Chaka Khan, Kokoroko and YolanDa Brown headline inaugural Riyadh International Jazz Festival

When it comes to the arts, at least, things are changing rapidly in Saudi Arabia. Only six years ago concerts with mixed-sex audiences were banned, but since then there have been pop events like Soundstorm, featuring the likes of Metallica. And now comes the first Riyadh International Jazz Festival, produced by the Ministry of Culture’s Music Commission.

“Jazz is a broad genre”, as the Commission’s CEO Paul Pacifico (formerly with the UK Association of Independent Music) stressed at the start. He had an 1,800-seat hall to fill, so it was perhaps to be expected that the headliners included Chaka Khan and Australia’s glorious global fusion band The Cat Empire. But there was still an emphasis on jazz, with the vast stage decked out like some 1930s art deco jazz club, and video screens showing old black and white footage of jazz dancers before the music began. Outside, in the VIP area among the palm trees, there was a little stage where Saudi singer Loulwa Al-Sharif perched on a stool to sing ‘Fever’ and ‘Fly Me To The Moon’, as waiters served tea and cakes – but no alcohol.

This was a new experience both for the audience and most of the artists, and it was encouraging to see that British jazz – and female jazz artists – were well received. Saxophonist YolanDa Brown (pictured above) was in exuberant form in a glittery trouser suit, treating the hall as if it were some intimate club as she switched from jazz-funk to an impressive solo on ‘ConFusion’, then reggae with ‘Is This Love?’ (“which King Charles had requested”) and the new, cheerfully upbeat ‘Kicking The Door Down’. By the time she reached ‘Summertime’, she was walking out among the crowd, still playing. 

There was more of a cheerful late night-night feel to the set from Kororoko, fronted by Sheila Maurice-Grey on trumpet and Richie Seivwright on trombone (pictured above), both of whom switched between brass and vocals as they mixed Afrobeat influences and slower, emotional songs like ‘Home’ or their thoughtful answer to Marvin Gaye, ‘ Something’s Going On’. 

There was also Saudi jazz-rock from local band Garwasha, and Bahraini jazz-rock from Majaz, in an easy-going festival at which the audience only once got up from their seats and rushed to the stage, at the invitation of Chaka Khan.