21st Thursday Its Tokyo Blue / TMTYL

Guys, we ain’t having DLP on the 21st, got sumthin better.

TOKYO BLUE (Hiroaki Maekawa, Ywenna Carollin, Joshua Maran)

Brian Kwan (This guy really know alot about Music,he’s a pro)

says ”Coming from different musical backgrounds and music scenes, the music created by the trio is quite diverse and unique. ‘If I have to describe Tokyo Blue’s music, it’s quite rojak, you know,’ describes Maekawa with a laugh. ‘It’s definitely jazz-based but it’s not jazz jazz because we like so many different styles and genres of music. So we try to get good things from different kinds of music for our music.’ Tokyo Blue’s debut album, ‘The Naked Soul’ offers melodious fusion tunes, which might anger jazz purists. ‘I don’t think we’re just a one-genre-only band,’ states Maekawa firmly. ‘We’re not purists. We’re whatever. I think we’ll be a bridge between the indie music and jazz scene in Malaysia.’
With Carollin’s classical influences along with Maran’s rock background and Maekawa’s love for funk, rock and film music, Tokyo Blue’s music is pretty much the type that they love listening to and playing.”

Tokyo Blue was formed in 2008 by bassist Hiroaki Maekawa, pianist Ywenna Carollin and drummer Joshua Maran to compose and perform original instrumental music. Heavily influenced by international artists and composers including Hiromi Uehara, Avishai Cohen, Marcus Miller, Joe Hisaishi and more, Tokyo Blue's music has essences of Jazz, Fusion, Latin, Progressive Rock and even Film music. The trio uses sweet melodies with funky rhythm section and odd meters at times, constantly pushing their limits of jazz writing and improvisation while still keeping the songs melodious and story-full.

While still performing at jazz venues, festivals and private events, Tokyo Blue has recorded their debut album with all originals, which was just released in October 2009. The trio has a distinct sound featuring the adventurous bass playing, aggressive yet sensitive piano and rock solid drum beats. The album also includes variety of tunes that reflect the different sides of their personalities. With the tunes featuring pounding rock riff on piano,mellow fretless bass taking the lead, disco beat with montuno, melodious odd meter piano with double bass, funky latin beats with slap bass and more, Tokyo Blue demonstrates their capabilities to write creative and meaningful tunes, and even to entertain through instrumental music.

Their latest gigs including: Jakarta 'Jazz Goes to Campus' 2009, Penang Jazz festival 2009, and the upcoming Bangkok Jazz Festival ( thailand) 2010

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TOKYO-BLUE/177297236756?ref=ts

www.myspace.com/tokyobluetokyoblue

In simple english, these guys are great and changing the perception of the jazz blues scene by mixing it up, don’t miss it, catch them live @ Laundry.

NEXT UP, WE’VE GOT

APPARENTLY

Playing a fresh, new mix of jazz, R&B and soul-tinged music, let 'Apparently' entertain you with their catchy originals and creative covers of tunes you thought you knew!

Joining them are David Ling on keys, Yehuda on guitar, Laura Lim on bass, Omar on drums and Najwa on vocals.

TO END THE SHOW

Surrender yourselves to

A Modern Alternative Rock band… whatever that is…

Take Me To Your Leader is a modern alternative rock band formed in 2010.

Comprising of major talents from Malaysia’s very own scene, its members include:

Adil – Guitars

Bone – Vocals

Jack – Bass

Joshua – Drums

Put together by Adil and Bone during hungry times, TMTYL is a newly formed band looking to push musical limits and evoke movement and emotions from their audience. Collectively the members have performed for a wide range of audiences for various shows and events, and each have a loyal following. From Rock The World, NTV 7’s Rock Unite, various battle of the bands, gigs, shows outside of Malaysia. The guys from TMTYL have done a lot, and they’re out to do even more.

Individually, all the members have gained various accomplishments in their current and also former bands.

Adil – Best known for his eclectic playing style and stylish stage presence, and extremely random sense of humor, was part of a band called Afterburn together with Bone, and within a month of the band’s formation they had qualified as finalists for NTV7’s Rock Unite.

Bone – Don’t let his appearances fool you. He’s a rock vocalist bearing a voice with major punch and delivers head spinning performances, has fronted a number of explosive bands including Culture Karma, Afterburn, and currently Pitbull Inc. (who recently performed at Rock The World 9), just to name a few.

Jack – Seasoned veteran of the scene, Jack currently plays for Tempered Mental and Naked Breed. Although an extremely accomplished guitarist, with TMTYL, Jack is exploring the realms of bass this time.

Joshua – Drummer for local bands such as Seven and jazz outfit Tokyo Blue. Joshua is a highly sought after drummer by many bands and acts alike. And yes, his resume is impressive. And with him as the drummer for TMTYL, you can rest assure that his beats will just make everyone groove and rock harder than anything.

With a strong line-up and creative tunes in the works, Take Me To Your Leader is a band to watch out for and will leave every audience wanting more.

Earthlings, you have been warned….

Moonshine

The performers featured for the latest addition of Moonshine was nothing short of stellar. There were two special appearances by Broken Scar, led by Kevin who flew down from Melbourne, and Az Samad, who came back home from the States and currently on a short holiday. Singer songwriter darling Izzy Mohamed opened the show, serenading her hit song Pelangi to a full-house crowd (that included her parents and an entourage of friends).

I've completely lost count on the number of bands that Alda sessions for. But of course, you're that much in demand when you're that good!

If you squint (or zoom in) just a tad bit you'd see Rashdan Harith, Zara Ismail (Bunkface's manager), Rohnie Tan (violinist extraordinaire, who plays for Shelly Leong and sessions for scores of other artists), and Nick Davis (DJ/singer-songwriter/part of the duo Snow Symphony).

Albert Ng from Xfresh chatting with Izzy's parents.

Under the Broken Scar moniker, Kevin Teh, a charismatic singer-songwriter from Malaysia has made head turning music and delivered memorable performances pumped with high energy from the very first show as a solo act. Ask anyone in the Malaysian music scene and they will tell you that Kevin is like a kid on sugar high.

With the release of the his debut album “Midnight In St. Kilda” in 2006, there was no turning back. The first two singles from the album, “Scratch” and “Down” hit the number one spot on the Xfresh FM Independent Charts. “Venus In September” was also featured in a number of compilation albums as well as the popular Malaysian teen television series, “Kami”.

Over the years, Broken Scar has gone through various incarnations from performing solo to a duo and finally to a full blown band. Kevin played shows relentlessly and toured nationwide to reach his audiences armed with a set list of high octane anthems to laidback heart-melting ballads. The shows varied from intimate spaces such as No Black Tie and The Laundry to stadium sized concerts when Kevin and the band performed at Rock The World 7, Malaysia’s largest annual music festival. Kevin has also ventured overseas to Singapore and Australia. (taken from www.myspace.com/brokenscarmusic)

It's never a dull moment watching Broken Scar. Kevin is one heck of a performer! Amazing, amazing showmanship.

Alda on bass!

The band performed a few songs taken from their latest album The Shooting Starthat showcased a variety of different styles. They opened the show with Until I Fall, a heavy track with full of energy. Later on as the show went on they played Shooting Star, a catchy number that proved to be a hit for the crowd. At the end of the show Broken Scar closed their performance with a song called Down to a roaring applause from the crowd.

Towards the end of Broken Scar's set, Kevin shares a light moment with the crowd.

Az Samad is a full-time composer-performer who focuses on writing original acoustic guitar music. Coming from a classical guitar background laid the foundation for his unique sound that is a blend of jazz, latin, pop and new age. After completing his first degree in music, he studied with Eric Roche, an influential acoustic fingerstyle guitarist from the UK. Attending two of Eric's Residential Guitar Workshops in 2003 and 2004 proved valuable as it led Az into new directions in his music. Being nominated for the first Cameronian Arts Award for best solo performance encouraged him to further explore his solo guitar excursions. (taken from www.azsamad.com)

One of 17 Malaysia's most outstanding individuals (Faces Magazine), Berkeley,California-based acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Az Samad is a full-time musician who focuses on writing original instrumental guitar music. His songs are a blend of world music, jazz, Latin, pop and new age influences. In 2003 and 2004, he studied with the late British acoustic guitar legend Eric Roche in two Residential Guitar Workshops in the UK. Deeply influenced by Eric's music, Az gradually incorporated more percussive and non-conventional guitar techniques in his playing. 

After releasing his debut album "Acoustic Gestures" in Fall 2004 to critical acclaim in Malaysia, he moved to Boston, MA to study under scholarship at Berklee College Of Music. He graduated with a double major in Jazz Composition and Performance (guitar). In 2007, Az taught at Berklee for the Summer Guitar Sessions. Az has performed in venues in Malaysia, Singapore, England and the United States as a soloist and duets with his father, Malaysian National Laurete A. Samad Said as well as a member of Malaysian singer-songwriter Shelley Leong's band. He is currently writing material for his second album slated for release in Summer 2008. (taken from amp.channelv.com/azsamad)

This acoustic freestyle fingerstylist plays with so much (amusing) facial expression! It was extremely entertaining watching not only his superb guitar skills but also the passion he carried with his performance.

Az Samad played a few original numbers and later smoothly progressed into playing an acoustic instrumental cover of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was absolutely phenomenal. He somehow managed to take such an overplayed song and play it with originality and emotions. All with just a guitar. Amazing stuff!

Reza Salleh, the organizer of Moonshine, comes on stage to introduce the final act of the night, M.

M's performance was the perfect ending to an almost perfect music showcase. It was a very chilled out, mellow performance with smooth audiophile-like vocals backed with minimalist electronica grooves.