Live KL jazz - my experience
Was in West Malaysia on 8-16 March for the first MPYO camp. The camp itself started on the 10th but I went two days earlier for my mandatory shopping/sightseeing/Top Hat-ing activities. Stayed with Brien in Seri Petaling which unfortunately is WAAAY far out. Was supposed to go to Top Hat with him on Friday (9/3) to watch Julian's band Boplicity but he wanted to practice his Scheherazade clarinet solos. Ended up walking to the LRT station at 11pm, catching the last train to KLCC and paying RM10 for a two-minute taxi drive to the restaurant. Finally arrived at Top Hat around 11.45pm, paid the RM20 cover charge and ordered a supposedly free Tequila Sunrise. Then the cashier tells me that they don't do free drinks anymore and adds RM28 to my bill. Man, jazz ain't cheap in Malaysia...
The band had just finished the first set when I arrived, so I had a quick chat with Julian and Eddie. The second set featured violinist Chern Hwei who was back on holiday from NY. They did some experimental avant-garde free jazz which flew over the heads of 90% of the audience. Was really good music though, and you can read Chern Hwei's story about that night here (Warning: Full of expletives!). I especially liked their reharmonised version of Geylang which had a brooding, unstable and angry minorish feel about it, not something you'd have expected from a Malay folk tune. To hear live jazz violin was definitely a treat for someone whose only jazz fiddle on record would be Stephane Grappelli and Ray Nance.
After the second set I had another chat with the band and the pianist asked me if I would like to play with them! It was 1am, my fingers were freezing, I was absolutely unprepared, so I said yes. After all, isn't jazz all about spontaneity? So I went up and we did Straight No Chaser. Maybe it was too cold, I was too nervous, or the tempo to quick, but I felt that I could have done better. Then again, all that matters is that you have fun, which I did, and Julian played a great bebop-infused solo. The band then finished the night with a few more bluesy hard bop material.
I then joined the band for supper at 2.30am (!!) at, you guessed it, mamak! They were all very friendly, and we talked about everything from my MPYO repertoire to teenage jazz virtuosos Julian met at the Java Jazz Festival. Speaking of MPYO repertoire, even Chern Hwei thought that Kevin Field was killing us by doing Scheherazade and Night on the Bare Mountain. So we talked and talked and talked and talked until 5am then Eddie dropped me at Brien's house. Had and hour of sleep, then left for DFP for our camp. What happened at the camp is a completely different story altogether.
Sleep deprivation and empty wallets? Is it worth it? When it comes to jazz, definitely.
The band had just finished the first set when I arrived, so I had a quick chat with Julian and Eddie. The second set featured violinist Chern Hwei who was back on holiday from NY. They did some experimental avant-garde free jazz which flew over the heads of 90% of the audience. Was really good music though, and you can read Chern Hwei's story about that night here (Warning: Full of expletives!). I especially liked their reharmonised version of Geylang which had a brooding, unstable and angry minorish feel about it, not something you'd have expected from a Malay folk tune. To hear live jazz violin was definitely a treat for someone whose only jazz fiddle on record would be Stephane Grappelli and Ray Nance.
After the second set I had another chat with the band and the pianist asked me if I would like to play with them! It was 1am, my fingers were freezing, I was absolutely unprepared, so I said yes. After all, isn't jazz all about spontaneity? So I went up and we did Straight No Chaser. Maybe it was too cold, I was too nervous, or the tempo to quick, but I felt that I could have done better. Then again, all that matters is that you have fun, which I did, and Julian played a great bebop-infused solo. The band then finished the night with a few more bluesy hard bop material.
I then joined the band for supper at 2.30am (!!) at, you guessed it, mamak! They were all very friendly, and we talked about everything from my MPYO repertoire to teenage jazz virtuosos Julian met at the Java Jazz Festival. Speaking of MPYO repertoire, even Chern Hwei thought that Kevin Field was killing us by doing Scheherazade and Night on the Bare Mountain. So we talked and talked and talked and talked until 5am then Eddie dropped me at Brien's house. Had and hour of sleep, then left for DFP for our camp. What happened at the camp is a completely different story altogether.
Sleep deprivation and empty wallets? Is it worth it? When it comes to jazz, definitely.
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