{"id":2813,"date":"2015-05-19T09:22:57","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T09:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marnixbusstra.nl\/wordpress\/?p=2813"},"modified":"2016-02-27T22:05:04","modified_gmt":"2016-02-27T22:05:04","slug":"tour-blog-marnix-busstra-band-kuwait-april-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marnixbusstra.nl\/wordpress\/tour-blog-marnix-busstra-band-kuwait-april-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Kuwait, 2015\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Thursday, April 23<\/p>\n

Another trip abroad for the Marnix Busstra Band. Kuwait? Yes, Kuwait. Not the first place that comes to mind when you think \u2018jazz\u2019 \u2013 but that simply proves once more that jazz is indeed an omnipresent style of music… We\u2019re invited as the main act at the Gulf Jazz Festival, a yearly event.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, bassist Arnold Dooyeweerd can\u2019t come along, but Tony Overwater is more than capable of taking his place for this tour. He, drummer Pieter Bast, pianist Rembrand Frehrichs and I meet at Schiphol for a direct late afternoon flight to Kuwait. We\u2019re happy to find a whole lot of empty chairs in the plane, so we have plenty of space to sit, or even lie down. A very comfortable way of travelling!<\/p>\n

Six hours later, a giant Radisson Blu hotel bus drives by to pick us up at Kuwait Airport; ot turns out that we were supposed to bring our own double bass, which we didn\u2019t \u2013 so again: plenty of space to stretch out. We arrive at the hotel around 11:00 pm, and we\u2019re happy to find a restaurant in the area that still serves food at that time.<\/p>\n

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Friday, April 24<\/p>\n

At noon, the next day, we get to meet the friendly guy who organizes the festival. He takes us to the venue where we\u2019re going to play, very close to the hotel. We\u2019re truly impressed: it\u2019s much like a gigantic ball room in the hold of an ocean liner. A bit bizarre, but beautiful…<\/p>\n

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After showing us around, he takes us out to lunch at a fine Lebanese place, where our most experienced globe-trotter, a true connoisseur of the Middle Eastern cuisine, bassist Tony, helps us select \u00a0the best dishes from the menu.<\/p>\n

When we return to the venue for our sound check, we can tell that the organization knows what they\u2019re doing: everything is what you expect it to be, and we get to work with great equipment and technicians.<\/p>\n