what's going on?

My car was hit last monday, so i practically got a lot on my mind, and lost my head in the process of reporting, reporting and reporting! At last, the car is in the workshop, waiting to be repaired. And it's time for me to return to my normal routine, blog!

Here's few things i noticed from our sunrise gig. The foreign workers were always around. Last year they're on the fence on the first floor. All the doors/passages were locked this year. So for this year they're sitting on any common area they could find. From the look of their eyes, one can tell these are the die-hard music fans. They sat there the whole night, only making occasionally trip to the loo. Hmm... Also we missed the nice food courtesy of the surrounding outlets. Last year, we had vouchers from Zakuro! This year we received none. Hmm... Not much people turned up at the workshop. i was there around seven thirty, thinking i was going to miss the whole thing. But there's only a few people when i arrived the venue. How could one miss a complimentary workshop by our jazz maestro, mr. gambus? Was it because of the rain? Also if you're using a 7.0 meg digital camera, do me a favor! upgrade to the 512MB memory card. Mine was full loaded after few shots. Luckily my old trusted nikon was there. Managed to take few shots of our good friend, the sax guy, Julian. Sorry Jul, i tried my best. You could always hire me next time!

Few things that works well here. Performing in an outdoor arena with alfresco dining is totally different from a small club. Fast and upbeat songs are always a good pick. Be daring and take risk! And the most important part, tolerate the heat! It's so warm that everyone was sweating and soaked. i was glad that nobody passed out. The "GruvAvénue" had a lot of fun, playing original compositions from their recently released album. To the wonderful audience and those who are reading these, once again, thank you!

Thanks to Pete!

The guru of indie music, Pete Teo popped by during our preview at Alexis last July. He brought a copy of our cd. Yes! our sixth customer of that night! and welcome us to the world of indie! It's very aspiring to listen to his advice esp in issues about publicity, financial and audience control. A sincere, hardworking and witty fella, with great talents, and huge success! We don't get much people like that anymore.

My salute to the most extra ordinary man in local music scene, Pete!
You can never miss him from the crowd. Here's your clue : look for the *smirk*

i can see clearly now...

I can see clearly now, the haze is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright , bright Sun-Shiny day!

The haze which lasted about a week definitely was a threat! especially to anyone (join me?) with chronicle respiratory problems. Activities recommended were as followings : net surfing, writing, be a couch potatoes, put air-conditioning to full blast, stayed indoor and be a patriotic citizen shopping til you drop in the sales carnival! The immediate damages were ... fatigue, obesity and hefty bills. Other damages were to be indentified.

Information from trusted resources stated that the haze was clear from mid valley yesterday. Not around my place. it's pretty much like in genting! But if you stay up late til this morning around seven with me, you would have witnessed the haze ... gone overnight!

O... What A Sight!

GruvAvenue at Sunrise!

Thank you to everyone who were there with us! The supportive response from the audience was simply the best thing any performers could have asked! By eight-thirty, the place was quickly filled by diners and jazz lovers. We have much more younger listeners compare to last year. Good signal that jazz is widely appreciated by people of all ages.

Anyone who came earlier with their instruments had the privileged to get up-close and personal, jamming on stage with the master of improvisation, Mr. Gambus. Mean while off stage, Shazzy was enjoying his five seconds of fame as in pic!

After a short break, the stage was heated with exotic belly dancing! The cameramen had his moments zooming to the erotic part... the belly button! That's the most skinny belly dancers i had seen to date. The costumes was very naughty! but i managed to capture the censored version for you guys who's can't make it there.

It was a hot night...

Blame it on the weather... or the dancers!

After Douglas' introduction, GruvAvenue kicked off their first set with "My Simple Plan" and melodious "If You Only Knew". Other songs performed including original tunes written by band-leader cum double-bassist, Vincent Ong includes R&B infused "Ease of Wine", "Black Machine Blues", emotional "Waiting for the day" and the explosive "HighLife" as closing. The whole place was packed with bunches of people. There's a group of guys with their supersize tripod, digital SLR and huges lens; taking shots and clapping so loud after each songs. Applause is always the most beautiful music for performers! you'd know what i mean when you see the grin on the performers' faces on stage!

Guest Vocalist, Rachel Guerzo's rendition of "Aqua De Beber" and "Dindi" brought images of picturesque ipanema beach to mind at instant. Paying homage to the traditions, the band and her belt out swing tunes "Taking a Chance on Love", "East of the Sun", "Devil May Care" and "Fly Me to the Moon" in three-four! If you love to sing, "Waters of March" would be the perfect challenge. Take precaution. This song require stamina and alertness.

There's so much people i would like to thank. i'm still trying to complete the list. It goes like this...

Thanks to the wonderful audience. Thanks for your tremendous support! To Sunrise Berhad and your sponsors, it's a great pleasure to perform in this fest. Thank You! To Kakiseni.com and AllDatJazz.com, your effort in publishing local jazz music is priceless. Thank You! To everyone who brought our cds including Brian, thank you for your patience and understanding. We didn't plan it'll be such chaos and haven't start practising the autographs yet ;-) To Gerard and Jim, Good sound. Thank you! To Charles and Clement, you guys rocked the stage! To Shazee, you're Man-of-the-Night as Player-of-the-Season to a football league! To Vincent, two thumbs up! To Rachel, your commitment to give the best is much appreciated. To Frida, thanks for going all out to sell the cds. The interlude was dramatic and inspiring. To my friend-Chen and the Chui family, thanks for your support! To everyone i can't manage to include here ... how could i forget you? Just write me... Part II (post mortem) is coming!

Farewell to Justin!

We went for a sinful lunch at Chili's in BSC last monday. As usual, Julian's late. It's my fault. i should have called him first thing in the morning. Here's the tip! Give him another half an hour since he'll be driving from Kajang. By the time he reached Chili's, we had no choice but finished the mouth-watering nachos and fajitas. Apart from all the delicious food fit for a carnivore, there's plenty of choices like the mashed potatoes and caesar salad for the health conscious vegetarians. Definitely a good place! See... these guys were so drowsy after the hi and might pie!

Now just in case you don't know. Justin will be going to US to further his study. Where about? A university nearby Pittsburg. What about? Classical compositions. How long? two years. or more! Til then, anticipate another musical monster to the likes of John Williams or John Cage. For those of you who can hold back your tears, bid him farewell at the KLIA airport tomorrow night.

Time waits for no man. Five years ago, we started our first gig with only Vincent, Julian and Justin at the mines exhibition centre. Finally Justin is leaving to pursue his dream to study oversea. So if you have a dream, what are you waiting for?

Good Luck, Justin! We'll miss you...

on the other hand, keep in touch with us via the msn messenger about your new venture? i'm all ears!

gig at Alexis

8 July. The CD was not ready! But ... the manufacturer was kind enough to give me fifty copies around eight-thirty for the preview in Alexis Ampang. There's a guy selling socks while we're having bak-kut-teh in Jalan Ipoh last night. It's frightening! Would you walk around Jalan Ipoh at two in the morning, asking people to buy your socks? What motivates him? You could say he's freakingly desperate, or out of his mind! Guess i better work harder, if i don't want to end up asking passers-by to buy my merchandise at two a.m.... Scary!

Delay!

Finally the saxophone tracks were done! 28 June. Guess the hardest thing was to put everyone together for recording. If you want someone that plays well, chances are that person would be so busy since everyone wants a piece of him or her. And we'd four super busy performers with different schedules! Spent three hours to mix six tracks. That's totally ridiculous. i'm one week behind schedule...

snap! snap! snap!

Day Two. 21 June.
The Saxman was not around.
Another two tracks recorded.
One ballad in trio!
All done within three hours.
There's one whole hour to kill!
Perfect time for me ...
snap pictures for the CD inserts.
Vince's wearing sweater! Studio's cold.