Dear training blog,
My KLIM training didn't start out that great.
All my plans to run the last two weeks turned out rather lousily. I still ran, but not at the frequency that I wanted it to be. So much for base training. Only ran like twice a week. Somehow the motivation to train seemed to be eluding me.
However, I went out for a long run this morning on a beautiful Christmas morning with KT at Bukit Aman. We got there only about about 9am (very late for some, I'm sure). We saw Ronnie, Tey, and Adam Loh there. Instead of running in Lake Gardens, we decided to hit up Bukit Tunku.
The run started out quite okay, felt a bit heavy at the start, so I made sure I was running at an easy pace. We went the Olympic Run route, where we didn't go to the double hills exactly, but a short cut across, which comes out the Jalan Mahameru. Then we went into Jalan Sultan Salahuddin and came out back to Bukit Aman through the Tugu Negara. My run time just hit one hour exactly, and I finished the run feeling rather good, although not at the fitness I was at before.
Here are the stats for the Christmas Run:
Distance: between 6 - 7km
Time: 1 hour
Ave HR: 156bpm
Max HR: 175bpm.
PE: Medium
The hills, as expected, would've pushed up my heart rate quite a bit, but I made sure my Perceived Effort (PE) was on easy-to-medium. But it was quite a n enjoyable run. I just realised I hadn't had a real decent long run in a long time. My motivation has returned a bit. I hope next week I will really swing into training mode!
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Merry Christmas!
Hey all,
It's a bit late in the day already, but nevertheless, I want to wish all my Christian friends, and to anybody that celebrates Christmas..
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
I hope this Christmas brings you joy and happiness, and peace to you and your family! And I pray that it comes every Christmas!
It's a bit late in the day already, but nevertheless, I want to wish all my Christian friends, and to anybody that celebrates Christmas..
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
I hope this Christmas brings you joy and happiness, and peace to you and your family! And I pray that it comes every Christmas!
Sunday, December 18, 2005
KLIM '06, and Hulu Langat long ride..
It's finally up, the KL International Marathon website. You can download the entry form there.
It'll be on the 5th of March 2006. I am aiming to the half-marathon distance (21.1km plus minus a few.. but knowing M'sian standards, it'll be plus a lot, or minus a lot). I've mapped out a rough training plan for the 14 weeks starting from last week.
Goal: To finish the 21km below 3hrs, secondary goal to finish at or below my Desaru 21k time of 2:47
Training Goals: Build up my running endurance base again, and to do more long runs.
My childhood pal KT has also agreed to join me for the 21k, and we both have started out training last week for it. But sadly, my training last week started out not that great, as I only managed to run 2 days out of the planned 3, and all less than an hour so far. I've laid off run-training for quite a while now, with work and shows last month. Even cycling took a back seat (until today).
Hopefully I'll be able to do more this week than not. Gotta start bucking up and really prioritizing the training aspect of things.
I'll try to blog my training as best as possible.
It'll be on the 5th of March 2006. I am aiming to the half-marathon distance (21.1km plus minus a few.. but knowing M'sian standards, it'll be plus a lot, or minus a lot). I've mapped out a rough training plan for the 14 weeks starting from last week.
Goal: To finish the 21km below 3hrs, secondary goal to finish at or below my Desaru 21k time of 2:47
Training Goals: Build up my running endurance base again, and to do more long runs.
My childhood pal KT has also agreed to join me for the 21k, and we both have started out training last week for it. But sadly, my training last week started out not that great, as I only managed to run 2 days out of the planned 3, and all less than an hour so far. I've laid off run-training for quite a while now, with work and shows last month. Even cycling took a back seat (until today).
Hopefully I'll be able to do more this week than not. Gotta start bucking up and really prioritizing the training aspect of things.
I'll try to blog my training as best as possible.
-------------------------
I got on the bike today (after about 3 weeks of layoff due to shows), and did a long ride to Hulu Langat. Actually I found out Ajeep was riding to Hulu Langat alone, and I offered to join him.
We initially planned to start about 7:30am latest, but by the time I got up from bed at 6am, it was raining! We gave it another half an hour or so, and the rain actually stopped. We eventually met up at the Dewan Razak at Bt 14, Hulu Langat just after 8am, and parked our cars there.
We started out rather easy, as I was spinning (riding at 85 - 90rpm cadence) pretty much throughout the whole ride, starting from the low gears and slowly going up whenever it was possible to remain at the cadence. As usual, we turned off from Bt 18 into Sg. Lui, and rode all the way to the Kuala Klawang-Bt 18 junction. We turned right and rode all the way past the dam thru a couple of small hills and one or two long downhills.
Midway, we actually met up with some other riders who were hanging around at the Kuala Klawang junction. I didn't realise it at first, but I later recognized Edwin Ng from Joo Ngan Bike Shop SS21 PJ. We stopped a bit, talked to them and then went on our way.
Anyway, we rode past Sg. Tekala waterfall park, and straight past the Nirwana Memorial Park. About 3 or 4km after Nirwana, we decided to double back, as traffic was increasing on that side of the road. We stopped to rest at a small little stall (closed for the weekend) to rest. As I dismounted, I heard a loud sharp burst, and it came from Ajeeps slim Kenda front tyre! It had ruptured and burst from the inside, and there was hole on the tyre itself! Talk about bad luck.. and we didn't have a support car to help. Ajeep decided to improvise, and replaced a new tube and pasted a tube patch. He then fitted the tube with the patched area against the hole on the tyre, with the hoped of the tube lasting the 40k ride back! Thankfully it did!
We resumed our journey back to Bt. 14, back the way we came. But to do that we had to over come THREE long hills, with the first long hill being the toughest. It was at least a kilometer long, and threading up that hill really made my heart rate spike up to almost maximum! It was tough!!! Thankfully, there were some downward slopes after those hills, with enough time to recover before the next hills.
We came across a junction with a shortcut that heads back to Batu 14, without having to go through Sg. Lui. We were asking each other if we could take that route. However, I distinctly remembered that the route is a long, steep hill from the start. We turned in that road, only to reverse back to the original route. It really was a long super-STEEP hill! Probably "Lance Armstrong at the Pyrenees" standard!! We decided against it. I think it's a route that we can take after several visits to Hulu Langat, when we're a bit more stronger going uphill!
Continuing on the present route, we managed to ride back into Sg. Lui after another two long hills (but not as long or steep as the first one). The rest of the way was pretty much an easy ride back to where our cars were parked.
What a fun ride it was! I will start training on my bike again. I need to build up my cycling strength. However I will only start training on my bike more regimentally from January, to prepare for the first Malakoff Malaysian Duathlon Series in Dataran Merdeka (I presume it'll be on the 26th March 2006, two weeks after KLIM).
Here were the stats for this morning's ride:
Total distance: 78.04km
Average speed: 22.5km
Calories burnt: 1290
Total ride time: 3:28.50 (from my Polar HRM)
Average HR: 147bpm (76% of max HR)
Max HR: 186bpm (96% of max HR)
-------------------------
I've also started swimming again.
Swimming in the pool when I was in Penang has refueled my interest to swim. I will train a little more on my TI Fishlike Freestyle technique.
Nothing like now to start training for a triathlon.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Penang Jazz Festival - finally! (with pics)
Okay okay, I know it's been long overdue.. so here it is, my report on the Penang Jazz Festival 2005.
Where? The Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Ferringhi (beach.. yayyy!)
When? 3rd and 4th December 2005
Prologue:
I decided to drive to Penang instead of taking the transport with some of the other bands. Eddie Wen came with me, and I figured, it would've been easier to move around while in Penang. We won't be tied down with going with the transport, etc.
Oh yeah, I was pretty stupid: I forgot to bring my camera.
2nd Dec - Friday
Nice indian lunch before the drive...
I started out late from my house. My initial idea was to leave between 10 - 12pm, but to pick up Eddie (Wen) at his place in Section 5 PJ. But I only woke up AT 10am (or was it 11am?), and it took me an hour to pack my stuff. Talk about taking my sweet time. I eventually got to Eddie's place at about 1:30pm, we had lunch and we took off to Penang at about 2:30pm. Talk about a real divergence from my plan.
Surprisingly, the traffic was pretty good for the whole trip. It rained here and there, but nothing too long. It was a fun drive (thanks to my brother Gavin, for lending me his Waja.. if he ever reads this), and me and Eddie were talking a lot about stuff, from music to other stuff (we haven't hung out in a long while, so it was a good time to catch up and talk stuff with him!), while listening to the loads of songs in my iPod. I got a digital sound converter cassette, which I connected to the car cassette deck, and I hooked it up with my iPod, and waaa laaa, thousands of songs without bothering about bringing lots of CDs!
We reached Penang around 5:30pm (apparently I was driving rather above the speed limit!), but took another hour to pass through the bridge and reach the hotel at Batu Ferringhi. We checked in with the Festival secretariat, and we managed to get our room keys, and hung out a fairly short while. Before meeting up with the rest of the groups for dinner, we checked out Randy Bernsen's rehearsal with the band, consisting of Mac Chew on keys, Lewis Pragasam on bass, Andy Petersen on bass, and Greg Lyons on saxes. It was quite refreshing to hear Randy's music... the sound reminds me of the fusion jazz sound I haven't heard for a long while, stuff from the mid-to-late 90s. Very nice, especially with a live group, and no sequenced drums or stuff like that. After that, we were brought to one of the Courtyard places just down the road to eat, and we got to hung out a bit with some of the different bands that were to play at the festival.
We got to meet some of the Penang musicians that were playing, namely the Penang Areca Jazz Ensemble, led by Penangite jazz cat-pianist Wilson Quah. The members range from young school students to working, but part-time musicians.
Dee-vee-dee buy one free one...
Me, Eddie and Cheryl (the Nonet's baritone sax player) then went to walk from the Courtyard all the way to the hotel (about 2km long I think). Along the side street, there were lots and lots of stalls, selling loads of stuff, from souveniers (sp?) to dee-vee-dee... pirated obviously! But one of the stalls were offering all four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise for RM80!!!! I totally regret not buying it now.. bugger. Anyway, after walking for about an hour, I managed to find a stall selling some nice GQ-tribal shirts (the ones made in Thailand), of which I got two just for the jazz fest!
After reaching the hotel, we realised we walked pretty far!! But it was worth the fun. A jam session was happening at the time, and I got called to jam, as well (I hadn't expected to jam.. hadn't showered all day!!), but brought out my horn and played a couple of tunes. It was goodnight after that..
3rd Dec - Saturday
Soundcheck..
Woke up in time for breakfast, and met up with Greg, Sonia, John Borque, Andy, and the rest of the band at the coffee house, and just stuffed myself down with the usual continental breakfast buffet! About 10am, we did our soundcheck for the Greg Lyons Nonet on stage. While warming up with long tones and some quick warmup exercises, I thought to myself, "Nothing like waking up the neighborhood with a bunch of noisy horn players blowing and blowing, from overtone exercises to chromatic exercises!".
Dip in the pool in the hot sun..
After checking sound levels and running through all the tunes briefly, we headed to the pool to swim (it was getting pretty sunny then!). After about an hour, we went to have lunch (prepared for us!), and I got ready for my soundcheck with Sufiah. After another nice shower (it was really, REALLY hot then!), me, Eddie, and Fly just chilled in the room and slept.
Showtime..
After we woke up and got ready, we headed to the buffet room and had a nice dinner (prepared for us, too!). Caught up with the Penang Areca Jazz Ensemble as they started first, but only managed to catch the last two tunes.
Next up was Shanon Shah who did a 25-minute solo act, playing solo piano and singing some classic jazz tunes as well as re-arranged versions of pop tunes.
Sharing the stage after Shanon was Sufiah Noor, and her backup band was me on sax, Eric Li on keys, Fly on bass, and John Thomas on drums. We did 5 tunes, mostly R&B-like tunes, and one of them is Sufiah's original jazz-influenced tune, Malam. After we got off stage, it was Steve White's turn to take the stage. Steve White is a one-man band - playing guitar, harmonica, vocals, and his own custom made foot drum (which he lined into the mixers)! If there's anything, he was the only act that night that reiterated the blues, and its relationship to jazz music! Nothing like the blues...
Our turn next.. the Greg Lyons Nonet (plus one!)! The addition to the band was Sonia Croucher, who plays flute with the band. We started out with Greg's only swing-based tune, Twin Flow, followed by his 7/4 tune Out From The Shadows. Next up was another original (and one of my favorites) Forward Motion (also the title track of Greg's upcoming Nonet album), followed by another odd meter 5/4 tune Built To Last. This song had a very infectious melody, almost reminiscent of an old English folk tune. The mood was brought down quite a bit, as we did Heart Of Stone, a beautiful ballad, re-arranged for the Nonet. We ended our set with the cutting edge, and intense Bridge Of Sighs, another odd meter tune (mixed one at that, from 7/4 to 2/4 to 6/4). It ended with an inspiring and intense drum solo (you could see all the drummers that attended the fest standing off stage next to the drums, checking out every stroke that Lewis was doing!) backed by the 7/4 bassline played to a building intensity with each horn coming in every 2 bars.
The Greg Lyons Nonet were Greg Lyons (saxophones), Lewis Pragasam (drums), Andy Petersen (bass), Mac Chew (keys), Julian Chan (alto sax), Cheryl Mah (baritone sax), Sonia Croucher (flute), John Borque (trumpet), Eddie Wen (flugelhorn), and Francois Godere (trombone). All the tunes except Out From The Shadows, and Heart Of Stone are new compositions which will be out in Greg's new upcoming album.
Next up was Zailan Razak's band.. with special feature, Danial Razak, on percussions! The kid's only about 5 years old and he's already playing some percussion rather notably! On the band was Eric Li (keys), John Thomas (drums), Jimmy Sax (tenor/soprano sax), Danial Razak (percussions), and Zailan Razak (electric bass). They played various funk and latin versions of jazz tunes, which are their strong points, from A Night In Tunisia, to Freedom Jazz Dance.
The last act and the headliner for the night, was Saharadja. A world-music, fusion band from Bali, Indonesia. They played their originals, as well as re-interpretations of covers, such as Sting's Roxanne, and a couple of grooved up classical pieces! A couple of things that impressed me about the band was the bandleader and trumpet player, and one of the guitarist cum vocalist. That cat can sing soprano range with perfect pitching and tone... it almost sounded like it came from a synthesizer! Very nice feel-good music, they played! Of course, there was dancing all around by the end of their set!
Post concert - makan lah... what else?
4th Dec - Sunday
Woke up pretty much in the afternoon.
It was a relaxed day for me. Due to some technical problems, I didn't get to play for Farid Ali's Mr. Gambus Band. So the only thing Eddie and I did was go to town a little bit, had Starbucks Coffee and checked out their female barristas (woo hoo.. cute Penang chicks!), and went back to the hotel to check out Greg's Jazz Improvisation workshop.
Met some Penang sax-playing friends, and we shared some info as well as trying out my horns.
The rest of the night was just enjoying ourselves listening to the bands play.
Showtime..
First up again was the Penang Areca Jazz Ensemble, led by Wilson Quah. Still in their early stages of development, it was nice to see a bunch of people, kids and adults (read: my age group), really interested in playing jazz music! So much enthusiasm... something I have missed for a while!
Jaja (from Japan) was up next. They played their brand of smooth jazz, which wasn't my cup of tea, so I went in with Eddie to have my dinner at the buffet room, as I was getting pretty hungry. I am so mean.. ahahah... but no, I already heard them in Cotton Club two days before.
We got in just in time to see David Gomes Trio featuring Junji Gomes. It was a nice change, as they played some real good straight-ahead jazz stuff, as well as vocal jazz standards! In fact, David's band is probably the only band there playing straightahead jazz, while the other bands had more contemporary and world influences. They played tunes such as Can't Buy Me Love, Almost Like Being In Love, Bluesette (one of my fave tunes they sang that night... not an easy tune to sing.. or play!), Besame Mucho (it had us standing and dancing, that one!), the lovely ballad You Don't Know What Love Is and more. The band consisted of David Gomes (piano and voice), Junji Gomes (vocals), Charles Wong (drums) and Ruslan Imam (double bass).
Korean fusion/progressive jazz-rock group Lazy Monday tore the stage next! Only a guitar-bass-drum trio, they had a rather full sound to start off with, which is a good thing. They played mostly originals as well!
Farid Ali's Mr. Gambus band was up, and they played quite a number of Farid's originals, as well as some jazz standard covers. After a few tunes, he invited Japanese shamisen player Chie Hanawa up on stage. The shamisen is a three-stringed japanese traditional instrument, where the sound is made by plucking them using a rather large pick! She played an original tune, and collaborated with Farid to play tunes such as Take Five, My Favorite Things, and one of Farid's original tune Peace And Friendship. The Mr. Gambus Band was Farid Ali (gambus and voice), Eric Li (keys), Fly (bass), and John Thomas (drums).
The last band, and headliner for the final night, was Randy Bernsen Group - with Randy Bernsen on guitars, featuring Mac Chew on keys, Andy Petersen on bass, Lewis Pragasam on drums, and Greg Lyons on sax. Special guest vocalist Mark David also graced the stage. Randy's tunes were very reminiscent of the jazz fusion stuff from the mid-to-late 90s, with live instruments. I think, one of the key aspects to the sound of that music is the variety of sections in the songs' arrangements, complemented by solo improvisation sections. But of course, the most prominent aspect of the show was that Randy had LOTS of soul! And you could feel it in the music.
The second last tune had special guest Zainal Abidin on vocals and percussion. It's noteworthy to know, that Randy had come and performed in KL many years back, many times. And one of his collaborations included Zainal Abidin as well as Sheila Majid (back in the RAP hey-days).
The finale had me, Eddie, Rio (the trumpet player from Saharadja), and Mark David jamming with the Randy Bernsen Group on Stevie Wonder's Superstition, and it was the party finale, with the audience dancing on the floor in front of the stage! And we all got the chance to play and solo as well. Greg and Rio took individual solos, while me and Eddie decided to do the trade solos, call-and-response kinda thing! That had the audience goin' wild... Yeah!!!
Post concert - we jammed some more at the Swing Pub with some of the Penang cats, Farid, and Randy Bernsen. Then it was makan time. And we all slept through the night.
5th Dec - Monday
I am soooo not a morning person...
Woke up just in time just before the breakfast buffet ended. And I didn't see the usual cats there having breakfast, so I almost had breakfast alone, until Sonia came down. We had breakfast together, and my other mama, Salamiah Hassan (who came with David and Junji), joined us slightly later as well. Then I met up with David, Junji and Charles, and we went to one of the dim sum place a short drive from the hotel (although I only had a drink then).
I didn't want to go back just yet, as I was in a chillout mood the whole day. So I was a little heavy hearted on packing and having to drive all the way back to KL.
This time around, Charles, John and his girlfriend Yin Yee, got a lift back in my car along with Eddie. We joined Greg and wife June, Randy, Andy and daughter Anusha, Peter Lee (president of the Hong Kong Jazz Association), for a nasi kandar lunch. And we drove back home around almost 5pm.
The ride home..
After a rather gruelling drive back to KL, we stopped by Eddie's restaurant at Sec. 5, PJ to have a nice hot chinese home-cooked meal! Eddie drove John and Yin Yee back, while I dropped Charles off back at his place.
Epilogue:
It was just great fun in Penang. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Bayview Beach (thanks Paul!). I hope that this year's festival will warrant next year's! I think a lot of us are really looking forward to it.
Hmmm.. if only they could've sponsored one more day, just to chill out...
Here are some pics that I got from other people's camera.. enjoy:
More pictures later!
Pictures courtesy of Sun (Black Machine Productions).
Where? The Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Ferringhi (beach.. yayyy!)
When? 3rd and 4th December 2005
Prologue:
I decided to drive to Penang instead of taking the transport with some of the other bands. Eddie Wen came with me, and I figured, it would've been easier to move around while in Penang. We won't be tied down with going with the transport, etc.
Oh yeah, I was pretty stupid: I forgot to bring my camera.
2nd Dec - Friday
Nice indian lunch before the drive...
I started out late from my house. My initial idea was to leave between 10 - 12pm, but to pick up Eddie (Wen) at his place in Section 5 PJ. But I only woke up AT 10am (or was it 11am?), and it took me an hour to pack my stuff. Talk about taking my sweet time. I eventually got to Eddie's place at about 1:30pm, we had lunch and we took off to Penang at about 2:30pm. Talk about a real divergence from my plan.
Surprisingly, the traffic was pretty good for the whole trip. It rained here and there, but nothing too long. It was a fun drive (thanks to my brother Gavin, for lending me his Waja.. if he ever reads this), and me and Eddie were talking a lot about stuff, from music to other stuff (we haven't hung out in a long while, so it was a good time to catch up and talk stuff with him!), while listening to the loads of songs in my iPod. I got a digital sound converter cassette, which I connected to the car cassette deck, and I hooked it up with my iPod, and waaa laaa, thousands of songs without bothering about bringing lots of CDs!
We reached Penang around 5:30pm (apparently I was driving rather above the speed limit!), but took another hour to pass through the bridge and reach the hotel at Batu Ferringhi. We checked in with the Festival secretariat, and we managed to get our room keys, and hung out a fairly short while. Before meeting up with the rest of the groups for dinner, we checked out Randy Bernsen's rehearsal with the band, consisting of Mac Chew on keys, Lewis Pragasam on bass, Andy Petersen on bass, and Greg Lyons on saxes. It was quite refreshing to hear Randy's music... the sound reminds me of the fusion jazz sound I haven't heard for a long while, stuff from the mid-to-late 90s. Very nice, especially with a live group, and no sequenced drums or stuff like that. After that, we were brought to one of the Courtyard places just down the road to eat, and we got to hung out a bit with some of the different bands that were to play at the festival.
We got to meet some of the Penang musicians that were playing, namely the Penang Areca Jazz Ensemble, led by Penangite jazz cat-pianist Wilson Quah. The members range from young school students to working, but part-time musicians.
Dee-vee-dee buy one free one...
Me, Eddie and Cheryl (the Nonet's baritone sax player) then went to walk from the Courtyard all the way to the hotel (about 2km long I think). Along the side street, there were lots and lots of stalls, selling loads of stuff, from souveniers (sp?) to dee-vee-dee... pirated obviously! But one of the stalls were offering all four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise for RM80!!!! I totally regret not buying it now.. bugger. Anyway, after walking for about an hour, I managed to find a stall selling some nice GQ-tribal shirts (the ones made in Thailand), of which I got two just for the jazz fest!
After reaching the hotel, we realised we walked pretty far!! But it was worth the fun. A jam session was happening at the time, and I got called to jam, as well (I hadn't expected to jam.. hadn't showered all day!!), but brought out my horn and played a couple of tunes. It was goodnight after that..
3rd Dec - Saturday
Soundcheck..
Woke up in time for breakfast, and met up with Greg, Sonia, John Borque, Andy, and the rest of the band at the coffee house, and just stuffed myself down with the usual continental breakfast buffet! About 10am, we did our soundcheck for the Greg Lyons Nonet on stage. While warming up with long tones and some quick warmup exercises, I thought to myself, "Nothing like waking up the neighborhood with a bunch of noisy horn players blowing and blowing, from overtone exercises to chromatic exercises!".
Dip in the pool in the hot sun..
After checking sound levels and running through all the tunes briefly, we headed to the pool to swim (it was getting pretty sunny then!). After about an hour, we went to have lunch (prepared for us!), and I got ready for my soundcheck with Sufiah. After another nice shower (it was really, REALLY hot then!), me, Eddie, and Fly just chilled in the room and slept.
Showtime..
After we woke up and got ready, we headed to the buffet room and had a nice dinner (prepared for us, too!). Caught up with the Penang Areca Jazz Ensemble as they started first, but only managed to catch the last two tunes.
Next up was Shanon Shah who did a 25-minute solo act, playing solo piano and singing some classic jazz tunes as well as re-arranged versions of pop tunes.
Sharing the stage after Shanon was Sufiah Noor, and her backup band was me on sax, Eric Li on keys, Fly on bass, and John Thomas on drums. We did 5 tunes, mostly R&B-like tunes, and one of them is Sufiah's original jazz-influenced tune, Malam. After we got off stage, it was Steve White's turn to take the stage. Steve White is a one-man band - playing guitar, harmonica, vocals, and his own custom made foot drum (which he lined into the mixers)! If there's anything, he was the only act that night that reiterated the blues, and its relationship to jazz music! Nothing like the blues...
Our turn next.. the Greg Lyons Nonet (plus one!)! The addition to the band was Sonia Croucher, who plays flute with the band. We started out with Greg's only swing-based tune, Twin Flow, followed by his 7/4 tune Out From The Shadows. Next up was another original (and one of my favorites) Forward Motion (also the title track of Greg's upcoming Nonet album), followed by another odd meter 5/4 tune Built To Last. This song had a very infectious melody, almost reminiscent of an old English folk tune. The mood was brought down quite a bit, as we did Heart Of Stone, a beautiful ballad, re-arranged for the Nonet. We ended our set with the cutting edge, and intense Bridge Of Sighs, another odd meter tune (mixed one at that, from 7/4 to 2/4 to 6/4). It ended with an inspiring and intense drum solo (you could see all the drummers that attended the fest standing off stage next to the drums, checking out every stroke that Lewis was doing!) backed by the 7/4 bassline played to a building intensity with each horn coming in every 2 bars.
The Greg Lyons Nonet were Greg Lyons (saxophones), Lewis Pragasam (drums), Andy Petersen (bass), Mac Chew (keys), Julian Chan (alto sax), Cheryl Mah (baritone sax), Sonia Croucher (flute), John Borque (trumpet), Eddie Wen (flugelhorn), and Francois Godere (trombone). All the tunes except Out From The Shadows, and Heart Of Stone are new compositions which will be out in Greg's new upcoming album.
Next up was Zailan Razak's band.. with special feature, Danial Razak, on percussions! The kid's only about 5 years old and he's already playing some percussion rather notably! On the band was Eric Li (keys), John Thomas (drums), Jimmy Sax (tenor/soprano sax), Danial Razak (percussions), and Zailan Razak (electric bass). They played various funk and latin versions of jazz tunes, which are their strong points, from A Night In Tunisia, to Freedom Jazz Dance.
The last act and the headliner for the night, was Saharadja. A world-music, fusion band from Bali, Indonesia. They played their originals, as well as re-interpretations of covers, such as Sting's Roxanne, and a couple of grooved up classical pieces! A couple of things that impressed me about the band was the bandleader and trumpet player, and one of the guitarist cum vocalist. That cat can sing soprano range with perfect pitching and tone... it almost sounded like it came from a synthesizer! Very nice feel-good music, they played! Of course, there was dancing all around by the end of their set!
Post concert - makan lah... what else?
4th Dec - Sunday
Woke up pretty much in the afternoon.
It was a relaxed day for me. Due to some technical problems, I didn't get to play for Farid Ali's Mr. Gambus Band. So the only thing Eddie and I did was go to town a little bit, had Starbucks Coffee and checked out their female barristas (woo hoo.. cute Penang chicks!), and went back to the hotel to check out Greg's Jazz Improvisation workshop.
Met some Penang sax-playing friends, and we shared some info as well as trying out my horns.
The rest of the night was just enjoying ourselves listening to the bands play.
Showtime..
First up again was the Penang Areca Jazz Ensemble, led by Wilson Quah. Still in their early stages of development, it was nice to see a bunch of people, kids and adults (read: my age group), really interested in playing jazz music! So much enthusiasm... something I have missed for a while!
Jaja (from Japan) was up next. They played their brand of smooth jazz, which wasn't my cup of tea, so I went in with Eddie to have my dinner at the buffet room, as I was getting pretty hungry. I am so mean.. ahahah... but no, I already heard them in Cotton Club two days before.
We got in just in time to see David Gomes Trio featuring Junji Gomes. It was a nice change, as they played some real good straight-ahead jazz stuff, as well as vocal jazz standards! In fact, David's band is probably the only band there playing straightahead jazz, while the other bands had more contemporary and world influences. They played tunes such as Can't Buy Me Love, Almost Like Being In Love, Bluesette (one of my fave tunes they sang that night... not an easy tune to sing.. or play!), Besame Mucho (it had us standing and dancing, that one!), the lovely ballad You Don't Know What Love Is and more. The band consisted of David Gomes (piano and voice), Junji Gomes (vocals), Charles Wong (drums) and Ruslan Imam (double bass).
Korean fusion/progressive jazz-rock group Lazy Monday tore the stage next! Only a guitar-bass-drum trio, they had a rather full sound to start off with, which is a good thing. They played mostly originals as well!
Farid Ali's Mr. Gambus band was up, and they played quite a number of Farid's originals, as well as some jazz standard covers. After a few tunes, he invited Japanese shamisen player Chie Hanawa up on stage. The shamisen is a three-stringed japanese traditional instrument, where the sound is made by plucking them using a rather large pick! She played an original tune, and collaborated with Farid to play tunes such as Take Five, My Favorite Things, and one of Farid's original tune Peace And Friendship. The Mr. Gambus Band was Farid Ali (gambus and voice), Eric Li (keys), Fly (bass), and John Thomas (drums).
The last band, and headliner for the final night, was Randy Bernsen Group - with Randy Bernsen on guitars, featuring Mac Chew on keys, Andy Petersen on bass, Lewis Pragasam on drums, and Greg Lyons on sax. Special guest vocalist Mark David also graced the stage. Randy's tunes were very reminiscent of the jazz fusion stuff from the mid-to-late 90s, with live instruments. I think, one of the key aspects to the sound of that music is the variety of sections in the songs' arrangements, complemented by solo improvisation sections. But of course, the most prominent aspect of the show was that Randy had LOTS of soul! And you could feel it in the music.
The second last tune had special guest Zainal Abidin on vocals and percussion. It's noteworthy to know, that Randy had come and performed in KL many years back, many times. And one of his collaborations included Zainal Abidin as well as Sheila Majid (back in the RAP hey-days).
The finale had me, Eddie, Rio (the trumpet player from Saharadja), and Mark David jamming with the Randy Bernsen Group on Stevie Wonder's Superstition, and it was the party finale, with the audience dancing on the floor in front of the stage! And we all got the chance to play and solo as well. Greg and Rio took individual solos, while me and Eddie decided to do the trade solos, call-and-response kinda thing! That had the audience goin' wild... Yeah!!!
Post concert - we jammed some more at the Swing Pub with some of the Penang cats, Farid, and Randy Bernsen. Then it was makan time. And we all slept through the night.
5th Dec - Monday
I am soooo not a morning person...
Woke up just in time just before the breakfast buffet ended. And I didn't see the usual cats there having breakfast, so I almost had breakfast alone, until Sonia came down. We had breakfast together, and my other mama, Salamiah Hassan (who came with David and Junji), joined us slightly later as well. Then I met up with David, Junji and Charles, and we went to one of the dim sum place a short drive from the hotel (although I only had a drink then).
I didn't want to go back just yet, as I was in a chillout mood the whole day. So I was a little heavy hearted on packing and having to drive all the way back to KL.
This time around, Charles, John and his girlfriend Yin Yee, got a lift back in my car along with Eddie. We joined Greg and wife June, Randy, Andy and daughter Anusha, Peter Lee (president of the Hong Kong Jazz Association), for a nasi kandar lunch. And we drove back home around almost 5pm.
The ride home..
After a rather gruelling drive back to KL, we stopped by Eddie's restaurant at Sec. 5, PJ to have a nice hot chinese home-cooked meal! Eddie drove John and Yin Yee back, while I dropped Charles off back at his place.
Epilogue:
It was just great fun in Penang. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Bayview Beach (thanks Paul!). I hope that this year's festival will warrant next year's! I think a lot of us are really looking forward to it.
Hmmm.. if only they could've sponsored one more day, just to chill out...
Here are some pics that I got from other people's camera.. enjoy:
gosh, I'm still too fat dammit!
The Three Stooges - Charles, me, and Eddie
Me contemplating the future..??
The band watches as Greg plays till he turns blue..
Greg making fun of the band.. ahah..no, introduction of the band.
More pictures later!
Pictures courtesy of Sun (Black Machine Productions).
Friday, December 09, 2005
Penang Jazz Fest highlights..
Sorry for the teaser, I haven't begun writing about my experiences in Penang yet, as I've been busy with some work since I came back. I was initially feeling rather reluctant to work (I didn't even practice since I came back from Singapore, even!), but have to lah.. anyhow, it's good work!
For some highlights and pictures of the second night of the Penang Jazz Fest, check out AllDatJazz.Com website!
Update: Check out the Penang Jazz Festival review on the Kakiseni website here, written eloquently and objectively by James Lochhead.
I played last night at Shangri-la Hotel for the 30th Anniversary of the Sultan Of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah (he was our Agong for a term a couple of years back, remember?) and his wife. I played with members of the National Symphony Orchestra (we were name affectionately the KL Ensemble for the night), and some other outside musicians (like myself). We did a mixture of pop and jazz arrangements with strings and horns. Guest singers were Syafinaz (hot! hot!), Jaclyn Victor, and Sean Ghazi. Datuk Ooi Chean See even conducted two classical pieces (the Sultan's fave tunes) for the night as well. Was a fun gig, nonetheless.
Anyway, I'll be heading up to Penang again this weekend for a club gig... saxophone and DJ. I'm not sure where the club will be or if it's an open gig. But I'll be up there again.. which means, probably more gorging myself down with food!! Argh!!
Well, next week I will have some time to write about my PJF experience.
Till then... TTFN!
For some highlights and pictures of the second night of the Penang Jazz Fest, check out AllDatJazz.Com website!
Update: Check out the Penang Jazz Festival review on the Kakiseni website here, written eloquently and objectively by James Lochhead.
I played last night at Shangri-la Hotel for the 30th Anniversary of the Sultan Of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah (he was our Agong for a term a couple of years back, remember?) and his wife. I played with members of the National Symphony Orchestra (we were name affectionately the KL Ensemble for the night), and some other outside musicians (like myself). We did a mixture of pop and jazz arrangements with strings and horns. Guest singers were Syafinaz (hot! hot!), Jaclyn Victor, and Sean Ghazi. Datuk Ooi Chean See even conducted two classical pieces (the Sultan's fave tunes) for the night as well. Was a fun gig, nonetheless.
Anyway, I'll be heading up to Penang again this weekend for a club gig... saxophone and DJ. I'm not sure where the club will be or if it's an open gig. But I'll be up there again.. which means, probably more gorging myself down with food!! Argh!!
Well, next week I will have some time to write about my PJF experience.
Till then... TTFN!
Monday, December 05, 2005
Back!!!
I just got back from Penang... the festival was a BOMB!!!
I'm really exhausted from the festival, we all just had SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun!
I will write about it soon, I hope. I was kinda stupid that I forgot to bring my camera, but Eddie and a couple of other cats who were there had some pictures taken. So if I do get some pics I will certainly post it online.
... but right now, I just wanna sleep.
But have to finish some emails first... later!
I'm really exhausted from the festival, we all just had SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun!
I will write about it soon, I hope. I was kinda stupid that I forgot to bring my camera, but Eddie and a couple of other cats who were there had some pictures taken. So if I do get some pics I will certainly post it online.
... but right now, I just wanna sleep.
But have to finish some emails first... later!
Friday, December 02, 2005
I'm off..
.... to Penang, as I finish typing this post!
I hope to see you at the Penang Jazz Festival! If you see any of us there, please don't be shy and just come say hi! *damn, that rhymes*
I'll write some more about the fest and what happened (or at least I'll try to), when I get back.
Yay.. vacation for the weekend!
I hope to see you at the Penang Jazz Festival! If you see any of us there, please don't be shy and just come say hi! *damn, that rhymes*
I'll write some more about the fest and what happened (or at least I'll try to), when I get back.
Yay.. vacation for the weekend!
Thursday, December 01, 2005
PENANG JAZZ FESTIVAL 2005
It's back!!
This time it'll be at the Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Ferringhi, Penang. Click on the pic to go the site, and find out more:
MR GAMBUS BAND Featuring CHIE HANAWA from Japan Berklee Graduate, Farid Ali aka Mr. Gambus has in the past couple of years been successfully promoting the “Gambus” – a 12 string Malay traditional lute to the world of jazz.
Farid has performed at numerous Music Festivals all over the world and his recent Festival performances include the PORI Jazz Festival and Jarasum International Jazz Festival with one of Asia’s top Jazz Fusion groups “Asian Spirits” and at the “Jazz On The Lake”, Arts Alive Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa with his own group. Other members of the band include Julian Chan (Horns), Eric Li (Keyboards), John Thomas (Drums) and Fly (Bass).
Joining the Mr. Gambus band is Chie Hanawa, who is the youngest winner in the history of the National Women’s Championships of “Tsugaru Shamisen”. The Shamisen is a Japanese 3 stringed instrument played with a plectrum called the “bachi”.
Like Farid, Chie is in the process of introducing a traditional ethnic Eastern instrument to the world of jazz. This collaboration marks the first time of the fusion of these 2 instruments in the genre of jazz on a Festival stage.
(courtesy of http://www.penangjazz.com)
Sufiah Noor, a Finalist in the Inaugural Malaysian Idol competition, Sufiah started singing at an early age and with aspirations on pursuing her dreams in the entertainment world, Sufiah entered The International College of Music.
Sufiah’s initial foray into the entertainment world began as a backing singer on a number of albums and shows before embarking on her own career. Her debut album showcases her ability in the vein of R&B / Jazz Fusion.
Backing her will be Eric Li (keyboards), Fly (bass), John Thomas (drums) and Julian Chan (sax).
HOPE TO SEE YOU IN PENANG!!!
SUPPORT LIVE JAZZ!!
This time it'll be at the Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Ferringhi, Penang. Click on the pic to go the site, and find out more:
I will be performing with two three bands:
GREG LYONS NONET
Date and Time: Friday, 3 Dec. 9.50pm
The Greg Lyons Nonet will be performing original compositions and arrangements by jazz saxophonist Greg Lyons. The Nonet is:
Greg Lyons - tenor, soprano and alto saxophones
Julian Chan - alto saxophone
Cheryl Mah - baritone saxophone
Francois Godere - trombone
John Bourque - trumpet and flugelhorn
Eddie Wen - trumpet and flugelhorn
Mac Chew - keyboards
Lewis Pragasam - drums
Andy Petersen - bass
Greg Lyons - tenor, soprano and alto saxophones
Julian Chan - alto saxophone
Cheryl Mah - baritone saxophone
Francois Godere - trombone
John Bourque - trumpet and flugelhorn
Eddie Wen - trumpet and flugelhorn
Mac Chew - keyboards
Lewis Pragasam - drums
Andy Petersen - bass
MR.GAMBUS BAND featuring CHIE HANAWA
Date and Time: Saturday, 4th Dec. 9.50pm
Date and Time: Saturday, 4th Dec. 9.50pm
MR GAMBUS BAND Featuring CHIE HANAWA from Japan Berklee Graduate, Farid Ali aka Mr. Gambus has in the past couple of years been successfully promoting the “Gambus” – a 12 string Malay traditional lute to the world of jazz.
Farid has performed at numerous Music Festivals all over the world and his recent Festival performances include the PORI Jazz Festival and Jarasum International Jazz Festival with one of Asia’s top Jazz Fusion groups “Asian Spirits” and at the “Jazz On The Lake”, Arts Alive Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa with his own group. Other members of the band include Julian Chan (Horns), Eric Li (Keyboards), John Thomas (Drums) and Fly (Bass).
Joining the Mr. Gambus band is Chie Hanawa, who is the youngest winner in the history of the National Women’s Championships of “Tsugaru Shamisen”. The Shamisen is a Japanese 3 stringed instrument played with a plectrum called the “bachi”.
Like Farid, Chie is in the process of introducing a traditional ethnic Eastern instrument to the world of jazz. This collaboration marks the first time of the fusion of these 2 instruments in the genre of jazz on a Festival stage.
(courtesy of http://www.penangjazz.com)
SUFIAH NOOR
Date and Time: Saturday, 3 Dec. 7.35pm
Sufiah Noor, a Finalist in the Inaugural Malaysian Idol competition, Sufiah started singing at an early age and with aspirations on pursuing her dreams in the entertainment world, Sufiah entered The International College of Music.
Sufiah’s initial foray into the entertainment world began as a backing singer on a number of albums and shows before embarking on her own career. Her debut album showcases her ability in the vein of R&B / Jazz Fusion.
Backing her will be Eric Li (keyboards), Fly (bass), John Thomas (drums) and Julian Chan (sax).
HOPE TO SEE YOU IN PENANG!!!
SUPPORT LIVE JAZZ!!
The month that was November..
Again, I apologise for the lack of current updates. It definitely has been a busy couple of weeks, especially the one that just passed. I had rehearsals for two gigs with David Gomes on Saturday and Sunday, which started end of the third week of November (where we got that week off from Southbridge), and also beginning of last week (including the Hardbop gig rehearsals!). And then me and David travelled to Singapore on Wednesday, played Wednesday and Thursday (that's my feature day), and came back to KL the following Friday early morning bus. We got back and I headed straight for Sunway, to do the soundcheck for my Hardbop Quintet gig at Avanti's.
The gig went okay, wasn't that fantastic, but we had fun nonetheless.
The next day, Saturday, we then played a HSBC function - "Save The Tigers" campaign - at Sheraton Imperial Hotel, KL. It was quite a fun gig, with the David Gomes Ensemble (with three horns, namely me on alto, Shazee on tenor, and Eddie on trumpets), with guest vocalist Mia Palencia. We did some tunes from her Swinging Down To Business repertoire, and then some. Edwin Sumun was MC, and Junji Delfino and Corrinne did a skit based on the endangered tigers. That gig went very well, and the band was SWINGING!!!!!!! Woo hoo.. I hope to be able to play more big band gigs with David.
Sunday's gig was just David's quartet, and the function was the final night for Danaharta. It was held at the KL Hilton Sentral. The gig was okay, not as happening as the HSBC one. But we got rooms at Hilton, with flat screen TV.. so that was cool!
This week.. is all rehearsals. We're preparing for Penang Jazz Festival!
Singapore Marathon 2005
The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon will take place on the 4th December this weekend. A lot of my running friends, Pacesetters, Pacemakers, and more will be at this awesome event. I won't be, as I'll be in Penang. But I'll be there in spirit with you guys.. I hope you guys break some PRs there!
GOOD LUCK SINGAPORE MARATHON RUNNERS!!!!
UPDATES:
MyKad
I got my MyKad a couple of days ago! And after having it read in the MyKad reader, I also found out that they updated my driving license into it as well! AHahha.. cool! This means I don't have to go all da way to the JPJ to do my license again! Yee haa... kill two birds with one stone.
But man, I look like a perv on the image they took lah.. oh wait, I think I am lah.. hahahah..
The gig went okay, wasn't that fantastic, but we had fun nonetheless.
The next day, Saturday, we then played a HSBC function - "Save The Tigers" campaign - at Sheraton Imperial Hotel, KL. It was quite a fun gig, with the David Gomes Ensemble (with three horns, namely me on alto, Shazee on tenor, and Eddie on trumpets), with guest vocalist Mia Palencia. We did some tunes from her Swinging Down To Business repertoire, and then some. Edwin Sumun was MC, and Junji Delfino and Corrinne did a skit based on the endangered tigers. That gig went very well, and the band was SWINGING!!!!!!! Woo hoo.. I hope to be able to play more big band gigs with David.
Sunday's gig was just David's quartet, and the function was the final night for Danaharta. It was held at the KL Hilton Sentral. The gig was okay, not as happening as the HSBC one. But we got rooms at Hilton, with flat screen TV.. so that was cool!
This week.. is all rehearsals. We're preparing for Penang Jazz Festival!
------------------------------------
Singapore Marathon 2005
The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon will take place on the 4th December this weekend. A lot of my running friends, Pacesetters, Pacemakers, and more will be at this awesome event. I won't be, as I'll be in Penang. But I'll be there in spirit with you guys.. I hope you guys break some PRs there!
GOOD LUCK SINGAPORE MARATHON RUNNERS!!!!
------------------------------------
UPDATES:
MyKad
I got my MyKad a couple of days ago! And after having it read in the MyKad reader, I also found out that they updated my driving license into it as well! AHahha.. cool! This means I don't have to go all da way to the JPJ to do my license again! Yee haa... kill two birds with one stone.
But man, I look like a perv on the image they took lah.. oh wait, I think I am lah.. hahahah..
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