George Lam's 林子祥 cover 敢愛敢做
Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
George Lam's 林子祥 cover 敢愛敢做
Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
纪晓君 (Ji Xiao Jun) I got to know her from the radio. I really forgot when I bought this but the album was released in 1999 which is my 1st year uni. So, it should be from the late night program which I always like to listen to in 988. Hmm....I think should be the DJ Ji Zan Xiong. Her voice captivated me the moment I heard the song Puyuma Homeland 故乡普悠玛 a song deeply ingrained in her Puyuma tribe root.
During my recent visit to Taiwan, Chia-Chun, my host from Taipei told me that 纪晓君 is actually Jia Jia's sister (家'家 of 昊恩家家 - featured in my previous post) !!!!!!!!!! No wonder it's not a surprise I was attracted to her voice and immediately want to look for their album, considering the fact that I only heard a few seconds of their songs during the 金曲奖 award show when they announce the nominess!!!! So, it's fated hehe.....
You can search for 纪晓君 in YouTube as well. Some live performances available.
So, now who's this uncle pulak? 陈建年 (Pur-dur, his tribal name) is actually another great singer from the Puyuma tribe and given that Puyuma tribe is a minority, even among the minority Aborigine tribes itself, 陈建年 is actually uncle of both 纪晓君 and 家'家. Like 纪晓君, I first heard the song 海洋 (Ocean)from the radio and it got me hooked to it already. The voice is so synonymous to the feeling of the song, and you can feel the ocean, the wave, the strong wind the moment the song is played. After I got the album (courtesy of Sherry who asked her sister to buy it from Taiwan - by the way, thanks Sherry cox I remember she bought the David Tao's 1st album from Taiwan for me as well cox at that time, no one knows him and his album was not released here) 乡愁 (Home Sick) really got me addicted. The song is so touching and melancholic suiting the theme itself and if you are really home alone in the foreign land, I think it's not a surprise if you find yourself shedding a tear listening to it. A little trivia is that he's actually a police. How cool is tat?
It's a great effort from the music label TCM (Taiwan Color's Music) to produce and release albums from these unique tribes in Taiwan, who's famous with their singing ability. The album by Pur-dur and HaoEnJiaJia that I owned were released by them and Bravo!!!
P/S : Aborigines in Taiwan are well known for their singing talent. Think A-Mei 张惠妹, Power Station 动力火车, Shan Feng Dian Huo 山风点伙 (Jeff, you should blog about them - remember them? 深藏不露。。。。。。), Zhang Zhen Yue 张震岳 and Landy Wen Lan 温岚 (some aborigine blood) etc...
Inspired by Alan's search of Coolie Sink's stuff on the internet, I did the same and found that this blog of mine was linked in Lluis Coloma's website, mainly on my write-up for the 2nd Miri International Jazz Festival. No wonder one of my friend said the same as well after self search on internet.
Here's their link on the page :
http://lluiscoloma.com/en/noticiaDet.asp?id=19 You can click on atanck for my write-up.
Thanks Lluis Coloma. I can only listen to your albums now.... luckily I bought 2 of them.
Note that all the photos above taken with another album as background and it is the best album I bought this time, after having searching for their album unsuccessfully, rightfully deserve an individual post dedicated to it.
What's a Jac's performance without her signature tune Gemilang right? She tried to work the crowd by asking us to sing "Gemilang" and "Reality" but tat didn't quite work hehe... shy I think.She did a splendid rendition of "Jesus Take The Wheel" as well, a justice to the original singer Carrie Underwood. And speaking of coincidence, she ended her set with "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys and just a week before that, the KK Jazz Festival I attended ended with the same tune as well!!!! Hmm...wondering what does that mean huh?
Autograph signing session.
The festival was held at the Jesselton Point with its nice T-shape jetty.
The plane on the skyline. Amazing coincidence.
The 100 bucks seat near to the stage.
Another T area where the seats were located.
The show started with some local bands playing to warm the audience up. Personally, I think the 1st group not bad. The flute is a nice touch-up. Then another group incorporated the traditional Chinese musical instrument er-hu in its performance and that's a fresh take. Not a surprise though cox fusion is highly sought in music nowadays. Other notable performers; the set of the singer-songwriter from Labuan with his catchy tunes and Rimba, who was playing ethnic jazz (according to MC Jasmine) really showed that our local musical talents not only restricted to the SMS-hyped Akademi Fantasia, Astro Talent Quest and tonnes of other talentime reality show but there are other hidden gem waiting to be discovered and supported.
The Jazzelton Quintet. They were the first act and June was the vocalists cum keyboard player. They rolled out some notably standard jazz tunes started with Cheek to Cheek (heaven.... I'm in heaven.....) and an instrumental version of Have You Met Miss Jones? They ended their set with a surprise jazzed up version of the theme song the Flintstones. This managed to get the crowd in tune as some of the jazz standards played are not that familiar to the audience.
Then, my favourite act came out and do their thingy. Yes, it's none other than our local duo, Double Take, Roger Wang (guitar) and Mia Palencia (vocal). Mia had a flower in the hair (very much like the great jazz diva Billie Holiday in her glory days, nice touch Mia!!!) and she sang beautifully as usual though her voice doesn't comes off as powerful, maybe due to the microphone and the open air venue.
Next is the Gambus-man Farid Ali. He jazzed up the crowd with his Middle-East-infused piece of equipment and provided some mystically enchanting element to the rather pop-infected concert. He sang some of the tunes as well, Getaran Jiwa that I remember.
OH yea.... how can Digi-Man be left out here? Thanks DIGI for being the main sponsor and yes, their coverage in Sabah now is way much better than their other Red and Purple rivals. And I didn't get sponsors or deducted bills from them. Though tat's kinda welcomed.
The final act was specially brought-in-from-US, Dennis Mininfield whose performing style is something akin to the great Tina Turner. Hers is fueled with energy and power, accentuated by her raspy vocal and it's not a disgrace her to quote reference to Tina Turner. She really worked out the crowd from the beginning with a powered-up version of The Way We Were (I have to apologize here... cox I couldn't be 100% sure. Correction appreciated). She went on to sing some signature sure-to-heat-up tunes and what a better choice than a party-tuned Yesterday from Beatles. Strictly-speaking, her choice of songs are not all that jazz but with the crowd worked-out and the fun that obviously everyone had, who cares? She interacted with the crowd well and children were invited to dance onstage with her, a group of Japanese tourists were invited to sing as well; everyone's happy. Of course party-goers and clubbers got their dose when she belted out Can't Get My Eyes Off You (ba lat ba lat ba lat ba lat..... I love you baby....) She sang Superstitious by Stevie Wonder too. It's obvious that she's a seasoned performer from her songs choice and the way she bantered with the crowd. And the crowd loved her too!!!
To save the silent (not that silent to be frank cox the music still playing) awkward moment, Denise sang Superstitious again and yes, this sounds more like a more apt finale. The Venezuelan percussionist from the previous acts Son2Nos were given a chance to showcase his mettle when he was doing solo; the sporting and highly-excited Datuk Adeline Leong had her share in the showcase too. Bravo Datuk for really showing enthusiasm for the music and as the co-organizing chairperson, Datuk is really into the music. My heart goes to Datuk who was supposed to be the 1st Mayor of Kota Kinabalu before being transferred to Sandakan. Oppss... that's another story. But Datuk, really respect you for the percussion showcase! The organizing chairman Mr. Fu got his share in showing his musical talent as well with the tambourine.
The night was a typical party night, went on to sing a Happy Birthday tune to one of the backstage organizing members. Denise said something about the importance of celebrating our birthdays and dun worry Denise, we Malaysian loves celebrating birthdays. Go to any of TGIF restaurants in Malaysia and 80% of the time you will get to hear the birthday-song-plus-We Will Rock You-come-with-the-foot-thumping-choreograph sang by the TGIF staff. I think that's a pre-requisite for the recruitment in TGIF.
The band who performed for Denise's set includes our very own Malaysian, the well-known Mac Chew. Those who's familiar with the Malaysia music scenes or buy CDs (original with lyrics booklets) will know who Mac Chew and how good he is. With his partner Jenny Chin, they are the frequent winner in the AIM (Anugerah Industri Muzik) and you can find their name in the albums of many Chinese singers, especially those with Rock Music (滚石). They are the frequent musical partner for Jonathan Lee 李宗盛.
Of course the crowd still wanted more when the finale was completed and as cliche as it can be, the crowd's wish was fulfilled and Denise came out to perform the last song. Before that, she parted some advice asking the audience to love ourselves. By loving ourselves, all the other love will come along the way. What song you ask??? One of my favourite song by the talented Alicia Keys If I Ain't Got You.
My Comment :
1. Seating should be arranged so that only 1 side stage as it's easier to manage. Put the food section in the covered area at the entrance not only easier for foodstuff buying (yesterday, you may have to walk to two area) but also from logistic point of view, moving the foodstuff to the stall will not disturb the audience, the trolleys moving, the staff carrying big tray.
2. Some audience who purchased 100 bucks complained that their view is blocked by the standing crowd in front of the stage where yours truly was one of them, admiring Double Take from near. How? One: no seats and same price ticket. Then you can choose to sit on the floor, lean on anything or stand or dance. But this will turn off many elderly and family with kids. Two: Prepare a dance area (or 摇滚区) where the dance enthusiast can swing and sway. More big screen so the audience sitting/standing far away will be able to see the performer (double joy of senses mah... though music more important here).
3. The MCs were a blessing for the sponsors due to their never-tired-attitude of mentioning the names of the sponsors. Great camaraderie I would say though personally I think Jasmine can cut down on defining the music as which category of jazz cox most of the time, it's hard to define the style as acid jazz, fusion jazz and etc. Just let the music speaks for its own. Also the first few sentences of Jasmine on what is jazz which she found out from the internet was redundant.
4. The tickets says the show starts at 6pm but the entrance and ticket checking counter was still not in place/in order when we went in at about 610pm. Seating especially the descending area next to the entrance should not be seated as it's crowding the whole area.
Kudos to the organizer for bringing our own jazz festival to KK and as a first instalment, this is really a great success. Improvement should come along and I strongly recommend that the next organizer should go visit other jazz festival such as the Miri International Jazz festival or the coming Penang International Jazz Festival. It's of course not fair since the place/venue is different but I think this current venue has it's EDGE and ADVANTAGE as the sunset view can be very nice and breathtaking. All it needs is just a little fine-tuning on the stage and seating arrangement. MY 2 CENTS WORTH OPINION
the debut album from Double Take; they mesmerised me the first time with Mengapa Kasih and after that, i was captivated
the christmas album by Double Take; a nice take of the festive mood songs
The inaugural Kota Kinabalu Jazz Festival is jointly organised by the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu, Society for Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu Sabah (SPArKS), Suria Group and Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK). Main sponsors, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, will be giving away prizes during the festival. Other sponsors include HSBC (cash), Heineken (cash), Suria Group (provides the venue for free), DBKK (provides the stage and chairs for free), and Hotel Megah D'Aru (subsidised room rates).
Co-Organising Chairperson, Datuk Adeline Leong could not agree more, emphasising the need to enliven the music scene in the city by introducing Sabahan musicians and music enthusiasts to the world of International Jazz Music. She said one of the objectives is to help raise the standard of musicians in Sabah by showcasing high quality performance. "With this musical extravaganza featuring local and international performers and offering a wide variety of jazz music, we hope it will create appreciation of this genre of music among the local population. "We (organisers) hope to make this festival of international standard an annual event in efforts to promote Kota Kinabalu as a centre for performing arts, in addition to the plan to make KK an educational hub. "That being the case, Kota Kinabalu would have a musical festival that residents can call their own," said the Protem President of SPArKS.
Meanwhile, Wang said the festival brings together a musical kaleidoscope of talents for the enjoyment of the public and education of our budding young musicians in the State. "Definitely, the event will reinforce Kota Kinabalu as a major international, regional and domestic tourist destination. We hope to incorporate the festival into Sabah's annual calendar of events. That way, we can tap into the burgeoning 'music festival' industry to generate an annual influx of regular visitors," he pointed out.
Tickets for the Aug 11 charity concert are priced at RM30 (students only), RM50 and RM100. Call 088-212121 (Sabah Tourism Sabah) or 088-235787 (Selina Yapp, Jesselton Point). Enquirers may log on to http://www.feeltone.com/. my/en/ for more information on the festival or call Sri Pelancongan (088-232121).
Fresh from winning the 2007 Taiwan Golden Melody Awards for Best Group and Best Composer after scoring 7 nominations, A Little Love Song by Soda Green.
Liangmoi is always dependable when I want to look for someone to sing karaoke together. And after such a long time deprived of the joy of belting out songs to torture other patrons of the karaoke, my urge to sing suddenly came to play last Sat and liangmoi agreed to accompany me.
We went to ECHO karaoke in Sabah Hotel. Below was the songlist that we "performed" that night:
1. 富士山下 – 陈奕迅
2. 烈 Girl – 杨千华
3. 罗密欧与朱丽叶
4. 背叛 – 曹格
5. 专属天使 - Tank
6. 我可以 - 蔡溟佑
7. Beautiful Love – 蔡建雅
8. 我真的受伤了 – 张学友
10 lu 行的意义 – 陈绮贞
11. Mungkin Nanti – Peter Pan
12. Januari – Glenn Fredly
13. Bukan Cinta Biasa – Siti Nurhaliza
14. Keabadian Cinta – Anuar Zain
15. Di Akhir Garisan – Nora, Ziana Zain, Ning Baizura, Titi DJ
16. Tiada Lagi – Amy Search
17. Kenangan Terindah – Samson
18. Mulanya Di Sini – Freedom & Seha
19. Suci Dalam Debu – Iklim
20. Dilanda Cinta – Shahnon Shah
21. Pergilah Sayang – Ella & Korie
22. Ini Rindu – Farid Hardja
23. Di Persimpangan Dilema – Nora
24. Sephia – Sheila On 7
25. Keliru – Ruth Sathanaya
26. Kaulah Segalanya – Ruth Sathanaya
27. Seribu Impian – Casey
28. Aku Masih Sayang – Shahrizan
29. Untukmu….Kini – Feminin
30. Mengapa Harus Cinta – Vince
31. Akan Kutunggu - Candy
32. Shape of My Heart – Backstreet Boys
33. Midnight Train to Georgia
34. You Give Love A Bad Name – Bon Jovi
35. 2 - KRU
36. All Out Of Love – Air Supply
ENCORE SELECTION : Kenangan Terindah - Samsons
It all started when we sing the first 3 Malay songs.... from Peter Pan's
Looking at the list, we missed some notable songs which we always listen to or it's hip and popular during our primary school times. For example, we failed to sing other songs which is the same era with
We also avoided some of the VERY VERY popular ones like
Due to the time limitations there were some selected songs that we couldn't sing to entertain ourselves such as:
1. Fiona – 4U2C
2. Untukmu Ibu – Exists
3. Puji-Pujian - Raihan
So, if you like Malay songs as well, not only the new current ones but the one of your era, please comment.