Hip cats hone in on Hua Hin Jazz Festival

Hip cats hone in on Hua Hin Annual Jazz Festival secures international talent June 18-20

HUA HIN, Thailand (April 28, 2010) — Some of the world’s most skilled musicians will be in Hua Hin June 18-20, when the 9th Annual Hua Hin Jazz Festival sounds off from the home of Thailand’s king, a deft composer and instrumentalist in his own right.
 
The three-day event, which drew more than 35,000 fans to Hua Hin’s shores last summer, is expected to be another “who’s who” of jazz artists. Past performers include acclaimed British jazz-funk group Shakatak and Motown’s Kenny Garrett, whose solo career took off after stints with Miles Davis’ band and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
 
“If any destination in Thailand evokes the spirit of jazz, it’s Hua Hin,” said Mikael Svensson, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin. “Measured, sophisticated and universally appealing, jazz and Hua Hin speak to all comers.”
 
Cavalcades of budding and established Thai acts routinely make the three-hour trek from Bangkok, too. “When it comes to music festivals in Thailand, this is the one everyone thinks of first,” said Mrs. Pinnat Charoenphol, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Prachuabkhirikhan. “It just gets bigger every year.”
 
Hua Hin has been associated with the country’s jazz community since the 1950s, when musicians from all over began migrating to the resort region on word that it was the place for such enthusiasts to be.
 
Inspired by half a century of tradition, as well as by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej — Hua Hin’s most noble resident and a nimble saxophonist himself — organizers in 2001 launched the Hua Hin Jazz Festival, a celebration of the genre’s finest work.
 
As in past years, performances will take place in the evenings at Phonkingphet Public Park and on a spacious stretch of Hua Hin Beach next to Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa, the area’s tallest hotel.
 
For more information about the Hua Hin Jazz Festival, lodging options and area activities, visit www.itsinhuahin.com.
 
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