Malaysian road users..

... can be a real stupid lot (myself not excluded) sometimes.

Here I was walking back to my car in this small town road in Kajang, and there was traffic halt from stopping at the red light.. that's normal. Then I heard an ambulance siren going off like nobody's business.. and guess what?

No one's moving.

There's plenty of room to move aside for some of them, but do they move? NoooOOoooOo...

It only takes one person to move, and enable others to move as well. Civic-mindedness my butt. Oh wait, do they still teach that in school these days? Or don't they know what it is anymore? See, Education Minister.. having Moral Education is a waste of money and resources. And here you guys are squirming your heads around teaching subjects in English or Malay (I know.. no relation, since it's Science and Maths). Teaching something well is the main priority. Obviously the education system here fails in that respect. Sorry to say. Ok, this has no relation to this post, but who cares, right?

So yeah, back to road users. Imagine if one of your loved ones is the one who's in emergency, and you're not moving for the ambulance to move to pick him/her up. It's YOUR fault.. yes...

.... YOURS!

Don't wait for other people to move. If you can do it first, then do it, dammit. You might save a life, or two.

Peace.

WVC Trio + 1 latest album "ELEVEN" is out!!

Hi all,

I'm proud to announce here that WVC Trio + 1's latest recording effort, "ELEVEN" is out! And I'm also proud to say that I'm grateful that I've been given an opportunity to be also a part of this effort, thanks to my band mates, Vincent Ong, Tay Cher Siang and Adam Osmianski.


This CD features a fantastic line-up, a Malaysian-American connection, consisting of Tay Cher Siang (piano), Vincent Ong (bass), Adam Osmianski (drums), and myself on saxophones. All the tunes are original compositions from Cher Siang, Adam and Vincent. (NB: Next one I will definitely have at least one of mine in!)

Here is the song list in the album:

1. The Art of the Wind-Up Alarm Clock
2. Hunger Strike
3. Standing in the Rain on Euclid Ave.
4. Little Steps
5. Merry Go 'Round
6. Caipifruta
7. Dawn
8. Cherish the Siamese Twins
9. Golden Monkey
10. Strollin' in One Town
11. Rhumba for a Sad Sad Witch

You can listen to some of the new compositions that are not included in the album from reverbnation.com. Here is the link:

http://www.reverbnation.com/wvctrio

You can get this CD at Rock Corner at Bangsar Village and One Utama, also Tower Records at Lot 10! Otherwise you can personally get it from me, by sending me an email or giving me a call at +6012-2732378 (Malaysia) or +1-646-886-9688 (US, but only from September).

Hope to hear from you!

Support Malaysian music!!

JULIAN

Upcoming shows!

Hi all,

I know I haven't been really diligent in updating my blog.. truth be told... I got lazy, because I got too busy! LOL! Sorry, y'all.. but anyway, just to keep this blog rolling a bit, I've got some gig updates. Hope to see you at some of the shows this week!

29/7 Michael Veerapen Quartet @ No Black Tie 9.30pm

30/7 John Thomas' Powderful Quartet @ Groove Junction 10pm

31/7 & 1/8 Julian Chan's Boplicity @ Alexis Bistro and Wine Bar 10.30pm

More updates soon, so stay tuned!

Remember, do drop by and say hi... and support Live Music & Jazz in Malaysia!

Summer break..

Hah, I can't believe the next post after my "Spring Break" post is my SUMMER BREAK post.. lol! Sorry lah damn kau busy here in school..

Anyway, I'll be back in Malaysia for the summer again, and I can't wait for it too, in fact. One of the things I'm looking forward to is having the time to practice at home (where I can practice as loud and as long as I want! Muahaha!), hanging out with my family and my friends (who to me are family too!), go running, walking with my dogs, eat GREAT Malaysian food, and of course... PERFORMING! Hehe.. me being the stage whore I am, I've already worked out quite a few shows back in Kuala Lumpur, and also in some other parts of Malaysia too (stay tuned for that one!).

Some of the highlights of my summer break performances will include some really kick-a$$ concerts:

June 2 (Tues) WVC Trio + 1 Live at Pentas 1 (KLPac).

July 2 - 4 (Fri - Sun) Inner Voices Production Presents - "Let's Go Mamak.. AGAIN!".

July 9 - 10 (Thu - Fri) Barry Cooper Sextet @ Alexis Bistro

..and a whole bunch of my favorite musicians at some of the different venues in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Malaysia.

Most importantly, I look forward to getting together with my closest friends (of whom most of them are musicians too!) and hang out and make some music together.

Do stay tuned here, or join me on Tweeter, where you can keep track of what I'm doing as well.

So, to promote the first big concert I'm playing..

WVC Trio + 1 @ KLPac Pentas 1.

WVC TRiO +1 will present a full concert in KLPac covering varieties of styles and premiering many brand new original compositions penned by members of the group. Experience this vibrant and original concert on June 2nd 2009 Tuesday 8.30pm, at KL Pac only.

WVC Trio + 1 is

Tay Cher Siang - piano
Adam - drums
Vincent Ong - double bass

and + 1 is Julian Chan on saxophones. ;)

Location link:
http://www.klpac.com/Welcome.asp?c=venuelocation

Call or email for concert passes.

Public RM40, Student RM35.

Contact:
Cher Siang 017-3643202 jazzzzaj@gmail.com

Adam 012-6040216

Vincent 012-3909828 vincentgruvavenue@gmail.com

Julian 012-2732378 / jcsax78@yahoo.com (after 28 May).

Note: KLPac is not selling the tickets directly, so call us at the above details to directly get your tickets!

Hope to see you there!

Spring break

Wow... talk about not updating my blog for ages.

Well, my apologies for that, really. That's how much stuff I have going right now, really.. until I really could not find the time to write. And that is a good thing, actually, from my standpoint. There's just so much stuff happening, and stuff I have to work on, that I can't spend time to blog. Anyway, it's spring break right now, so we've got a week and a half off from school. But if you're a music student, you'll know right away it's not really going to be a break at all. That's because a music student's (or a musician, really!) life is really music, music, and more music. For us, well, it's a lot more on trying to finish (or start) working on our assignments more than anything else. Practicing... well, that happens pretty much all the time, irregardless. But that's the life. Dig it, or find a new one.

Anyway, I suppose I should update about what's been happening since my last post.. which was Chinese New Year (lol!).

One of the more significant things that has happened to me is the fact that I have experienced some breakthroughs, where my studies are concerned. All the stuff I've been learning for the past year, I am beginning to comprehend much more, than when I first came here (or even after the first year). I'm not sure how that worked, but I do know now that it did, and I'm so happy and thankful for that. Can't say it was an easy, bed-o-roses process though... been through some emotional and mental pitfalls along the way. To say the least, right now it's mostly down to just practicing the stuff, and getting it in my head and in my fingers. Of course, there's still so much stuff left, even after that... but I believe I'm learning to deal with it better now (I hope!). I feel so much more focused than before, and I basically understand what I have to work on for real, this time. I've got so much information that will basically last me a long while to practice.

For other stuff, well... probably one of the only thing(s) worth mentioning is that I did a gig in a real established jazz bar in NYC called 55 Bar late February. It's a small place (really small), but it's been around for a little bit. I think Mike Stern plays there on a fairly regular basis (I haven't seen him play there, though). I played there with a good friend of mine and Chern Hwei's, Michelle Marie, a guitarist. It was scary, as it was probably my first Manhattan gig, at an established jazz joint. Although for the moment, I don't mind being the sideman, first. LOL! I believe we will have another show there sometime late April... yee haa!!

Another interesting thing I managed to do was to watch Phil Woods play at Dizzy's Club Coca-cola at Jazz @ Lincoln Center. For those who don't know, Phil Woods is a legendary saxophone player, who in all our books, is considered up there along with the rest of the jazz legends. Mr. Woods is known by many to be a Charlie Parker "disciple" on the alto sax, and with what he has experienced, he may very well be. To cut the story short, Phil has met AND hung out with Bird in his younger days (and even let Bird play his horn). Of course, Mr.Woods' sound and approach to playing is a cumulative development of studying the various masters (Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter, etc) as well as an extension of his own personality.

Anyway, as for other stuff, well.. there's nothing really much happening, other than me just being in school practicing and working on some of the work, really. NY is too expensive to make it hip and happening for me. My life here (socially, at least) is probably less interesting than back home in Malaysia. Here, I'm just interested to study and work on my sh*t and expose myself to great music, and great musicians.. and make sure I learn my stuff, real good! I'll probably worry about the rest later.

Still miss Malaysian food, though.. the real deal, that is. Still prefer my share of banana leaf, thosai, and even good chinese (vegetarian) food, without busting a giant hole in my small wallet.

I've started running a lot more now, and since I've already registered for the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009 for half distance (that's happening at the end of June), I've definitely started to train for it. So I can't wait till Spring clears up well, and good, and I'd get my butt out there running!

I think that's it for now... will try to update more a little later, when I can.

By the way, I'm back in KL from 28th May for summer holidays, and gigs galore! Can't wait...

THOSAI!!!!!

Ciao.

Better late..

.. than never!

So..

To everyone, Chinese and non-Chinese alike...

新年快樂！！！

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Gong Xi Gong Xi!

I hope that this year will be a productive one, despite the predictions and all, in more ways than one. I also hope that above all else, health and family be the top priority on your list.. not just this year, but all the time.. and also the quest for spiritual enlightenment!

This will probably be my second CNY that I won't be home with family and friends, and it's this time I'm really feeling the pinch of not being there. But I feel my heart is closer now to those back home now, than it ever was.

Have a good one everyone!!

Congratulations PRESIDENT OBAMA!

As I'm writing this, I'm logged into CNN.com watching what was the Inauguration of the 44th President of the USA, President Barack Hussein Obama.

This has been quite a historic moment for the US, as well as the world, as President Obama is the first ever African-American President of the United States. The moments leading to his success in the election was long and hard, but all worth it. Unfortunately I missed the announcement of the presidential election (I was stuck in the 7 train on the way back home). But of course, notice of his success in the election did not fall short to my ears...one of the train supervisors, a black lady, was basically screaming in happiness while making train stop announcements on the PA in the train! But one thing was certain, I felt thankful that I am in the US during this historical moment in world history.

But thanks to CNN.com along with Facebook, a lot of people in the US, as well as all over the world was given the opportunity to watch the Inauguration, so it was quite a blast. At the same time, you've got friends on FB logged in watching the inauguration, and leaving comments on status updates, etc. Quite something I tell ya.. if you missed it.. SOOOO too bad for ya. LOL! By the way, you can check out President Obama's inauguration speech at CNN.com, so do check it out if you missed it. It was really inspiring.

Anyway, on a more serious note, we just have to pray this will bring some change to the US as well as the world, with President Obama on the helm. God knows, they need it! When you learn about some of the problems here in the US, you can't help thinking how difficult it is being here, and trying to survive here. It's not easy. All the points that President Obama mentioned in his speech, problems in key areas in the social level in America, such as poor medical care, welfare, etc, are all real. In New York, it's even more apparent. Unless you have money to afford medical insurance, one cannot afford to get sick here, or else you'd pay a bomb for getting medical treatment. And something as simple as just a little jab for cold could cost you hundreds of dollars!

In many ways, I'm actually pretty grateful about my own country Malaysia, despite whatever is happening now on the political front. It has been relatively peaceful and stable (well, not so much now anyway), but one knows that it would not last for long. But however, I choose to remain practical and optimistic about Malaysia's future, and I pray that the sea of change will be for good!

And lastly,

CONGRATULATIONS, PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!!

US Boycott?

I just read the news today about Malaysian Muslims boycotting US products to protest the US involvement in the Israel attacks on Gaza.

What's the point?

I mean, I don't disagree with the Malaysian Muslims' point of view on it. But I don't see how boycotting US products will help. For one thing, the rest of the country probably wouldn't follow suit. We're so hooked to all these US-based products in our daily lives.

Boycott Starbucks? Hah.. very unlikely.

Boycotting US products in Malaysia also would not probably make any difference in thought on American soil. Hell, most Americans don't even know where Malaysia is. I've even been asked, "Is Malaysia like a swamp area?". Shows you how ignorant they are. And the thing is, most US made products are locally made, too! Boycott Coca-Cola? Are you guys nuts? Coke in Malaysia is manufactured in Malaysia.. the brand is American.. but their products are made local for locals. So if you're boycotting them, you're only crippling our local industry. Correct me if I'm wrong. Do you think they'd actually import the drink from America?? If so, you won't be paying RM1.50 for a can of Coke (is that the going price now?). Even if you're successful in boycotting a particular US product, how much of that will cripple the business in the US, that comes from Malaysia.

Not much I gather. It'd probably be like an ant bite. Or a mozzie bite.

I think there are ways to get our opinions heard. Boycotting US goods is not one of them. You'd find you might be hurting our local businesses more than sending a message across (which probably won't reach, anyway!).

Get real, people! Look at the bigger picture!

Steamboat & Black Church!

There's no relationship between the two, in case you were wondering. Just two things I was gonna blog about today.

Steamboat

Well, over here in America they call it hotpot, we at home call it steamboat. But I'll call it steamboat here, because there were some friends on Facebook who thought I had a POT party.. hahah.. that was hilarious. But you know, with that many Malaysians around like what we had on Christmas night, it might actually look as though it was one! LOL!

We had our party on Christmas night, and we invited quite a few friends over, some Japanese, Taiwanese, and of course, Malaysians who are based in NY at the moment. But it turned out that we had SEVEN Malaysians who came by, and it was quite a rowdy one, too! I mean, Chern Hwei and myself are rowdy as it is, but with the others it was like... oh well.. we Malaysians know what it's like when we hang out at the mamak for late nights, right? So we had Eugene Pook who came down from Rochester (that is another story, which I might or might not tell), Chee Shen (a tenor singer studying at Mannes), Wen Onn (a composer studying in NYU), Nicholas Ong (an amazing pianist based here in NY), Adriane Palikat (a drummer from Kota Kinabalu), and the two of us. Hah... all musicians. And it was a riot.. it was like home-styled mamak session! But best thing was, everyone was nuts in their own right, and I think it probably surprised the other non-Malaysian guests. We even had our M'sian styled drink cheer.. the yam seng!

Quite a good night I might add. It was a first time for some of us to have met each other for the first time ever, being in New York. But at least it's comforting to know we have more Malaysian friends here.

Black Church

I played a gig at a black church in Jamaica, Queens, last night for Leon Lacey's Day After Christmas concert. It was a part concert, part worship, kind of thing, so I got to experience first-hand, the African-American church culture. It's something I do want to experience at least once, as it is highly related to what I'm studying here in the first place, ie. Jazz. I mean, those who have read about or studied the historical roots of jazz would know that one of the major influences in the development of jazz as a distinct musical form comes from the African-American church culture.

For one thing, there was ALWAYS singing, and music at the background. Someone would always be playing the organ, or a keyboard (usually with a church organ sound) and accompanying the on-stage speaker or preacher. Then while making a testimony or preaching about something, they would build up the intensity and then would launch into a worship song (which could be either one which everyone knows, or sometimes improvised!), and just keep singing and the whole congregation would sing along, or even shout in response to a call (hence the call-and-response) or a statement. And this would go on for hours and hours, and I was there for about four hours, so it was pretty long. But the music never stops, someone would always be playing. Me and another saxophone player that night would also be playing some lines or just improvising at the back, reacting to the call-and-response of the singing, during the worship session. This was in between the short sets of which we would be playing Leon's tunes.

It was quite an energetic, uplifting, and very interesting experience for me. And I count myself blessed that I got to play and attend and experience one of this kind of church services.

Before I sign off, I'll just say that I'll post some pictures soon (when I get my off my lazy butt to upload them off the camera), so stay tuned.

Happy New Year, y'all!

Merry Christmas!

My first Christmas away from home. Well, I don't celebrate Christmas as much as most Westerners do anyway, but still, it's always a time where we get to spend it with some company, whether with family or friends. This time Xmas eve was pretty much alone, most of the housemates were out playing Xmas eve shows, mass, etc. I was chilling out watching Buffy episodes online and drinking egg-nog (too bad the non-alcoholic one). But today we're doing a nice dinner session, where hotpot (or steamboat in Malaysia) is the main theme! We're getting some Malaysians and some Japanese and Taiwanese people to come over, and most of them.. no, ALL of them are musicians. So we're gonna have some fun tonight.

And too bad (or good, depends how you look at it), it has stopped snowing. It was pretty sunny today, so it was kinda nice! Snow maybe interesting for the first day or two, after that it can get rather depressing! Hahaha..

Well.. whatever it is..

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Let it snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

What started out as light rain, became light and then heavy snow. Took some videos while we were outside walking to have lunch.





Let it snoooowwww....!!!

What a f*&king load..

.. of crap!

http://mediarakyat.net/2008/11/pro-isa-can-anti-isa-cannot/

I'll say it out here loud and proud...

BN SUCKS!!!!

BN SUCKS!!!!

BN GOVERNMENT IS F*&KED UP!!!

NIAMAH &%^#*$(%&%^!!!!!

Long runs and some thoughts..

I had a post I was working on but then I just stopped and forgot all about it. Wanted to pen some thoughts down, but after looking at it now, it seemed pretty irrelevant to finish it, so I'm just gonna start out a new post. But will pen some new ones if any.

Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures I took during a long run I did about two over weeks ago, my first long run in a long time. I did about almost 10k, out in the fairly cold weather, and I ran from my house at 89th St and 37th Ave all the way down 37th to 111th St, and went over to Corona Park. It's probably the nearest park to my place. If you didn't know Corona Park is basically where Flushing Meadows is, and it's the home to the Tennis US Open which takes place in September every year. The park itself was a nice run, it was full of trees and fields, and there were so many fields that I even saw people playing football (ie. soccer in OUR world), and some of the fields were occupied for actual football matches. There were trophies and stuff. But most of the players there were Latino (no surprise there, eh?). Anyway, I'll let the pictures speak for itself.

USTA Tennis Center

Nice view of Corona Park

Unisphere

Men In Black anyone?

Soccer!

Well, running in Corona Park was simply awesome... beautiful. I wish KL had more of something like that. At least there's still Lake Gardens.

Jazz gig

I did my first paying jazz gig on Friday with a Japanese guitarist, Yujin Amano, at a club called RJ's Bar Lounge and Grill in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Bay Ridge is at the edge of Brooklyn, just overlooking Verrazano-Narrows Bridge which connects to Staten Island. I got this gig thanks to my buddy Rozhan actually! He was in town for a couple of days with his soon-to-be wife, Rie, and while meeting him up for a hang out, he hooked me up with Yujin. He was looking for a sax player for his gig at RJ's.

The gig turned out pretty nice, actually. It was a small set-up - sax, guitar, electric bass and drums. We played some funk/jazz/smooth jazz kinda stuff (almost similar to my old GJ days - if you know what I'm talking about), but less of the self-gratification, so that was pretty fun for me. We did some Stevie stuff, and even some electric Miles. Best thing was, it felt nice to be playing after so long, and (hopefully) making some music!

That's it for now.. will update later!

An example of Malaysian idiots

You know, I've seen or read some pretty stupid things about what's going on in my home in Malaysia, but I think this one takes the cake (at least the BIG slice), I could be wrong, but I think it wouldn't get anymore FOOLISH and IDIOTIC than this:

PENANG, 29 Oct 2008: The National Fatwa Council will come out with a ruling related to yoga exercise soon.

The announcement would be made by the council's chairperson, Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Shukor Husin, said Department of Islamic Development Malaysia deputy director-general (operations), Othman Mustapha.

He told reporters this after opening the two-day seminar on Islamic Jurisprudence and Eternal Islamic Thinking at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Yesterday, lecturer Prof Zakaria Stapa of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Islamic Studies Centre advised Muslims who have taken up yoga to stop practising it for fear that it could deviate their beliefs.

- Bernama

Wow.. I really wonder what goes on in these people's head? Do they have one in the first place?

What? You bozos actually stopped using your head and your heart when you're reading the Quran now?

Pitiful. Misled from a very young age to become village idiots.

LET'S GO MAMAK! Recap..

Hey all,

It's been over 2 months since the "Let's Go Mamak!" show by our new Malaysian ensemble (a stellar crew of musicians and artists, by the way), INNER VOICES.

For some of you, I know you want to hear and see something from it... so... check out the website again. Ken Hor has uploaded some audio and video of the show. More will be forthcoming.

So, click your browsers at "Let's Go Mamak" by Inner Voices.

Feel free to leave some comments and emails. Enjoy!

I'm fine..

Hmmm.. interesting read, the last post. Even for me.

It was wierd when I was typing it. My mind was in a total state of confusion. I was probably at a mental disarray, if you will. Wierd thing was, I hardly experience something like this.. if at all. Must be one of those rare days, when the planets align against me, causing me to go haywire for no good reason.

I'm fine now, by the way.

Anyway..

It was a fairly productive day today, not music-wise though. Went to school early to practice and prep for lessons, and I only realized that it was a holiday in school. No wonder it was so quiet when I first got there. Antonio wasn't even around. So I got back home early, ran some errands, like send my brother's birthday gift (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRO!!!), and bought some supplies. Weather was great. On the way back from the post office at 78th St (I stay in 89th, so that's 11 blocks away), I got 'distracted' and bought a few things that I needed, and I came across a health store that I never got a chance to visit, but I knew was there. It was pretty interesting! They had a lot of interesting organic food, and even vegetarian/vegan food products as well! Couldn't buying a pack of vegan bologne slice and a ham slice, which were on sale, as well as a pack of granola cereals!

When I got back, I even cleaned up my room, for real. I didn't get a chance to thoroughly clean my room since I got back, so this was a good time than not. I rearranged everything that needed to be, cleaned the blinds (I think it hadn't been cleaned for AGES!), and re-packed everything.

Made dinner... a nice sambal vege fish with buttered brocolli and mushroom, fried egg over buttered rice! LOL! You might drool if you saw my dinner! God knows I did. Watched "Incredible Hulk" on my computer, while eating.

Then came the moment I've been waiting for... repairing my Macbook! My DVD SuperDrive and Bluetooth had been out of commission for a few weeks now. The SuperDrive I wrecked from putting a half-sized CD inside, and got it stuck... and the best part... it happened RIGHT BEFORE I came back to New York. The Bluetooth.. well, that has been failing for a little while before I got back here. I initially sent it to a Mac Support store to see if they can fix it. But the prices they charged were RIDICULOUS, and it would take AGES for them to do it. So I took back my Macbook, ordered the parts I needed from this AMAZING website called www.ifixit.com, and I decided to fix it myself, and this for almost HALF the price of sending it for repair.

Today I managed to find the time to fix it.. but man.. it was a pain! Whoever designed the laptops is either a real genius, or a pain in the neck! The screws were SO SMALL, it was really hard to get around it sometimes. But each set of screws were really unique and meant for a specific part of the laptop. After a couple of hours going at it (and almost getting hung up over ONE particular screw which was a tad more stuck), I managed to fix both the bluetooth board as well as replace a new SuperDrive! Now they both work fine! Man.. I could work at a Mac store to do repairs, like this! Ahahaha..

Oh well. Time to go.. will spend the whole day tomorrow practicing..

Later.

Autumn..

Yes.. it's officially Autumn in New York.

It's getting chilly.. and the presence of rainy weather affirms it.

Just to digress a little, I'll probably write a bit about these few weeks first. My apologies for not being diligent enough to write. Things have been fairly busy since I got back, with school starting and all. And I guess, I just didn't have the energy to write about it too.

First week of my return is pretty much as what I expected. Errands to run to get back into the groove of things - school, household, and everything else. Mentally I finally settled in after the first week. I still miss home and my life there. Some days more than others. But I guess it's settled in much more by now. One thing is for sure is that some things had to change from my first six months here. Break some old habits, and make new ones, where school is concerned. Put simply, just develop routines so that I have to work a little harder for school.

I haven't caught much jazz shows in NY that much yet, as I had spent quite a bit of money the past few weeks, so I'll save up for next month. Among other things, Kenny Garrett will be playing at the Iridium with his new quartet, and new CD, and I wanna go check it out. Oh, my good friend, and (what I would surmise as) my "past life brother" David Muehsam came to town for a couple of weeks to visit his mom. We got to hung out a bit, and it was a bit refreshing in many ways for me. We talked a lot about a variety of things - horns, music, life, politics, food, music, horns, life, food - and of course, not just verbally, too. Musical conversations were not excluded too!

I did a gig with Michelle Marie's band not too long ago. She organized a jazz fest at the Hudson River Cafe, and had three acts - percussionist Felle Vega, her trio (with me and Chern Hwei as guests), and Antonio Sanchez Trio (with bassist Scott Colley and saxophonist Steve Wilson)!! I played on three of her songs, and it was pretty scary, but exhilirating, too! I got to play in front of these great musicians! I hope I didn't screw up too badly. Antonio Sanchez is a mofo on da drums!!

Anyway.. back to Autumn..

Maybe it's one of "those days" kinda thing, but I woke up feeling crappy. And it's probably the second time it's happened this week. Then couple it with a mild headache. One thing led to another, I ended up feeling rather flustered and confused about everything at the end of the day. CH says I should stop watching Naruto online, as it could mess with my head. He may be right, or am I just using it as a form of 'escapism' from my life here? Could it be all that blowing from practicing causing lack of oxygen going into my brain? I don't know. I'm confused and frustrated about something, and I don't know what it is. I'm still trying to figure it out.

I don't know anything anymore. And it's really getting to me. I always thought I knew what I wanted. Maybe I still do.. but it gets a little more cloudy as the days go by. It's really odd. Before I came here for the first time, it was something I was really clear about (that's why I'm here in the first place), and there was probably only one aspect of my life that I was lacking. But now, its totally reversed. What I lacked when I was back in home, I have now.. and what I thought I was sure of, I'm not anymore. And when I think of the bigger picture, I get even more clouded. Doubts arise. It's really getting to me. I'm praying for some guidance.

Maybe it's just the season shift... I heard that the change in season affects people in different ways..


... then again, I don't know.

Summer..

.. is over.

Wow.. I can't believe 2 1/2 months passed by in a blink of an eye!

First, I'd like to apologize to my readers about lack of personal updates where my activities are concerned. If you didn't know by now, I've been back in Malaysia since middle of June, and I've been SOOOO busy with work that I didn't really have the time to update the blog. How busy, you ask? Well, let's put it this way, the next day after I got back, I already had a gig lined up! That was how busy I was. I was virtually working non-stop since I got back here in KL.

I'm now back in NY, I just got in about 10 hours ago, and I haven't slept yet. So I guess this is a good time than never to update my blog. Anyway, this time I'll be here for the whole year before I come back to Malaysia for summer holidays again. So I won't be seeing all of you for the whole year *sob sob*.

Anyway, I'm just probably gonna write a little bit of what I've been doing the past 2.5 months here in Malaysia.

Gigs! Gigs! Gigs!

Yeah, that's what I've been doing the most, really! The following day after I got back to KL (18/6), I was playing for Junji's gig at Groove Junction (19/6), and the next day with UK jazz singer Peter Grant (20/6). They decided to rope me in for the rest of the show, so the following weekend after I got back I was playing at Alexis with Peter Grant, from Thursday through Saturday (24-26/6).

The first weekend of July I was at Ipoh for a video shoot for Tourism Malaysia (I still haven't got paid yet, those bastards!), and then the weekend with my band Boplicity at Bangkok Jazz (4-5/7). That was a real fun gig, as I haven't played with the band for so long, and I was itching to play!! The second night even had Malaysian drum legend Lewis Pragasam sitting in with us for a fast blistering bebop tune!

Race?

I totally forgot I got KT to register the both of us for the Siemens Run race! So with only 3 hours of sleep after the heart-burning Bangkok Jazz performance with my band, we both went for the Siemens Run (which was about 8.8km and not 10), and I clocked about 1:06, which I thought wasn't bad, even with no training. I managed to maintain a steady running pace all the way, and even sprinted to the end!

Penang? Crazy!

Oh yeah, right after the race, I also headed up to Penang (with Eddie and now-wife, Sharon) to do a workshop with the Areca cats. Talk about crazy... two nights of heavy gigs, race the next day, and then up to Penang for a jam session and workshop! The jam session was pretty nice, it was at G-Spot, at G Hotel, Gurney Drive. There was LOADS of people.. something we totally didn't expect of a jazz jam session! Good job Areca fellas. The sax workshop itself was small, but pretty cool, although I'm not sure if I confused anymore people or not! Ahah..

More gigs.

Got home to KL on Tuesday, and played on the weekend with Daniel Foong's band Giant Timeline at Groove Junction (10/7) and then Eric Li's Jazz Latino at Alexis Bistro (11-12/7).

JB Arts Festival, Mamak, and more Boplicity!

The following week was really crazy, as preparations for the David Gomes Sextet to play at the Johor Bahru Arts Festival (17/7) was on the way. At the same time, I was also busy trying to handle a multiple amount of things with the "Let's Go Mamak!" show, that was to be held at KLPac beginning of August. The JB Jazz Festival was a blast.. and was really tiring.. everyone played well and played hard! The band had David Gomes on piano and vocals, me (alto sax), Eddie (trumpet), Vincent (double bass), Martin (drums), and Benjamin on tenor sax.

We rushed back the following day for a Boplicity club date at Alexis Bistro (18-19/7). It went well, too, although everyone was almost burned out, so although we still gave our all, our energy level just wasn't enough to make it really powerful.

Mamak and Sheila Majid, and a Sedaya workshop.

The following week, preparations for the Mamak show was definitely on its more final and complex stages. It wasn't as organized than I would've liked it to be, so it led to a lot of complicated scheduling. At the same time, we had intense three-day rehearsals for the Sheila Majid concert in Kuantan on that weekend (26/7). Just before we left for Kuantan, I even managed to squeeze in a band workshop at Sedaya College with Chern Hwei. It was fun to see them kids playing and doing their thing with a little more enthusiasm than I remembered.

The Sheila concert itself was fun, although due to lack of promo from the promoters had less people in the audience than it should. But the band was tight, and we were just kickin' ass on stage! Woohoo.. I felt really lucky that at least I had once chance to perform with Sheila!

Also got to know a new friend, and amazing singer, Winnie from 2V1G.. a new group that just released an album. Check them out at 2v1G.

Let's Go Mamak!

This was the final week for preparations for the Mamak show at Pentas 2, KLPac. Everything was quite a mess, to be honest, and I still wasn't even sure if the show will turn out good, so I was worried as hell! But I had to make sure that it turned out as well as it could, despite the harrowing circumstances. But in the end, thanks to the amazing musicians that played for the show (and probably some divine intervention as well), the show turned out really well and everything somehow came together. Opening night had almost full occupancy, and the following two nights was totally full house (KLPac had to refuse a few people on the Sunday night show!). Thank God!

We had some pretty good reviews from people who came to the show, they all had a good time, and some were even emotionally touched by the message that the show intended to spread.

James Flynn @ Alexis

After the Mamak show, I managed to wind down a short bit, and squeezed in some hard practice days. The second weekend of August, I did a show with Aussie singer James Flynn with the Michael Veerapen Quartet at Alexis.

Phuket!!!

The week after the James Flynn show, I had my folks arranged a nice short holiday in Phuket. All I did was just chill out good.. get some sun, swim in the pool, and just simply relax! Too bad it was only for three nights (and it went by fast too!). More would've been nice. But it was a well-needed relaxing trip. My ideal vacation - beach, sun, relax.

David Gomes @ Bangkok Jazz

The night I got back from Phuket, I was at Bangkok Jazz playing my last gig (for a long time) with jazz pianist-vocalist great, David Gomes at Bangkok Jazz. Backing David was myself on sax, Daniel Foong on bass, and Jon Jacobs on drums. It was a kick-ass night, as well, and playing with David has always been a fun one, where you can really stretch out and he's always behind ya. Now that he'll be in Bangkok for the next four months, looks like KL will have to do without David for a little while, and it's their loss, for most part. That's less one Malaysian jazz great to listen too.

WV Trio @ No Black Tie

Another highlight of my summer break gigs, is playing with this awesome trio, consisting of Tay Cher Siang (piano), Adam Osmianski (drums) and Jon Cavendish (bass), or else known as the WV Trio (the three of them studied and played together in West Virginia University). They did a fair number of Brazilian music, with such kick-butt grooves, it was simply just intoxicating. They played a few interesting rearrangements, such as The Bad Plus' rearrangement of Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World. I played with them for the next two Tuesdays at No Black Tie and it was a real kick ass experience as well, having to sight read-and-transpose their music. Even so, it was one hell of a rhythm section!! The three of them lock so tight, it feels like like you're floating on air. Hope I'll get a chance to play with them again!

Good time with them juniors..

The second-last weekend of August saw me performing with my musical.. juniors.. at Bangkok Jazz, ie. Giant Timeline, led by Daniel Foong. The rest of the band were Cheah Wei Li (keys), Faz Aznam (guitars) and Steve Naris (drums). I actually got them to play Eric Marienthal's Easy Street, a tune I've been hearing for 10 years but never got a chance to play till now. And these guys did a good job, although the crowd for most part were a little less enthusiastic. But I had fun playing with them, and they're on the way to kick some major butt in the music scene.

Bangkok..

Hmmm.. Bangkok.. now that was a good, albeit short trip. ;) Just found it interesting that something could develop under such circumstances, and I welcome it.

Final gig for the summer...

... was at Laundry Bar with Eddie's band Urban Tribes, for the Merdeka Eve party. Ina Fabergas sung with us, and we had THREE subs in the band, namely me on sax, Hiro on bass, and Arthur on drums. Eddie and Justin were the only original cats! The band was kickin', and the music was funkin' all night... but too bad the venue sucked, and so did the crowd. Stupid sound enginee..no, technician. But the band had fun playing!

Birthday cum farewell...

This time celebrations were small, just a nice dinner with my folks and relatives. My bro got me a new phone!! After that, I had a small farewell hang out with me music buddies in Bangsar (if you're a FB-er you could see some pics there). One thing I'll miss while being here is the closeness and camaraderie with your best mates who also happen to be your colleagues.

Last but not least..

Love.

I had a great summer.. wish it didn't end that quickly. But alas, time does fly when you have lots of fun. Back to the reality that is NYC! Gonna miss all of you cats and dear friends... so please, make sure you buzz me on MSN, Yahoo, and also Skype! At least got some online company, during the times when I get real bored here.

Till the next time.. more New York stories.

Later.

PS: Miss ya SCSY..

KLPac & Inner Voices: LET'S GO MAMAK! (1-3 Aug)

I got it from my Mamak!

What traditionally started out as a simple road side stall has evolved into an important Malaysian social institution! Mamak stalls are a true multi-racial melting pot, a place where everybody meets for a snack or a drink with friends, business clients, breakfast or just watching football at night!

LET'S GO MAMAK!

aims to serve you up a slice of that Malaysiana through music!

A showcase of original compositions and arrangements by Ken Hor - performed by an eclectic group of local musicians such as New-York based saxophonist Julian Chan and violinist Fung Chern Hwei, BOH Cameronian recipient Prakash Kandasamy on tabla, Jimmy Ch'ng from Hands Percussion Team, sought-after jazz pianist Tay Cher Siang, the renown percussionist Kamrulbahri Hussin, and many many more!

1 - 3 August @ 8.30pm

Pentas 2, KLPac

(Click here for location map & public transport options)

RM30 / RM20 (students, sr. citizens & the disabled)

Featuring thirteen of the finest and most culturally diverse musical talents from Malaysia, expect an evening of truly Malaysian music!

Call our Box Office for tickets now!

KLPac 03-4047 9000

The Actors Studio @ BSC 03-2094 9400

www.klpac.com | innervoicesband.blogspot.com

Gig update: Alexis Bistro - 18 and 19 July

Hey everyone,

My sincerest apologies for not publicizing our gig at Bangkok Jazz recently, I've been swamped with work since I got back from New York... and yes, I'm back from New York for the summer holidays.

We did a kick-butt gig at Bangkok Jazz two weekends ago. Daniel Foong replaced Vincent for one set on Friday night, and kicked butt as well, he held his own real good. The second night was also a killer night, with Lewis Pragasam sitting in on one tune on the second set, as we did a Kenny Barron tune called Voyage. We did a couple of new tunes in addition to our existing hardbop repertoire, and we had a ball doing it too.

Anyway, here's a plug for our upcoming show:

BOPLICITY Live! @ Alexis Bistro and Wine Bar
Date: 18 and 19 July 2008 (Fri and Sat)
Time: 10.30pm onwards
Admission: Free (but call to reserve seats so you don't have to stand!)
Venue: Alexis Bistro and Wine Bar, Great Eastern Mall, Jalan Ampang KL

Hope to see you there!

SUPPORT LIVE JAZZ!