Saturday, July 22, 2017

Local talent in limelight at KK Jazz Festival


KOTA KINABALU: Having experienced his first KK Jazz Festival from the sidelines, Sabahan musician Gordon Chin is excited to be given the chance to share the limelight at the 11th instalment of the highly anticipated annual music extravaganza.

Strumming the guitar since he was only six years old, Gordon has never looked back.

He recalled admiring the festival from afar until he managed to work his way slowly towards it, first as a reporter providing media coverage and then as an artist liaison for the festival in recent years, before landing himself a spot on the coveted stage.

“I’d been keeping myself updated with all the happenings in KK. When the first jazz festival happened 11 years ago, I was a senior in high school and I managed to convince my parents to drive me to the festival, where I watched from the sidelines because I couldn’t afford a ticket.

“Being a musician, I told myself I wanted to be on that stage one day. After high school, I went to college and then became a reporter with a local daily, which was when I covered a good three or four jazz festivals.

“I still held on to that musical dream while doing music on the side, and one day, I decided to pursue music full time.

“That was when I started participating more actively in the festival, by becoming an artist liaison,” he said.

Gordon told The Borneo Post that he had taken care of American-born fingerstyle guitarist, singer and songwriter Shun Ng, as well as Motown legend Bobby Taylor, most noted for discovering and mentoring The Jackson 5.

.
.