Siberia. Jazz Festival

When you are invited to emcee a jazz festival as far from home as Siberia, bringing your formal suit may be not entirely convenient (especially if the most of your only suitcase allowed as free check-in baggage is taken by the magazines and books you bring to sell at the festival CD booth.) Therefore, it is essential to bring nice bright shirts: they work even better than the formal suits, as in many instances you find yourself to be the only one on the stage not dressed in a formal suit! On the pictures (all three taken by my partner, Anna Filipieva): day one, day two, and day three of the Sib Jazz Fest, the new international jazz festival in Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city and Russian Asia's jazz hub #1. I have hosted the festival concerts on October 21-23. A very eclectic program provided me with the privilege to welcome to the stage such diverse artists as Oliver Lake, Mike Stern, Didier Lockwood, Stanley Jordan, Richard Galliano, Kevin Mahogany, and a bunch of very worthy locals (Vladimir Tolkachov Big Band, remember this name!) Anna's review of the festival can be found on Jazz.Ru; the text is in Russian, but there is a lot of very good pictures, too!