Hi everyone,
Due to some unforeseen circumstances, our performance at Top Room on the 3rd and 4th August has been cancelled.
For updates on what will be happening there, please visit the Top Room page.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Speechless...
What do you say when you know you've got one of the BEST jazz bands in town?
.... NOTHING!!....
Because there's nothing than can be said that can describe how I feel about my band members! If anything, I can say that I'm a very, VERY blessed musician... to have the opportunity to work with 4 of the most amazing musicians, and to have them in my band... OUR band!! It goes to show for me, that a successful (and potentially kick-a$$) band does not need all-star players for it work!
I've learned so much playing with this band for only these 7+ months. I'm also grateful, that we also got a lot more opportunities to play a lot at these various jazz venues in town, making us play a whole lot more over the past 7-8 months... Top Room (DG+JD *wink* thanks!), Chill Wine Bar, Bangkok Jazz, Groove Junction, and some others..
Anyway, just to write a short account of our last gig at Chill Wine Bar the last two nights..
The band was smokin' on Friday night! We had Junji Delfino singing the two nights with us... so having Junji on board is always a pleasure, it's always plain fun, and also musically fulfilling! What can we say when we have basically the best female jazz vocalist playing with us?? For some strange reason, I felt like I was on overdrive these two nights. Of course, being so at home with these guys, playing was like riding a magic carpet!! One of the more interesting things on Friday night, was when we started playing, the usually-non-attentive-EH-LAKS-SIS-type crowd also sat in attention and started to listen and see what we were doing. We commanded attention.. and it was something I've always intended to do when we play! And I'm glad we did!
Last night was also good! However, on Saturday night, we had Justin, Daniel and Wee Jon replacing the original cats for two sets, on piano, bass, and drums, respectively. Those cats played exceptionally well doing Boplicity material, but without rehearsals! When the original cats came over the the wine bar, we played the last set with the original line-up.. and I think we basically smoked the house down! We played really crazy the last set, and I think it was evident, that the chemistry of our working relationship as a musical unit really stood out! We only did three songs in the last set - Bluesanova, Love You Long Time, and June Bug. In the first tune, we really stretched the tune much more than we usually did... and everyone really did take it to the fifth dimension and back, even Eddie kicked butt on it!!! Cher Siang played a killer solo on Love You Long Time (and the other songs, too!), going in-and-out of the harmony, with the right amount of tension-and-release, it was crazy enough to send chills up my spine! I was relating to him after the set, that I probably had multiple-mental-orgasms just listening to the whole band play their butts off! With the last tune, we had Kevin Choo (my sax brutha!!) jam with us on that nice funky blues.. and we three horns traded solos like an ongoing mamak conversation!! We ended the set with Junji doing a beautiful encore ballad, a duet with Cher Siang on piano! Man.. what a crazy two-nighter it turned out to be!
I'm so blessed with having these cats as band members... and as best friends, too! Thank you...
.. Thank you so much!
Well, the band will be taking a three week hiatus from the clubs, due to some scheduling. But this is a great opportunity for us, as we're working on some new material before the our next show in Top Room on the first weekend of August. So do stay tuned and hope to catch you then!
.... NOTHING!!....
Because there's nothing than can be said that can describe how I feel about my band members! If anything, I can say that I'm a very, VERY blessed musician... to have the opportunity to work with 4 of the most amazing musicians, and to have them in my band... OUR band!! It goes to show for me, that a successful (and potentially kick-a$$) band does not need all-star players for it work!
I've learned so much playing with this band for only these 7+ months. I'm also grateful, that we also got a lot more opportunities to play a lot at these various jazz venues in town, making us play a whole lot more over the past 7-8 months... Top Room (DG+JD *wink* thanks!), Chill Wine Bar, Bangkok Jazz, Groove Junction, and some others..
Anyway, just to write a short account of our last gig at Chill Wine Bar the last two nights..
The band was smokin' on Friday night! We had Junji Delfino singing the two nights with us... so having Junji on board is always a pleasure, it's always plain fun, and also musically fulfilling! What can we say when we have basically the best female jazz vocalist playing with us?? For some strange reason, I felt like I was on overdrive these two nights. Of course, being so at home with these guys, playing was like riding a magic carpet!! One of the more interesting things on Friday night, was when we started playing, the usually-non-attentive-EH-LAKS-SIS-type crowd also sat in attention and started to listen and see what we were doing. We commanded attention.. and it was something I've always intended to do when we play! And I'm glad we did!
Last night was also good! However, on Saturday night, we had Justin, Daniel and Wee Jon replacing the original cats for two sets, on piano, bass, and drums, respectively. Those cats played exceptionally well doing Boplicity material, but without rehearsals! When the original cats came over the the wine bar, we played the last set with the original line-up.. and I think we basically smoked the house down! We played really crazy the last set, and I think it was evident, that the chemistry of our working relationship as a musical unit really stood out! We only did three songs in the last set - Bluesanova, Love You Long Time, and June Bug. In the first tune, we really stretched the tune much more than we usually did... and everyone really did take it to the fifth dimension and back, even Eddie kicked butt on it!!! Cher Siang played a killer solo on Love You Long Time (and the other songs, too!), going in-and-out of the harmony, with the right amount of tension-and-release, it was crazy enough to send chills up my spine! I was relating to him after the set, that I probably had multiple-mental-orgasms just listening to the whole band play their butts off! With the last tune, we had Kevin Choo (my sax brutha!!) jam with us on that nice funky blues.. and we three horns traded solos like an ongoing mamak conversation!! We ended the set with Junji doing a beautiful encore ballad, a duet with Cher Siang on piano! Man.. what a crazy two-nighter it turned out to be!
I'm so blessed with having these cats as band members... and as best friends, too! Thank you...
.. Thank you so much!
Well, the band will be taking a three week hiatus from the clubs, due to some scheduling. But this is a great opportunity for us, as we're working on some new material before the our next show in Top Room on the first weekend of August. So do stay tuned and hope to catch you then!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Jazz Association of Malaysia (JAM) - Inaugural Meeting
Hi everyone,
Here's an important piece of news, I'd like to share. We're having the inaugural meeting of the Jazz Association of Malaysia on Sunday, 8th July 2007, from 3pm - 5.30pm. But I'll just let this little picture do da talkin'...
If you have a passion for jazz and want to see that it is nurtured...
If you enjoy the freedom in jazz and want to make sure that it is heard...
If you believe that jazz has the power to bring people together in a common bond...
or
If you have something to share in the interest of building up the Malaysian jazz movement...
...then come on the 8th of July and join JAM. Together let's stand up for jazz!
For more information, ring 016 225 4868 or 016 322 9383.
By the way, after all that talking a lot about the music, you can actually fete your ears with some REAL music.. the regular Top Room Sunday Jazz Jam starts at 6pm!! I'll definitely be there as well, giving my support, and also to play!! After all, the music comes first! So I hope to see you there..
Show your support for the music.. and show your support for the jazz scene in KL!
Check out http://jazzmalaysia.blogspot.com, the official blog-site for J.A.M!
Check out http://jazzmalaysia.blogspot.com, the official blog-site for J.A.M!
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