Sachiyo; After the super Moon a bright sparkle

My regular companion on our little music ventures, was busy with work last Monday night, the day after spectacular super moon, so rather than sitting at home staring at the TV by myself, I decided to take the bike to Blu Jaz. I had seen an invite for a performance on the 3^rd floor. Blu Jaz is also not a bad place to have a decent meal so I went straight over. Monday nights are rarely crowded so I perched myself at one of my favorite tables. One of those with bar stools. Oddly enough I, especially when by myself, I find the low seating too formal. Of course when you walk into Blu Jaz no one would expect any form a formality, I guess this is one of my quirks. People that know me would probably conclude it is not my strangest. After a satisfying meal, which, due to my strict no drinking and driving policy, I had with a hot tea, I went upstairs. The room was rather quiet, but as I said to the organizer at some point an 8 o’clock start is a little early in this town. Soon enough I recognized the faces of the back up band

Hiroaki Maekawa

Mei Sheum

Tama Goh

It appeared that I had met Sachiyo ones or twice before but I was not aware she was a singer.

The invitation mentioned Pop, Jazz, Bossa Nova and Ethnic music. With these genres you can go anywhere and suspect any thing. It turned out to be a nice song list of tunes sung in English Japanese Chinese and Malay, a very enjoyable blend of Asian cultures. The song choice, was mostly relaxing tunes. To me the nicest moment was when Sachiyo sang only with Mei on the piano. 

Mei especially seemed very much into the song accompanying Sachiyo’s voice perfectly  all along the way. Sachiyo’s voice is, to me surprisingly clear and extremely pleasant, in conversation, when introducing the next song, or while singing.

 I can say that last Monday was one of those evenings that I mostly enjoy when I go to the music events in Singapore. There may not seem to be too many shiny stars, but there are bright sparkles to discover.

 

 

Haze from Sumatra Heat from Miami

Aka Behind every Dr. is a strong woman! 

A personal invitation from Debbie Wilson, the amazingly supporting and promoting spouse of Johnny James made me aware of the “Miami night at the Sultan”.  Johnny, by some better known as Dr. J, was going to perform with his daughter and son in law to be. At least that’s what I heard Dr. J say on Saturday he hoped him to become. The earlier announcement said Dr. J would be backed up by two high-energy individuals from Florida. Dr J, I observed before, has quite a bit of energy himself, in spite of the fact that he claims to be slightly older than I am. The stage usually is too small for him and during his performances he can often be found wondering the venue and beyond, playing his sax on a wireless mic. 

.............................................................................................................

To me that announcement sounded quite promising for a Saturday night on the town, but before all that high-powered fun we decided to have a relaxing dinner at Bodega y Tapas. The haze had mostly subsided so it was a perfect evening for an outdoor seat overlooking orchard road. The place is nicely located a little bit set back from the road, still close enough to get some dynamics from the traffic flow, yet far enough not to have the noise. I think it is nice that Bodega y Tapas, is back to its original format including some familiar faces. For us a perfect place to have a couple of glasses of wine and some nice tapas dishes. 

 When we arrived at the sultan a couple of hours and a few glasses of wine later, there was a jazz band playing. We caught only the tale end of it so cannot say too much about it but it sounded to me they had been sharing some relaxing jazz tunes with the audience. 

This was also the first time I saw Sultan Jazz having two events at one evening including separate cover. It also meant that we were early. For a four-piece band to get off stage and a seven-piece band to get back on that takes some plugging and tuning.

Brittany Starr James vocals

Chadwick Watkins vocals

Johnny James aka Dr. J Vocals Saxophone

G-man Drums

Sebastian Ho Guitar

Wei Tan Keys

William Gathright Bass

After a good 45 minutes though the band was ready to rumble and rumbling they did. The place was pretty much packed, but every one seemed to be able to settle in and ready for it. Johnny started off with some relaxing covers and some tunes instrumental compositions by him self, just what the doctor ordered to warm up the crowd for more Miami. 

The high-energy comment in the flyer was no understatement. Be it  a duet with Brittany and Chadwick, 

Johnny and Chadwick,

 Brittany and Johnny 

or  be it all three together, the audience couldn’t help it but move. It took only a little cajoling from the singers, to get a significant number of people dancing, in spite of the very limited space between the seating, It was clear that these performance were more used to getting a crowd of 500 and more on their feet than the smaller number of people that seemed already more that The Sultan’s capacity. 

Due to a late start and some 2 or three encores, it had gotten a bit later than usual at the Sultan, never the less the majority of the people that were there in the beginning was still hanging out, recovering from that Miami heat, what a show…slam dunk!

 

  

Indigo at a glance of Dawn

 

I hesitated for quite some time before I decided to leave the house on Friday evening.  The haze had been so think during the day!!! We even had dinner inside at our local Orange Lantern. I think that never happened in the 6 years we have been living in this neighborhood. But, when we left Michelle, we found that the wind had dispersed the smoke a lot…already. So after we got home, I packed up my camera and left for Kampong Glam. I’d seen some postings on African music at the Artistry and thought I’d figure it out from there. The kampong is a bit of a Bermuda triangle for me to get lost in, with Artistry, Sultan and Blu Jaz always having something to offer. As a bonus my friend Kino is back working her miracles with liquor  at Barstories, so there is always a good reason to stroll via Haji Lane from one place to the other. As I passed Artistry by taxi it looked like it was quiet so I made Barstories my first stop.  Just to say hello really, didn’t feel much like a cocktail at that time.  After that brief visit I headed over to Jln Pinang to see what was going on there. The DJ had started spinning the promised African beats. I ordered a beer and soon enough found myself entertained by a small crowd, but especially by the video of a Fela Kuti concert that was showing in the background. It was not exactly a setup where you whip out your camera and start taking pictures so I refrained from that until the room got dark enough to just pick up some siluettes.

 Next stop was Blu Jaz. In the mean time I had figured out that they were having Indigo!

Munir Alsagoff Guitar

Kevin Guoh Sax and things

Dawn Ho Vocals

And surprise surprise

Mohamed Noor Drums

Indigo is a project of the band members, where they focus on Brazilian style music and the songs are sang in the original Portuguese language.  It was quiet at Blu Jaz. The haze had obviously scared many people off, but that created the opportunity to sit back and relax and listen to the music. In my opinion a better setting for Indigo’s layed back Latin style.

There is no need to say that Dawn’s strong features are a lust for the lens. For the occasion she had pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail, it almost looked a deliberate attempt to try to match the hairless skulls of the three other performers. 

As usual at Blu Jaz the later sets evolve into a jam session, and it appears to have become a standard for Leonardo, the new Chef of Piedra Negra to come over and unwind from a working day and start playing the congas. 

It’s amazing to see how much energy he still has after lifting pots and pans all day.  

 The other Leo, started a contest with Kevin on the instrument of wind. I still don’t know what it really is called, but I did notice this time that, from the side, it looks like a model of a high-speed train. 

Casey treated us with a couple lovely tunes as well, and I am still wondering how I missed taking a some shots of him. It must have been the Duvel in me. 

Archive

After bumping into some pleasurable individuals, musicians and friends included, at the end of another simply fun night, time had come to head home, a taxi was found fast this time, a positive side effect of the haze.   
If only the haze could be a bit like Indigo and not grey, it could be more tolerable (This one is for Bani)