Koh Mr Saxman (Thailand) Koh has taken jazz saxophone playing in Thailand to new heights, playing a mix of standards and his own finely crafted songs. The track ‘Rush Hour’, from the first of his five albums, won Best Instrumental Song of the Year in 2003.

Phil Wiggins and Corey Harris (USA) Harmonica player Wiggins and guitarist Harris, an ex-New Orleans street singer, have an authentic old time blues sound that is fast disappearing from the music scene. Harris starred in the Martin Scorcese film Feel Like Going Home, the story of the blues from its African origins. Wiggins and Harris play roots music at its best.

Gwilym Simcock At the young age of 28, Simcock is already a multi award-winning pianist. He’s been compared Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau, and no less a name than Chick Corea has labelled him: “An original. A creative genius.”
Gwilym will bring a trio to the festival, playing his unique blend of classical inflected jazz that in the future will surely see him rise to be one of the greats of the genre.

James Carter (USA) This virtuoso sax player blew Bangkok away at his NIU’s gig in August, with several attending musicians calling him the best they’d ever seen. He plays soprano, tenor and baritone saxes, as well as flute and bass clarinet, all seemingly with the same ferocious attack and broad palette of sounds. Yet, he can be intensely lyrical, too. Time Magazine says his “muscular sound wraps itself around the listener like an anaconda”, while the Los Angeles Times calls him “The Jimi Hendrix of the saxophone”.

Francois Lindemann (Switzerland) leads musicians of multi-ethnic backgrounds to build an exhilarating hybrid of cross-cultural jazz using a mix of traditional instruments.