MOSAIC gets the punters on their feet in Singapore

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor/Jakarta

Singapore's Esplanade Theatres on the Bay is continuously working on its mission to entertain, engage, educate and inspire.

The most recent stint has been the holding of the first-ever music festival in the island city under the banner MOSAIC Music Festival, where eclectic beats, rhythms and sounds have echoed way beyond the Esplanade itself, infusing a profound sense of the sublime, and of incredible fun.

Among the highlights of the last leg of the festival was the appearance of jazz legend Shirley Horn who performed brilliantly (on March 19), despite her recent health problems.

The audience broke into loud applause when she was wheeled onto the stage in a wheelchair that she calls her "Cadillac", then falling into deep silence when she was lifted onto her piano stool.

Horn lost her right leg in 2001 due to diabetes complications, and it was the first time she was playing the piano in public again, this time with a prosthetic foot.

Neither cancer, arthritis nor anything else has held her back from going the long way from Washington to Singapore to show that the music has never left her -- nor she the music. As she looked frail during the brief press conference, many were wondering how she would do in the concert.

But there was nothing to worry about. In her own typical way, the living legend, who has more than 20 albums to her name, articulated her lyrics with her unique voice, sometimes melancholic and now and then trailing off, as if to put a special accent on the frailty of love and the human condition.

Another incredible highlight was Youssou N'Dour (on March 18), the world-renowned artist from Senegal who, together with his band The Super Etoile, swept the audience into swaying and dancing in the Esplanade concert hall.

Developing Mbalax, a mix of the traditional drumming of Senegal's Wolof community, African-rooted Cuban sounds and American soul and rock, N'Dour, who is dubbed the African Elvis, also had the aura of a prophet in the concert where his sweeping voice swelled with passion and succeeded in reassuring the crowd that there is happiness in Africa, not only "AIDS, poverty and terrorism".

Paying tribute to Senegal, his home country, he was applauded to many encores by an elated audience that was swept into participation in the music, clapping hands and dancing following the incredible rhythm of the band's beat.

N'Dour, who gained the title African Artist of the Century in 1999 and has recorded with such artists as Peter Gabriel, Sting and Neneh Cherry during the past 20 years of touring and recording outside Senegal, said, in an interview after his performance, his mission was to spread the spirit of brotherhood.

Also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and UNICEF, he stages benefit concerts to help children with AIDS and has founded his own foundation for the youth in his country.

Interestingly, N'Dour came to the Esplanade as part of Putumayo World Music, which also brought the exciting Susheela Raman and Kaissa in a program called Women of the World (on March 18), and the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, as well as Sidestepper, held in the outside Stage Powerhouse in a party that had hundreds of people moving their hands, bodies and feet into the wee hours.

It seemed the three years of preparation turned out to be worthwhile for Esplanade, particularly for program director JP Nathan and CEO Benson Poah.

With top-class performers flying in, the eclectic and infectious atmosphere will have visitors eagerly looking forward to the next festival.

Nathan revealed that over 1500 people showed up for the ticketed parties.