American composer Chris Botti and his long-time collaborator Sting will headline the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival on February 25, 2016.
This will mark the second year in a row that Sting is on the bill. Carlos Santana will also return.
“At the beginning, I was like, ‘No, Sting was here this year, it’s going to be ridiculous, guys. Let’s do it in a couple of years,’” said Anthony Younes, CEO and founder of Chillout Entertainment. “Then I said, ‘Listen, if I don’t take this show today, maybe I will not have the opportunity to take it again.’”
Younes collaborated with festivals around Asia to organise a small tour for the duo, starting off in Dubai and finishing in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“It’s a beautiful show,” Younes said. “Just imagine two Grammy Award-winning artists sharing the same stage, and combining jazz, pop and rock together. It’s going to be around two-and-a-half hours.”
During the first half of the show, Botti, 53, and his band, which stands at about 13 members, will perform an instrumental set. During the second half, Sting, 64, will join them on stage to perform a selection of his greatest hits, which include If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, Englishman In New York and The Police’s Roxanne.
There will also be a co-headliner, yet to be announced.
The start of something
Sixteen years ago, around the time that Younes began following Botti’s career, Botti formed a bond with Sting. In 1999, they went on tour together, and in 2001, they released a DVD taping of a performance at Sting’s estate. Botti credits the collaboration as the catalyst for his international career.
“[My first three albums] sold great for a jazz musician, but when Sting rang, said to come meet him at the Dorchester Hotel for a drink, he said, ‘Step outside yourself for two years and I’ll break you. But I’ll need two years.’ In two years, he did,” Botti said.
Between the two of them, there’s nearly seven decades of experience in the industry. Before Botti met Sting, he toured with Paul Simon (of Simon & Garfunkel) for a decade. He worked with the likes of Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole and Roger Daltrey. In 2013, he won a Grammy for his tenth studio release, Impressions, which earned the Best Pop Instrumental Album title.
Globally, he’s become known as a contemporary jazz trumpeter, and in a way, he could help Jazz Fest return to its roots a year after James Blunt, a pop-rocker, and John Legend, an R & B singer, headlined the event.
Younes agreed. “It will probably calm a few people down, who keep on nagging that we don’t have jazz anymore. So, here you go — this is the biggest jazz artist in the world right now. This is for you, guys,” he said, with a laugh.
If you like legends ...
As for it being a repeat of Sting’s performance, Younes said the upcoming show will contain variety, and people will be able to see Sting performing in “a new setting, a new atmosphere.” Besides, he theorised, if someone bought a Sting CD because they were a fan, they wouldn’t just listen to it once, would they? After all, in other parts of the world, like Europe or North America, performances every year are the norm.
“They do the same tour, again and again and again, and people still go. Here, some people are like, ‘Ah, again Sting! Ah, again Santana! They were here a year ago.’ But only 13, 14 thousand people saw them. There’s another [several] million that haven’t. If you don’t want to see them again, that’s fine, because others would,” he said.
“If you like jazz, if you like blues, if you like rock, if you like legends, if you like talent, you can enjoy the show. It’s for every single person who likes quality live entertainment.”
Rock band Toto will open the festival on February 24, while Santana closes on February 26.
Don’t miss it:
Tickets will go on sale at noon today via Ticketmaster, ticketmaster.ae and 800-TM-UAE. Regular Standing: Dh395; Golden Circle: Dh795; Fan Pit: Dh995; and VIP: Dh1,450.
