Dubai to swing to all that jazz from tonight

Nearly 20,000 people are expected to attend Dubai's third international jazz festival, which starts tonight, organisers said.

Jazz musicians from Europe and the United States will play in Madinat Jumeirah and Dubai Media City during the three-day annual event. Nightly attendance estimates are 5,000 to 7,000.

Anthony Younes, MD of Chill Out Productions, said at a press conference he expected a large turn out.

Rigmor Gustafsson, singer and composer from Sweden, will play the opening set on the last day of the festival.

She said she hoped to inspire Arab jazz fans as well as newcomers. "Jazz is a form of expression and you can be totally free when you play."

She said jazz deserved more airplay on radio stations. "If it was played on the radio, more people would be aware of the different types of jazz out there. Hopefully, the festival will be the opportunity for people to get into it."

Younes was criticised in some quarters for not bringing in any Arab or Asian musicians in the festival's third year.

He said, however, there was a simple explanation.

"Last year, we had Toufiq Farrouq. This year, we couldn't match what Farrouq delivered. We don't have enough Middle Eastern artists to compete with European and American artists."