Beach beats
In a bizarre turn of musical fortune, Koh Samui - the Thai island known mainly as a hotbed of trance and techno, and the jumping-off point for the infamous full moon parties on nearby Koh Phangan - has almost overnight become Asia's jazz and blues headquarters.
It's all pretty much due to the passion of one man, Koh Samui property developer and blues aficionado Alan Sadd. With impeccably bad timing, the British entrepreneur's first Koh Samui Blues and World Music Festival last December was scheduled for what turned out to be a couple of days after the tsunami. He salvaged the situation by turning the event into a charity bash. Tens of thousands of people turned up, some great music was played, and lots of cash was raised.
Sadd plans to do it bigger and better this year. The 2005 Koh Samui Musical Festival starts tomorrow, with an all-star line-up that includes The Wailers, UB40, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jools Holland and his Big Band, Dan Ackroyd's Blues Brothers, 1960s groups Canned Heat and Big Brother & the Holding Company and Zakiya Hooker, daughter of the grandfather of the blues, John Lee Hooker.
Up to 100,000 people are expected to attend the 10-day festival on the site overlooking the lake at Chaweng Beach, the site of the island's Black Moon parties. It's an ambitious event by anyone's standards, especially for a festival in its infancy. 'We're confident that this year's music festival will be far bigger and better than the inaugural event,' says Sadd.
Artistic director Bruce Gaston, a respected musician in his own right, says too much emphasis was put on world music last year. 'But we're talking reggae, blues and tropical beats this year,' he says. 'The mood will swing from upbeat to laid-back to downright mellow, but the quality is there throughout.'
Performances will mainly take place in the evenings on the outdoor stage on Chaweng Beach and also at indoor concerts at Sadd's CoCo Blues pub. 'We have six to seven bands playing daily on both stages,' says Gaston. 'During the breaks, there'll be dance and art performances.'