WHOOOAAAAAHHH ... jaZzo WaCko again..

This is definitely making me oh SO HIIIIIGGHHHHH .... What else... Only jazz and F1 can make me HIGH .. hahahahah so if it's not the roaring 19000 rpm engines then it must be the oh so lovely fusion sounds of jazz .

Mom bought me the tickets pretty long ago , and because the date didn't seem to draw closer .. i didn't quite feel the excitement of looking forward for this event , until the nightmare of Friday was over (was trying hard to overcome the trauma of starting my first JAC class) and i realized that i didn't spend the whole day time wise enough to do anything besides practising Cypher .. so i came home from work at 10pm , had supper and rushed home to pack my clothes for the very next EXCITING day!

So the next day came ... woke up and went to work from 11am .. until 4 pm. I had to cancel my last JMC class at 4pm because i felt it was too rushing to leave KL at 5pm and make it in time for the festival which starts at 7pm. So , dad drove us to Pekeliling bus station and we took the 5+pm bus all the way up to Genting. In the bus , was toooo exhausted (after few sleepless nights) i dozed off a little while .

By the time we reached First World Hotel it was already 6 30pm and the show starts at 7pm.. Grace told me she was eating buffet dinner in Coffee Terrace with Sara (ex-Academy student) and asked me to joined her but i told her i won't be able to make it in time. Mom and i checked in and we left the hotel after refresing ourselves and walked to the International Showroom at 7pm. We got ourselves into the showroom and the whole environment was beautiful .... really nice place. Stage was HUGE and BIG and LOng.... with 2 big screens on each left and right side. Then the seats were like auditorium where it got higher and higher towards the back of the room. In between the seats , they have arranged little bar areas where you can sit on bar stools and eat / drink your HEINEKEN beers.

Obviously by now you'd know it sounds like NBT but too bad this was more crowded with a lot of people and too noisy and pretty more decorated like a club than a nice japanese interior designed NBT . Mom and I looked around and i decided to want to sit on one of the bar area and asked the staff if i was allowed to sit there they said a big OK . So i chose one of those tables and sat and started ordering my dinner. I ordered a Rm30 Sashimi platter (which obviously only filled like 30% of my stomach and got hungry at 9pm) ... and 2 bottles of Heineken. Shortly , we were being chased off by this bunch of Heineken ladies saying the place was reserved only for staffs from Heineken. SUCK! I made a FUSS to the people there and they moved us 1 level down to another table and after that they got into their own minor argument amongst each other and i made SOME MORE FUSS to them ... Finally it was all reserved actually for their people and we had to move off to those normal cushioned chairs at the 3rd level up there. FINE i left ...

By that time the seats were almost taken out , so i resorted to some 2nd row seating which was pretty bad coz mom was blocked by 1 very romantic couple who kept hugging each other non stop... and i had to move my chair out of the usual row to get a good view. There wasn't a better choice .. so ... we had to be patient. Lights out , the host Kevin something something .. came and briefed the audience about the event and gave some highlights about the same event last year and showed the videos. I was eating that time and when i heard some very familiar tune i immediatly looked up and saw Hiro and Elliot ! Hahahahh it was James' Ragged Tigers... Walao .. Song For Lorraine again...

KEY ELEMENTS - Singapore

After the highlights , the first band came to the main stage and started performing. It was Key Elements from S'pore. They were this bunch of accappella group who sing and make jazz music with nothing else but their own voices. So , out of the 6 they had bass , baritone , mezzo soprano, alto , percussion , blah blah ... like a full band. Mom got a little cheated when she thought they used certain instrument to produce the drum hi-hats sound for one of their jazz tunes. They were really entertaining , but after 5 songs i got a little restless and couldn't really wait for them to get lost actually. Hahahhaah.... It was logical to made them start the show coz they were just merely entertaining . Their rendition of Spiderman was awesome though . =)

Key Elements.. accappella singin.

Tangora (Trinidad & Tobago / France)

Next it was one of my favourite band of all night. They were a big bunch .. pretty full band. With awesome talented jazz musicians in it. Not to mention a beautiful awesome good stamina singer. She is COOL man.. the band plays fusion latino music and they had 1 pianist , 1 singer , 1 drummer , 1 percussionist , 1 organist , 1 steel drum player , and 1 bassist. I must say , the best jazz pianist came from this band and HE IS AWESOME... his solo lines ,are sooooo lyrical yet very technical ... the JAZZ FEEL .. oh my god. Mezmerizing .. his hand techniques , was soo impressive like as if i saw Herbie Hancock playing in Genting ! His name is Mario blah blah.. but he's definitely a person i would remember. This was an awesome band.. but at times their music was too loud probably the sound engineer didn't do much to adjust. During this time , i got sooooo high that i felt i could fly up the sky. Watching this band also exposed myself to watching someone play the steel drums for the very first time. It looked just like a big bowl but i don't know what on earth he was doing inside the bowl that produced different pitches. Mom's favourite was the percussionist coz she was too impressed with him playing more than 10 percussion and also still laughing happily while playing. =) JAZZ MUSICIANS... so relaxed. The singer ... gosh i looovve her voice. GOOD STAMINA (never drank a single drop of water for more than 1 hour) and her singing improvisation... beautiful.

After their band ended , the crowd were too entertained that the host called up Mr Mario (pianist) to come up once more and play a solo piano piece because he was sooo good. Apparently he featured in another band last year and played in Genting as well.

The full band. LOVE THEM!

Neanders Jazz Band (Denmark)

Oh gosh .. this band... imagine a bunch of 40-50 year old uncles playing New Orleans pure OLD SCHOOL jazz... for more than 30 years .And coming to Genting receiveing plenty of applause and cheers .... thoughout their set. Can't stand it. They were good . But sadly their old school music was just not my cup of tea. After sending me on HIGH with Tangora , my mood came back down to a low after hearing them. They were made of 1 drummer , 1 guitarist / singer , 1 trumpeter/singer , 1 double bassist (HE IS THE ONLY ONE I LIKE) , 1 saxaphonist , 1 trombone player. While listening to them , i felt i was attending James' JAZZ HISTORY class... going way back to where jazz started .. in New Orleans. And eventually evolving to Rock n Roll and Blues... gosh. Then here came Louise Armstrong , the Satchmo... Yeah now you would've guessed why they received the most thunderous applause from the Msian crowd. WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD..... Mom loved them most. Hahhahah ... But it was good to get some old jazz though , and watch someone solo on a banjo. The only really cool thing about them was the double bassist ... his moves and ENERGY were FUN to watcH ! ehhehe....

The Danish old hacks...

He's the coolest double bassist! Check out how he rocks withe the double bass!

Schalk Joubert and the Three Continents Sextet (Norway, Sweden, Spain, Africa, Australia)

They are also my favourite! COnsist of 8 members ... they came from 3 different continents of the world and actually produce darn COOOOLL FUSSSION music! Yeah mom couldn't stand them coz they were toooooo noisy but their fusion is the kind that suits me. 4 girls , 4 guys. They showed that EVERYONE can make good music. The girls though , dressed a little too .. strange for the instruments they're playing. hahaha.. except the saxaphonist. SHE"s my favourite ! So GOOD with the sax! Girls were trombonist , trumpeter , saxaphonist , and pianist. (Pianist looked like some dutch lady advertisement embassador) while the guys were normal. GUess what i saw ? 1 of the guy brought out MOTIF and even played the soprano sax. SUCK .... MOTIF ... jealous. The leader of the band was the bassist though , and he played some really cool solo . Hehehhe sorry la Hiro... he's overtaken you. In terms of lyricsm... Anyway their music was really LOUD but their solo lines were awesome. There was this particular slow calm song i liked but didn't pay attention to the title .. very modern jazz sounding. NICE ... then of course they were requested for ENCORE but they had no extra songs prepared , so they played back one of their fast number called El-Nino. This time they changed solo parts and the pianist gets to solo now. I love the saxaphonist , she's from South AFrica and i actually thought of wearing what she wore for EF but too bad i can't fit boots with my song. hahahahah...

The full band... MOTIF!!

Ahh from South Africa..ms really good cool saxaphonist!

Tighten Up! Jazz Jamaica with special guest Myrna Hague (UK / Jamaica)

BY this time ... it was almost 1 am .. and the people were still on HIGH and in fact some started to dance and drink even more. Grace came to join me and mom left for Casino. After the awesome Sextet finished , the host promised an even more exciting band coming up who would be leaving us with something to remember definitely. They were from Jamaica and obviously i would be expecting REGGAE music throughout. And it was ...REGGAE indeed ! hahhah almost every jazz number they arranged into reggae...and basically the crowd just went crazy with them. We had 1 double bassist (leader) , 2 saxaphonists, 1 trombone , 1 drummer , 1 guitarist, 1 1 pianist . And also 2 special guests they brought , 1 of very DIVA like antique looking old lady singer and 1 very old man grandpa looking pianist (who can't even walk properly already) ... Imagine... they still produce GOOD music after all. TOGETHER with the band. While playing 1 number called Caravan , the band made sure the crowd danced along .. and showed us some dance steps , so everyone (including myself with my butt glued on the chair) danced along! hehhehe.... our all time favourite was their rendition of 007 JAmes Bond Theme song ... it was too cool... When the host asked us what to expect from them , i screamed

YA MAAAN!!!

Hahhahhaa .... Jamaican influence. The band leader was rather sarcastic though.. u know , british blokes. His policy was

"We play , YOU DANCE"

And so everyone did.. whenever the old lady comes out thunderous applause was given coz she was realllllly good... power house voice. Anyway they ended with some cool song and then opened up the last hour for jamming session. They invited other previous band musicians to come up jam the song , C Blues. And slowly 1 by 1 started joining them on stage .. and this must be the most awesome song of the night. Watching professional jazz musicians who dont know each other jamming and taking turns to play solo improvisational lines... with the help of a leader (the trumpeter) of course. It was FUN to watch... 3 trombonists especially , taking turns to solo like as if they were fighting. HAHAHHA..nice! Then the lady singer came up to finish the song with the theme ... and everyone APPLAUSED LOUDLY .. i already lost my voice by then screaming too much throughout the whole night.

The jamaicans and british! (Don't u love the guitarist's hair.. so british..he's my colleague's cousin's friend from the UK)

The ending JAMMING session.. everyone had bassically no place to stand.

By then it was already 2am and i was very very exhausted already .. my eyes could hardly be lifted up and my stomach was feeling uneasy because of the improper meals i had throughout the night. I told grace we should leave and we did .. proceeded to Coffee Terrace outside.. and she bought me and mom supper. While eating , we saw those jazz musicians coming in to the same place to have their supper as well. hhahaha .. Too bad my camera memory was full , otherwise i would've recorded more videos and took more wonderful pictures. Sad. By the time we were done eating , mom went back to casino ... Grace and I walked back to our hotel .. we seperated at the lift entrance .. she walked back to Tower 2 to get my books and i went back myself.

At the front of my room door , i couldn't open the door with my key and thought i had swiped it on the wrong room. Called mom , she said 705 or 708. I tried swiping 708 , still red light. She said she'll come over with her key .. and i began to kind of freak out , whether i had entered the wrong Hotel .. entered the wrong tower .. or had i enter the wrong lift ... came out to the wrong floor .. Coz of the midnight thing and it was almost 4am! Grace came and waited with me , then mom came and used her card .. THANKFULLY the door could be opened and so i wasn't subconsciously wrong. My card had some problem. So mom left back for the casino and grace decided to sleep with me for the night. I took a quick shower (at 4am!) and by the time we were settled... before i slept , i saw my handphone clock . It was

4 35am

Chatted awhile with Grace and then both of us dozed off. Woke up at 9 am .... Mom's alarm rang .. and she told me she actually came back to the hotel at 6 30am ! Crazy... I had my short almost 5 hours sleep and obviously it wasn't enough .. after such a tiring usual working Saturday... plus the too much too good to be true jazz music for the whole night.... i came back to KL looking like a pure zombie with thick red lips... and just headed off to C.H's house for my electone class after a nice shower at home. Had one of my worse classes ever... couldn't play well , couldn't TALK well .. couldn't even think at all. Brain was half shut.... and whatever he said i just agreed and didn't bother thinking twice. Hahahah....

All in all .. i had another great great awesome getting HIGH night... This night kind of opened my eyes as to what international jazz musician standards are like and they definitely rock you down. COnclusion ... i had an equivalent of 5 NBT nights in 1 night. But the bands are much better. =) Next stop...

Eric Li's jazz trio - No Black Tie 16th April 08