Ledisi (Private Curve)
Earth, Wind & Fire, Eric Benet and George Benson to highlight Seoul Jazz FestivalLegendary jazz artists and pop stars are coming to Seoul to perform at the annual Seoul Jazz Festival that kicks off this weekend at the outdoor venues of Olympic Park in southern Seoul.
The list of artists includes American soul rock band Earth, Wind & Fire, jazz guitarist George Benson, Al Di Meola, Ledisi and Eric Benet, one of Korea’s all-time favorite R&B singers from the U.S.
Eric Benet
Benet is already attracting the spotlight as he plans to perform a duet with Park Ji-min, the 15-year-old Korean girl who recently won the TV audition show “K-pop Star.” Benet, who has a keen interest in Korea and Korean artists, asked Park to sing with him on stage, a publicist from the festival’s promoter Private Curve told The Korea Herald.
“Benet has been expressing interest in Park ever since he watched a video of her singing Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ at the audition show on YouTube,” she said. As soon as the news got out that Park and other “K-pop Star” finalists will open the festival, Benet requested that Park sing with him. It is still unknown what song the two will sing but it will be one of Benet’s hit songs, the promoter hinted.
Jazz guitarist George Benson
American soul-rock band “Earth, Wind & Fire”
Not only artists from overseas but also Korean musicians are to perform in the festival. Korean hip-hop duo LEESSANG and vocal Jung-in; Choi Min-ho Quartet with Eaeon; Korean Bossa Nova singer Na Hee-kyung; singer-song writer Cho Kyu-chan and Lim Ju-yeon and Parkkun Salon are scheduled to perform over the weekend.
The artists are to perform on three different stages ― Jazz Forest, Spring Garden and Belle Bridge ― for two days. Performances open at 12:30 p.m. each day at different venues at the Olympic Park. Ticket holders can attend any of the performances but will likely attend the festival’s two highlights ― Eric Benet and Earth, Wind & Fire on Saturday evening and George Benson on Sunday evening, all to be held on the Jazz Forest stage.
A one-day pass is priced at 99,000 won while a two-day ticket costs 178,000 won. Call (02) 563-0595 or visit www.seouljazz.co.kr for more information and ticket reservation.
By Cho Chung-un (
christory@heraldcorp.com)