Watched the Nestor Torres latin jazz concert with the MPO last night. I did not plan to go initially because when I tried to buy tickets a few weeks earlier, they were already sold out. However a friend of mine couldn't make it so he sold (emphasis: SOLD) his RM80 premium seat ticket to me.

As I sat at my place I couldn't help noticing that I was the only person below 20 and not wearing a lounge suit seated at my row. I had a very good view of the stage from my place though (duh, that's why it cost RM80... *slaps forehead*). The seating arrangement was very different that night too, with the winds seated at the side rather than in the middle, presumably to make way for the plethora of additional percussion instruments. The musicians were all dressed in various coloured tops, with a few of the first desks players even sporting their RM3000 shades.

Any qualms I had about paying the RM80 disappeared as soon as Mr Torres started playing; his tone was indescribably beautiful and sent shivers down my spine, his articulation and tonguing were so precise, and his improvisations stunningly creative. It was by far the best music I had heard from a flute in my entire life. He and the conductor, Jacomo Bairos, both had a good sense of humour and were continually sharing funny stories and experiences with the audience. Another nice surprise was discovering that the rhythm section that night consisted of Eric Li on piano, Fly on bass and John Thomas on drums! For those of you who don't know, they are all top Malaysian jazz musicians, and to see them on stage with the MPO was quite a treat.

That was the nice part; now comes the ranting...

Anyway, after the show I bumped into sax man Julian, who coincidentally had not planned to watch the concert either but had got a free ticket from one of his friends, lucky him. Naturally, I asked him if he could drop me at my apartment on the way back, he said sure but I'm quite hungry, one thing led to another and we ended up at Steven's Corner with another friend, talking about everything from OCD among musicians to Namewee and Malaysian political history. Mind you, we arrived there at 12.15am, and left at 4am. Three people talking for almost 4 hours (and ordering only two drinks each). Who says we musicians don't live interesting lives?

Normally I wouldn't mind staying up that late, but it just so happened that this is my exam week, and I had a paper at 9am the next day. So much for trying to be a bit more disciplined. Even Julian was saying I should have told him earlier. And I kept waking up during my brief 4 hour sleep worrying I would oversleep and miss my paper. I am now almost completely burned out and wondering how I manage to construct coherent sentences. Maybe it's all the 'practice' I got from the late nights at MPYO Camps. At least I've got a trip back to Kuching next week to look forward to.

Wait...

I'll be departing from KLIA this Saturday and coming back the following Saturday. I booked my ticket for those days so that I could catch the Sunday jam session at Top Room when I got back. Unfortunately, JAM had to decide to have their inaugural JAM Get-Together this Sunday. And to top it all (do NOT pardon the pun, I think it's subtly very punny), the Top Room will be closed for puasa month the week I get back. If you're a jazz cat, feel my pain.