz days will stay with me the whole year,” concertgoer Sophia Mgaloblishvili told The Messenger.

Thus the Tbilisi International Jazz Festival said goodbye to its fans till next year and the organisers promised to present more unforgettable evenings in 2010.