The 14th edition of the Simon’s Pub Music Festival kicks off on Friday, setting the ball rolling for three consecutive days of live music with a purpose – that of raising funds for Inspire, the non-profit organisation that supports more than a thousand local children and adults with various disabilities.
To date, this event has collected more than €80,000 in aid of Inspire. The list of bands doing their bit for the cause features the likes of Colourblind, Red Electrick, Norm Rejection, Bridget Bone, KOI, 12th Ode, The Myth, Purple Haze, Julian Casha, Charlie Busuttil, NV, Jail Jam, No Red Tape, Skarlet, Fiona, Infinite Loop, R30 Project and Dusk.
The event will also feature foreign artists, and this year, the festival will have vocalist Rajan Saxong and versatile Dutch jazz trumpeter Saskia Laroo as its special guest artists.
Saxong’s career in music kicked off in 1981, during which time she has not only been a performer but also a composer and touring artist. By 1983 she was singing professionally with the R ’n’ B band Beginning to End, with whom she released the singles Impossible Dreams and Time, both of which did very well in Germany and led to a tour of Europe with popular German band Majika.
Saxong later toured west Africa with Gambian soul-jazz band Chameleon, following which she went to Jamaica performing in festivals. Apart from performing alongside Sonny Bradshaw, she was also a guest artist in Jamaica’s 2004 Tastee talent competition and competed in Hollywood at the World Association of Talent Modelling and Entertainment that same year.
Last year, Saxong also fronted the Steve Larkin Band at a jazz festival in New Zealand. In the past eight years, she has performed at various charity events, among them Red Bridge and The British Heart Foundation.
Saxong is currently recording new material and looking forward to performing at a number of upcoming festivals in Jamaica.
Laroo has been widely hailed by music critics as ‘Lady Miles of Europe’, a badge she wears with pride particularly because she feels it keeps the spirit of Miles Davis alive (read interview below).
Armed with her unique style, a blend of a wide spectrum of musical genres that ranges from jazz and funk to hiphop, dance and world music, Laroo is looking forward to coming back to perform in Malta, revisiting a music scene she recalls as very dedicated during her previous visits.
More information about the Simon’s Pub Music Festival is available on Facebook.