Glastonbury Band Competition Finals

Because the road to Glastonbury was closed, we took an hour detour and missed the first two acts. Who have been described thus:

Paddy Milner was a real jazz band who played really good fun Jazz including a Bix Beiderbecke number. Despite their set being cut a little short by the production people, they were well received and performed well for an opening act. A great keyboard player most people agreed we’d be seeing more of them on the jazz festival circuit.

Unnati was an Indian vocalist with a tabla player and a guitar player. From what I hear they were a bit inexperienced and nervy and possibly not quite ready for what is a really big stage. However it was really interesting to hear some Indian music played live and it added to the breadth of cultures represented on the night. The general verdict from those who did see Unnati was that the music was possibly a bit inaccessible being more of a listening experience then a joining in with one.

However we managed to get there just in time for Moya, who were fantastic and really set up a festival atmosphere. The band were introduced as coming from a small kingdom in Swaziland and may have started slowly with the levels on the vocals far too low and so background chatter grew but it wasn’t long until the crowd were drawn to listen to the Afrojazz which captivated the audience. The eight piece band played a mixture of traditional African rhythms, one of their songs I’d heard before and more modern African folk. The band are fronted by Moesha a singer with a soulful and powerful voice their music slowly spread over the audience filling the room with a warm African spirit.



With Dave laying down a great beat on a rather cool modern looking double bass (I’d like one) and lead guitarist Jonathon playing some very smooth guitar plus some fantastic percussion suing traditional and modern instruments including some great African drumming. All this plus a flautist they created a very full sound more than capable of drawing in a crowd over a field in June. Their sound will be perfect for a sunny day at the Jazz World stage, while listening to them I could hear the flags fluttering above me and was transported to the festival for a moment.

The festival vibe was continued by a Palestinian band fronted by singer Reem Kelani. I was also impressed by this band, in fact I was impressed by all of the ones I saw and rather regretted missing the first two acts. Admittedly it was the bodhran playing primarily that captivated my attention, though the vocals of Reem were certainly full range, I found them a little unsettling at times. In fact watching them set up before hand and her body language I wasn’t absolutely certain she wasn’t a bit angry especially as I couldn’t tell what she was singing! Her voice certainly had a full range of emotion but I found it all a bit intense! But I’m told it’s the traditional sound of Arabic music from that part of the region.

Next up were Dragonsfly, who were fantastic too continuing the Arabic sound with a wide variety of instruments on stage! With Celtic rhythms as well more picked up from around the globe added into the mix. Being a local band they obviously had a lot of friends there, they didn’t wait to be introduced, were comfortable on stage and got everyone dancing. Their lead singer Maya Preece is clearly a very talented woman entertaining us with a variety of musical instruments. I was certainly impressed with them and my daughter wanted them to win, we'll be looking out for them on festival programmes this summer. They reminded me of Cheap Suit Oroonies or the Ozric Tentacles and anyone who likes this kind of music I’d recommend you check Dragonsfly out.

And closing proceedings was the yellow clothed Kristian Bediiako's World Fusion, with impressive guitar, bass and a young and hugely talented on drums that pushed a pulsating beat. They mix up classic rock songs like House of the Rising Sun with his vibrant masterful guitar playing and the Ghanaian jumped into the audience to wiggle his bottom in people's faces and sit in people's laps! At one point jamming in front of Blackbud's own guitar maestro Jo. Fantastic audience participation and great drumming, but not sure the Jazz World stage would be the best place for him, it's quite hard to get into the crowd there! Mind you Ozmotli manage it!

It was clear from the look on the judges’ faces once the acts had finished that they were going to find it difficult to choose. A surprise then that the verdict of the judges came quite so quickly and they announced Moya the winner. Michael added that several of the other acts would also be at the festival on other stages.

A fantastic night and as we drove passed the site of the festival on the way home we both said we just couldn't wait for summer!

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