The Top 5 Acts of the 2014 Melbourne International Jazz FestivalJune 02, 2014

Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, has a storied past. Ditto with Sydney, the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney may be the largest metropolis in Australia, even the most populous, but more people come to Melbourne. The city is also considered the country's cultural center, with festivals that inhabitants - and visitors – look forwart to. One of those is the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

Now in its seventeenth year, the previous editions saw Australian artists Vince Jones, Bob Barnard, Ian Chaplin, David Jones, Fiona Burnett, Michelle Nicolle, Erik Griswold, Brian Brown, David Tolley, and Dale Barlow delighting jazz fans. International artists, coming from Denmark, Finland, Greece, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and USA, included Andy Bey, Barbara Morrison, Mark Murphy, Chris Potter, Ralph Sutton, Norman Simmons, Ricky Ford, Tim Ries, Gary Bartz, and Jim Cullum.

Michael Tortori, the artistic director for this year's festival, promises the program to be better than the previous years.

"Jazz continues to be an important chronicle of modern life, relentless in its search for authenticity, for capturing the moment through improvisation," Mr. Tortoni said.

"That relentless search is reflected in this year's incredible lineup."

This year's festivity, which runs from May 30 to June 8, will be headlined by the following acts:

Chick Corea. A native of Chelsea, Massachusetts, many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. A member of the Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he was part of the electric jazz fusion movement. His contribution gives him top billing in this year's festivity.

Gary Burton. There might not be a better vibraphonist than the native of Anderson, Indiana, who taught himself to play the vibraphone. He was part of the Berklee College of Music for three decades, which made him a major figure in jazz education. He was also known for developing a pianistic style style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique, the approach caused him to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique widely imitated.

Charles Lloyd. This musician from Memphis, Tennessee returns to the festival, which fans will be delighted. He primarily plays tenor saxophone and flute, occasionally recorded on other reed instruments including the alto saxophone.

Robert Davi. Film enthusiasts will fondly remember this native of Queens, New York as one of the finest character actors, appearing in films like "City Heat", "The Goonies", "Die Hard", "License to Kill", and "The Taking of Beverly Hills". He is also classically trained as a singer, launching his singing career in 2011. His first album, "Davi Sings Sinatra - On The Road To Romance", peaked at #6 in the Billboard jazz chart.

Glenn Miller Orchestra. The festivity will be incomplete without this big band, formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. It had performed under various leaders, but it was the new band that became very popular, with chart-topping hits like "In the Mood", "A String of Pearls", and "Tuxedo Junction".

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