00:00The Dubai Media City Amphitheatre was the hottest ticket in town from the 24th to the
00:0826th of February as it played host to the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival.
00:14The annual event has become a staple of the region, drawing thousands in to see some of
00:17the most prolific musical acts on stage today, and music fans were delighted to be in attendance.
00:22It's just really nice to see such good performers and different people who are interested in
00:28such a nice genre of music coming together in one place, especially in Dubai.
00:33It doesn't happen all the time.
00:34So what brings you here?
00:36Uh, Sting and Chris Boddy and David Gray and Santana.
00:41We're here for two nights.
00:43This year's line-up included the likes of Toto, the multi-Grammy winning band famous
00:46for their hit songs Africa and Hold the Line.
00:49Well it feels great to be back.
00:50I mean, I remember, when I walked in I remember this being a great gig.
00:55Tonight's gonna be, you know, these guys are here for the first, the original guys in the
00:59band right here, you know.
01:00For the first time.
01:01A little reconfiguration of our little orchestra here, and we're very excited to play.
01:06We're gonna play all the hits everybody wants to hear, and it's a jazz festival so we can
01:11kind of stretch it a little, you know.
01:14We're just excited to be here.
01:16Jazz is something that just keeps moving forward, you know, and I love seeing the young musicians
01:20coming up today that are fusing it all together and everything, and I think, you know, jazz
01:25is still alive, it's a great art form, and I take my hat off to anybody who comes in here with it.
01:30We've never just gone through the motions, you know, we're always trying to be the best
01:35version of ourselves that we can be.
01:38We still care about music and practice our instruments.
01:41Also performing was English indie rock singer-songwriter David Gray.
01:44While feeling a little under the weather, he was in top form as he dazzled UAE fans
01:48with their favorite hits from his extensive Greatest Hit library.
01:52He shed some insight into the difficulties he faces as an artist moving forward.
01:56I think that if you keep making music long enough, you're going to come up with the problem
02:04of repeating yourself.
02:07So I think that's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about getting bored.
02:12It's making the same kind of music in the same kind of way.
02:18One of the hardest things to get around is the sound of your own voice.
02:21That's your signature thing, but it's also at the front of all the music you've made,
02:26so it requires some ingenuity and openness to find other ways to prise open the new songs
02:38or the new sound that might throw a different light on what you're doing.
02:44So I'm always looking for different ways to make music and write music
02:49because I get restless doing the same thing.
02:52I just think it's not enough of a reason to make a record because you can.
02:56You have to really need to and want to.
02:59So with me, part of that need and that urgency is that I want to do something different.
03:05I always feel like I'm going outwards and discovering, not just staying in the same place.
03:10Rounding out the show was legendary Carlos Santana riffing some of his most famous tunes to an awestruck crowd.
03:15It was a weekend to remember for jazz and rock fans in the region
03:18as the Emirates Airline Jazz Festival once again delivered an amazing event.
03:22Logan Fish for Tabloid.
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