Shagies: Only the strong survive

It’s not too long ago that we also said goodbye to Shagies at a venue at Chymes. Luckily for Shagies, and for us a goodbye means only that we won’t see them anymore at that location. Be it renovation or becoming victims of increasingly greedy landlords, Shagies seems to be able to rise from the ashes and reappear somewhere else in no time. 

And rightfully so. The band remains top class entertainment, and can get any crowd going. Initially the expectations of the regulars at the new location will need to be slightly adjusted but with Shagies ability to switch from the tackiest pop request to the coolest rock songs ever I am sure they will be equally entertaining to all and probably bring in quite a bit of the Shagies loyals, me included. 

I vaguely remember I "discovered" Shagies for my self when they were playing down the block, which means I have been a fan ever since I came to live in Singapore

I am not going to elaborate much more about this band I have used up quite a bit of superlatives in a previous post, but for those who do not know who is behind it all, I’ll introduce the band and share the shots I collected last night. 

Curtain will fall tonight Saturday 30 August 2014. I bet, that will be an even crazier event. Consider this a warm up

AJ (Saxophone/Flute/Conga/Vocals)

Wann (Bass)

Daffy (Drums/Vocals)

Olynn (Lead Vocals/Percussion)

T. Ross (Keyboards/Vocals) 

Hashim (Guitar/Vocals) 

Yanee (Lead Vocals/Guitar/Drums/Bass/Timbales)

 And for tonight "Let the mayhem begin"

Joseph Lepore: A bite out the Big Apple

I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating. The beauty of Singapore based musicians going abroad is that they built up a great network of contacts. Sometimes someone manages to convince a musician friend to make the trip all the way from the Big Apple to the Merlion’s den. Be it for reasons of simple friendship or love!

As in this case! Off to New York finishing her studies, one of Singapore’s long time residents and well known singers met Joseph Lepore, a 14 year resident of that wonderful place on the US east coast that I so well remember.

Joseph happened to be a Jazz musician himself. A bassist.  So as any friend, obviously when he decides to meet up with you in Singapore for the summer break, to relax and hang out, you go and find him work. You drag him over to the arts house on one Friday night and you make him play his own compositions for a, for Singapore standards, sizable audience of Jazz lovers.

And you are a good friend, you hook him up with a local dream team, two close buddies that can play as one under any circumstance and accompany your visitor as if the three of them had been playing together for a couple of years now.

Chok Kerong on Piano

 

Wen Ming Soh on drums

So at the end of the evening you will have to come to the conclusion that it was actually a shame that you did not get to spend the one on one time you should have spend on his visit, but then again can be very satisfied that the evening was musically a success. You did a great job finding your friend a good gig and set him up with exactly the right people to perform. 

And so Joseph Lepore performed for the Sing Jazz pop-up event that was opening the doors of the Arts House @ The Den. An as earlier mentioned sizable audience listened, captured and impressed, to the type of Jazz that we don’t often hear here in Singapore, because in most venues there is not that type of artistic space.  

I can only conclude with kudos to Sing-Jazz for setting up the pop-up events, to Kerong and Wen for the awesome colaboration, for Joseph to come to Singapore and for the friend to put it al together!