that I heard about this guitarist playing with his trio at Sultan Jazz club. Something made me curious about them, I am not sure if it was just the novelty, or the “if they are from abroad, they must be good!??”. It also was going to be Hendrix Nite at Blu Jaz though and in my mind, I had committed to that. So I found myself split between a band featuring the guitar works of a Blues and Rock legend and a guitarist who is an up and coming star in the New York Jazz scene. Split between Bali Lane on the south side of Kampong Glam and Jalan Sultan on the north. Between Blu Jaz and the Sultan Jazz club. But more importantly I was split between, what could become a night of unadulterated fun until my head was in a purple haze and an evening of serious listening among champagne drinkers and cigar smokers (On the balcony only). I could not choose.
I decided to do both and go for the first set listening to Yotam and after that go see Bani.
When I arrived at Blu Jaz I arrived right in the thick of it
.“All along the watch tower” was on with Bani Rahman on bass and vocals backed
up by:
Wei Tan Keys
No one would deny that Hendrix is a legend, that has not
seen an equal yet, so I was actually wondering who would be doing what. It
appeared that they had Hendrix’s versatility covered between Bani, Regi and Wei.
Bani as mentioned covered voice,
Regi guitar for the rocky bluesy solos and 
Wei would
take up the space in Hendrix’ solo
repertoire where things get a little bit more psychedelical.
The only thing
missing was the dress code, and choreography like playing the guitar from the
back. From a visual perspective, Bani being a lefty was the only thing the band
had in common.
We all know Bani as an accomplished bassist with a wide
interest in music. On Saturday he also did a great job living himself into the
roll of Jimmy the vocalist. So much so that even in the announcements, his
voice and drawl were quite similar to that of the guitar virtuoso. I was
briefly reminded of Whoopy Goldberg in Ghost how her voice changed when a ghost
occupied her body. Maybe I should have walked up to Bani and asked “Johnny, are
you in there?”.
As for the other band members Regi did his thing on the guitar admirably.
How do you compete with a man who wore the guitar like a necklace, and
according to history even took it to the toilet. The natural looseness with
which Hendrix played cannot easily be imitated.
I’ve not ever seen Wei having
so much fun behind the keyboards. I normally see him play Jazz and he takes that very
seriously.
Aaron James Lee, I like the ring of that three part name, went even
a step beyond that. I have seen him slip in the occasional smile but Saturday
night he was like a pony let loose, jumping off his seat pounding the skin like
a true rocker.
The audience picked up all that energy so easily. From where I
was sitting, I could see they enjoyed themselves thoroughly. I enjoyed myself
thoroughly. As mentioned many of them were musicians and a jam, with an
impressive line up was unavoidable.
See Weng Choy
Abdul Shukor Jalil
Aya Sekine
Corey Manders
Casey
Richard Jackson
I had no regrets listening to the first set of Yotam, but
would not have wanted to miss the rest of the Hendrix night for the world!
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