High…

Finally got my very much needed dose of jazz music yesterday… went with the JNB ppl… and 3 exchange students from Scotland, London and Canada. Very very very very cool. I haven’t been to a jazz concert for quite some time now and when I saw the poster hanging on one of the notice boards along the NTU North Spine, I jumped at the opportunity. It’s free btw!! Here’s a short write up on them found on the Embassy of Japan website:

Jazz Concert “UNIT ASIA 2008″ Southeast Asia Tour

UNIT ASIA embraces an innovative approach to creating music. With Isao Miyoshi as bandleader, each member contributes various original pieces that are then embellished by the group’s versatile musical sensibilities and ideas to create music bursting with energy and a sense of scale.

Three enterprising Japanese musicians active in various musical genres including jazz, fusion and pop, Isao Miyoshi (guitar), Hiroyuki Noritake (drums), and Shigeki Ippon (bass), who are joined by the preeminent Thai sax player Koh Mr. Saxman, and the talented young pianist Tay Cher Siang from Malaysia will come to Singapore! They formed a new group “UNIT ASIA” especially for this tour to Southeast Asian countries !

Date: 22 & 23 October 2008 (Wed & Thurs)
Time: 8:00pm (Doors open at 7:30pm)
Admission: Free (Registration required)
Venue: Singapore Conference Hall, (7 Shenton Way)
Organisers: Embassy of Japan in Singapore, The Japan Foundation

The musicians are a mix and match from Malaysia, Japan and Thailand.They just got together to form this band and no surprise they blended so well. They are all AMAZING!

Koh Mr. Saxman (saxophone) Thailand

Koh Mr. Saxman (Saxophone)

Koh (name at birth: Sekpol Unsamran) was born in 1973. His first instrument was the “Khlui” (Thai Flute), taught by his father, Rherm Unsamran. Koh had gone on to experimenting with many instruments during his childhood until he was deeply fascinated by the saxophone while studying in high school. With his natural talents, combining with guidance from his music instructors, Koh became a professional musician since he was only 15 years old, While studying at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education, Koh was invited to join contemporary Thai band, “Boy Thai” as a founding member. The success of “Boy Thai” led him to join many other leading bands, and gradually made him one of the most -sought after studio musicians, and also was invited to back up many big name artists. In 2002 Koh had the opportunity to release his first solo album “Mr. Saxman”.
The title of this album is derived from his versatility in a number of musical styles from jazz, pop, fusion, ska, latin, reggae, contemporary Thai and even country Thai music. This album also revealed another hidden talent of Koh as a singer. One of the tracks “Pavana”(My Prayer) had topped several music charts and retained its popularity until today. The success of “Mr. Saxman” established Koh as Thailand’s newest sensation on the saxophone, which earned him several invitations of perform overseas. He had performed before enthusiastic audiences in Japan, China, Italy, England, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. Koh also devoted his time to educate a new generation of saxophonists. His “Sax Society” is a music school and also a meeting point for jazz devotees to exchange everything about sax and jazz.

IPPON Shigeki (bass) Japan

Ippon Shigeki (Bass)

Shigeki Ippon was born in Yamanashi, 1971. He learned contrabass under Yoshio Nagashima in the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, In 2000, he launched his performance career as professional musician at the same time of graduating from that college. Since then, he has performed in many live performances, concerts of various artists such as Kiyohiko Semba (perc), Isao Miyoshi (gt), GONTITI, Hajime Mizoguchi (vc), Taro Hakase (vn), Ayaka Hirahara (vo) and has participated in numerous recording sessions for J-Pop artists, CM, TV, and soundtracks as well as has performed in several stages as musician, he has been extending his range of activity in various genres.
Both contrabass and electric bass with supple musical capacity from western classical music through jazz and pop and prominent rendering ability, Shigeki Ippon is a remarkable artist for the coming generation.

Tay Cher Siang (piano) Malaysia

Tay Cher Siang (Piano)

He started his piano lessons just like most people, learning classical music. He took up an interest in Jazz during his teenage years and began to pursue his musical journey as a jazz pianist.
He received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from West Virginia University and continued to get his Masters Degree in Jazz Pedagogy, studying under Dr. Miltenberger and Professor Scea.
His achievements include winning the WVU Young Artist Competition in 2004, recipient of the HERF Top-Off Award and the Valerie Canady Award. He was the Graduate Assistant for the Jazz Department in WVU where he got the chance to direct the college’s Jazz Big Band and various Small Group Ensembles.
Throughout the years, Mr. Tay performed regularly as a soloist, as well as with ensembles such as the WVU Big Band, the Mon River Big Band, the Jenny Menna Trio, the Washington Street Jazz Band, and the WVU Wind Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Tay was awarded Young Artist Competition Winner and performed with WVU Symphony Orchestra performing Gershwin Piano Concerto in F. He also gave concerts as classical and jazz pianist, with various groups. Other than performing, Mr. Tay composes, and arranges for big band and small groups.
Mr. Tay is currently teaching at UCSI and The Talent Makers in Kuala Lumpur. Since his return to Malaysia, he has been active in the Kuala Lumpur jazz scene. He has performed with Greg Lyons group, The Boplicity, Gruvavenue, Eye-2-Eye Jazz Mix, Rizal Soliano Band, Urban Tribes, Wave Alchemist, Louis Soliano Quartet and also backing up vocalists such as Khadijah Ibrahim, Junji Delfino , Ida Mariana, Gina Panizales, and Michelle Nunis. He has performed in the Malacca Straits Jazz Festival in Riau, June 2007, and Penang Jazz Festival in Penang, November 2007, and Mosaic Music Festival in Singapore, March 2008.

Hiroyuki Noritake (drums) Japan

Hiroyuki Noritake (Drums)

Hiroyuki Noritake was born in Osaka, 1964. He has started playing drums since his early childhood, and his boyhood was spent to master all sorts of drumming style. In 1985 while in the Kobe University, he participated in “THE SQUARE”, a well-known Japanese fusion group and he launched his professional career. While in that group, he has gained lots of experiences including the US tours and recording abroad as well as has participated in live performances and recording sessions of various artists. They have performed in the PLAYBOY JAZZ FESTIVAL” in the US as first Japanese group. In 1994, they performed in Korea as Japanese artist first authorized by Government. They also won the Japan Gold Disc Award (Jazz division) for ten times. Their activity was appreciated extensively in Japan and abroad.
In 1999, he released his solo album titled “DREAMS CAN GO”, he displayed his ability as composer. In 2000, he left from “THE SQUARE”. Since then, he has performed with versatile J-Pop artists such as Junichi Inagaki (vo), Misia (vo) and Paris match, never fitting into the definition of Jazz and fusion, his performance activity has been expanding in a variety of genre.
In 2002, he performed as a guest in the gala concert of the orchetre Lamoureux (concerts Lamoureux) conducted by Yutaka Sado in Paris, France, his rendering was appreciated highly, Afterwards, he has performed with several orchestra such as Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra and Siena Wind Orchestra, his supple and diversified drumming in versatile genre is placed great confidence from many quarters.
In 2004, he formed a twin drum unit “Synchronized DNA” with Akira Jimbo (drs). This unique unit draws lots of attention in the future development.

After the concert, we went for supper at Lau Pa Sat. I never really noticed how near everything was. All within walking distance. Singapore is really small!! Anyway, I had a great night. Wishing for more…..