Sunday, May 18, 2008
Life-changing mind-blowing experience
Not an understatement. I just don't know what to say. All I can say is "Wow."
When Lowell invited me to play "Skybird" with him 2 weeks ago, I was like, "I can't ruin your song. That's your most famous song." Nevertheless, Lowell put his utmost trust in me. He didn't ask me any questions. He didn't tell me how to play it. And when I went to the rehearsals last Sunday, he kindly adjusted to my needs. He even accomodated my request to lower the key from E minor to D minor because I told him it would sound better on the harmonica. We practiced the song in the little room. Just me and Lowell. That was unreal.
Unreal. Because this is a guy I used to idolized when I was a kid. I grew up listening to his songs, admiring his talent, and always looking forward to his next concert. After his 1990 concert (I was 13 at the time), I was looking forward to his next one. We all waited for 18 years. 18 years is a good benchmark to measure one's growth. And it turned out that it was well worth the wait.
When Cat Stevens made his comeback album "Another Cup" a couple years ago, I foresaw the comeback of Lowell. But I never thought I would be standing next to him on the stage of HK Coliseum playing a duo number, "Skybird" no less. The feeling was larger than life. To top that off, I played another number "Knocking on Heaven's Door" on the stage with Joey Tang and So Tak Wah, two of my childhood guitar heroes. How much more can a guy like myself ask for?
The band was amazing. The music was amazing. The audience's reaction was spectacular. They were true music lovers. They were there for the music, and something more.
It was all above love. Lowell himself embraces the phenomenon completely. He's full of love and compassion, and his heart is pure. After spending several days with him talking, joking and rehearsing, I can safely say that he's a truly wonderful person. He believes in music and love. He is still hopeful about humanity.
So at this juncture, I'm still breathless and am still in disbelief. There is much more I want to say (I mean, how incredible is that to have extensive backstage conversations with the likes of Jonathan Lee, George Lam, and Paula Tsui?)...
More photos will be posted, and more scattered thoughts will be posted....in bits and pieces....
Labels: Cat Stevens, HK music industry, live music, Lowell Lo
|
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Re-evaluating my musical direction....
A lot has been happening to me musically lately. On one hand, I'm blessed so many people recognize my ability to produce good music. On the other, the over-exposure has overshadowed some of what I'm capable to do.
So I've decided to take a 3-month hiatus from performing live music under my name (i.e. "Henry Chung & ....") except my regular monthly gig at the Wanch, or any multi-band show and/or festival organized by Mark 1, Underground or Grappa's, etc. Come to think of it, it's really not a hiatus at all, but I want some quality time off for me to focus on my work (I do have a day job and a pretty important one) and re-evaluate my musical direction. In other words, I need some down time, mentally.
When I make my comeback in September, I'd like to hit hard with the reunion of the original members of the HK Blues Allstars, another mind-blowing show with the New Blues Allstars, and a memorable celebrity show at Kubrick Cafe.
When I come back, I want to be like Buddy Guy or Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.
In the meantime, I accept all session work, live music work as a sideman, freelance lyricist work, and other freelance work.
I found the following on a blog from Shanghai re: "广深公路":
"貌似最近真的有很多值得取标题的事情，但是。。。还是没有思量的把席位给了明哥。。。
晚上跑步的时候把广深公路循环了数遍，还是适应不起，如果不是最后点睛的那段口琴估计印象还要更不好一点点。但是期待仍在，如果他执意作的是一张公路风味的民谣唱片，我只能照单全收。"
P.S. Went home and found more reviews about "广深公路":
"口琴配的太完美了。" - m夜's blog
"没有“大货车”，我会觉得幸福很多~特别是口琴一吹起来的时候，感觉好好~曲子简简单单，挺好听的。" - Michelle's blog
|
So I've decided to take a 3-month hiatus from performing live music under my name (i.e. "Henry Chung & ....") except my regular monthly gig at the Wanch, or any multi-band show and/or festival organized by Mark 1, Underground or Grappa's, etc. Come to think of it, it's really not a hiatus at all, but I want some quality time off for me to focus on my work (I do have a day job and a pretty important one) and re-evaluate my musical direction. In other words, I need some down time, mentally.
When I make my comeback in September, I'd like to hit hard with the reunion of the original members of the HK Blues Allstars, another mind-blowing show with the New Blues Allstars, and a memorable celebrity show at Kubrick Cafe.
When I come back, I want to be like Buddy Guy or Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.
In the meantime, I accept all session work, live music work as a sideman, freelance lyricist work, and other freelance work.
I found the following on a blog from Shanghai re: "广深公路":
"貌似最近真的有很多值得取标题的事情，但是。。。还是没有思量的把席位给了明哥。。。
晚上跑步的时候把广深公路循环了数遍，还是适应不起，如果不是最后点睛的那段口琴估计印象还要更不好一点点。但是期待仍在，如果他执意作的是一张公路风味的民谣唱片，我只能照单全收。"
P.S. Went home and found more reviews about "广深公路":
"口琴配的太完美了。" - m夜's blog
"没有“大货车”，我会觉得幸福很多~特别是口琴一吹起来的时候，感觉好好~曲子简简单单，挺好听的。" - Michelle's blog
Labels: Anthony Wong, HK music industry, live music, music, PMPS
|
Friday, September 07, 2007
Let me write about music
Someone once told me that I write best about music. Let me do that.
I don't know why I haven't written about music lately. Maybe I'm not in the mood. In fact, I haven't really *listened* to any music closely lately, be it CD or live performances. I've been playing, but I haven't been actively listening. My life has been pre-occupied with some other stuff, such as work! Work?! Pretty amazing, innit?
Last night, I finally got to listen to an impressive concert by the Roy Hargrove Quintet at City Hall. It was a semi-fantastic show. I saw Roy four years ago touring with Herbie Hancock and the late Michael Brecker. Roy was fantastic back then. Standing alongside the two giants, Roy did not show any stage fright. Instead, he played his ass off in the rather limited number of solos that he had. He gave his best and stole the show but also gave credence to the two stars.
Now he was in HK and he led his own rather unknown band. He did his thing again. This time, he gave us a variety of stuff he'd like to do. The encore was a Lee Morgan-esque soul jazz number, evidently paying tribute to the underrated master, showing the audience that he was more in tune with Morgan than with the more revered Miles Davis, and for good reasons. The band swung as it needed to be, and it was solid overall.
This makes me digress to the state of jazz in HK. I'm no expert or connoisseur to comment on the jazz scene here as I'm relatively new to it, but I made some observations.
There are a number of very talented musicians dominating the jazz scene in HK, and they should be applauded for their effort. The scene in HK is a close-knit one, kind of like a family, where musicians help each other out. They even go to junk trips together from time to time.
Musically, there are two major things lacking in HK: swing and ballads. That is not to say, the HK jazzicians can't do them; they just don't or won't. Some may even think those genres are below them. This cannot be further from the truth.
I remember talking to Jason Cheng and Tom Nunan at Grappa's one afternoon and we came up with the conclusion that jazz isn't jazz if ain't got that swing. I completely agree. In fact, I've been to concerts where they bored me to death with what I call the "high intellect" or "jazz goes to college" stuff. The swing thing was lackluster.
Not to elevate myself, some of the blues concerts I did with Paul Candelaria and Joel Haggard swung much harder than most of the jazz shows I've seen in HK combined. The swingingest band was surprisingly at my friend Ernest's wedding featuring Yoyung, Justin Siu and Hassan. They swung their ass off that night and we got some of the best music one could possibly get at weddings or otherwise. Jennifer's band at Cafe Deco swings pretty hard too except the volume is so soft because they want their clientele to eat and talk.
Also, I have not heard a decent "ballad" by any jazz musician in HK. They either do bebop licks or sing "Spain" out of tune again and again or join the yell-fest at some jam session trying to out-scream each other or see who can imitate Whitney Houston the best. What we fail to realize is that sometimes it's a just a good feeling when we sit down, compose ourselves, and sing or play the ballad like it is.
I remember going to a Joe Lovano concert at Regatta Bar in Boston. As Joe played "Someone To Watch Over Me" melodically, I thought to myself, "That's a ballad." HK jazz musicians should think hard about that.
Other than that, the HK jazz scene is really not bad, compared to the rest of Asia. At least we have some world-class guitarists and pianists in town. However, we need more upright bass players and drummers though. And we need more upright bassists for blues gigs, too. Like I said before, the blues is supposed to be with an upright bass (See Willie Dixon).
|
I don't know why I haven't written about music lately. Maybe I'm not in the mood. In fact, I haven't really *listened* to any music closely lately, be it CD or live performances. I've been playing, but I haven't been actively listening. My life has been pre-occupied with some other stuff, such as work! Work?! Pretty amazing, innit?
Last night, I finally got to listen to an impressive concert by the Roy Hargrove Quintet at City Hall. It was a semi-fantastic show. I saw Roy four years ago touring with Herbie Hancock and the late Michael Brecker. Roy was fantastic back then. Standing alongside the two giants, Roy did not show any stage fright. Instead, he played his ass off in the rather limited number of solos that he had. He gave his best and stole the show but also gave credence to the two stars.
Now he was in HK and he led his own rather unknown band. He did his thing again. This time, he gave us a variety of stuff he'd like to do. The encore was a Lee Morgan-esque soul jazz number, evidently paying tribute to the underrated master, showing the audience that he was more in tune with Morgan than with the more revered Miles Davis, and for good reasons. The band swung as it needed to be, and it was solid overall.
This makes me digress to the state of jazz in HK. I'm no expert or connoisseur to comment on the jazz scene here as I'm relatively new to it, but I made some observations.
There are a number of very talented musicians dominating the jazz scene in HK, and they should be applauded for their effort. The scene in HK is a close-knit one, kind of like a family, where musicians help each other out. They even go to junk trips together from time to time.
Musically, there are two major things lacking in HK: swing and ballads. That is not to say, the HK jazzicians can't do them; they just don't or won't. Some may even think those genres are below them. This cannot be further from the truth.
I remember talking to Jason Cheng and Tom Nunan at Grappa's one afternoon and we came up with the conclusion that jazz isn't jazz if ain't got that swing. I completely agree. In fact, I've been to concerts where they bored me to death with what I call the "high intellect" or "jazz goes to college" stuff. The swing thing was lackluster.
Not to elevate myself, some of the blues concerts I did with Paul Candelaria and Joel Haggard swung much harder than most of the jazz shows I've seen in HK combined. The swingingest band was surprisingly at my friend Ernest's wedding featuring Yoyung, Justin Siu and Hassan. They swung their ass off that night and we got some of the best music one could possibly get at weddings or otherwise. Jennifer's band at Cafe Deco swings pretty hard too except the volume is so soft because they want their clientele to eat and talk.
Also, I have not heard a decent "ballad" by any jazz musician in HK. They either do bebop licks or sing "Spain" out of tune again and again or join the yell-fest at some jam session trying to out-scream each other or see who can imitate Whitney Houston the best. What we fail to realize is that sometimes it's a just a good feeling when we sit down, compose ourselves, and sing or play the ballad like it is.
I remember going to a Joe Lovano concert at Regatta Bar in Boston. As Joe played "Someone To Watch Over Me" melodically, I thought to myself, "That's a ballad." HK jazz musicians should think hard about that.
Other than that, the HK jazz scene is really not bad, compared to the rest of Asia. At least we have some world-class guitarists and pianists in town. However, we need more upright bass players and drummers though. And we need more upright bassists for blues gigs, too. Like I said before, the blues is supposed to be with an upright bass (See Willie Dixon).
Labels: jazz in Hong Kong, live music, music
|
Friday, April 27, 2007
Should've changed that stupid lock!
What ingenious lyrics from the disco anthem, "I Will Survive." So many little things in life add up to quite a significant amount.
Went to see Harlem Yu's concert at the Coliseum. Kinda hard to believe this is his first concert at the Coliseum after 20 years in the music business. His voice always catches my attention, and he's a terrific live performer. Great vocal skills yet charismatic entertainer. I have never seen a crowd so appreciative of an artist at the Coliseum before (given HK people's cold reception of musicians), but this crowd demanded 2 encores (the second one was unexpected, even by Harlem himself, for his ran out of songs), and I've seen quite a lot of shows...that's saying a lot about Harlem's ability to woo the audience. I must say this was one of the best shows I've seen lately, on par with Chucho Valdes' thunderous performance at the Cultural Center.
Seeing live shows is indeed an often emotional experience for me. Witnessing certain artists take the stage, own the stage, and living their dreams is more than a spectator sport; you're located in the zone of excitment. Simultaneously, it's a learning experience for me. I always like seeing how artists own the stage. The most exciting performer I've seen is Dr. Lonnie Smith. The way he builds up his solos is amazing, and he goes through certain stages:
1) First stage: warm-up (taking it slow and bit by bit, feeling how the song should proceed, and feeling how the audience wants it [because if the audience isn't receptive, then it's a waste of time altogether])
2) Second stage: build-up (he pushes his emotions a little forward, takes his audience into a deeper emotional level, connects spiritually and intellectually with them, and also shows off his chops a little bit)
3) Third stage: pushing the limit (now his audience is totally comfortable with where he's taking them, then he pushes their limits of acceptance and also challenges them ["basically how far can you go"], and he is at a groovy mode.
4) Fourth stage: explosion (this is the most exciting stage - this is why people buy tickets to see him. This is where he lets all his emotions out. This is not about chops anymore. It's the feeling, the soul, the gut, all flying out. You groove with him b/c you agree with him. Albeit the explosion, Dr. keeps his composure throughout the process.)
5) Fifth stage: cool-down (this is where the emotions and fire die down and he takes you back to normalcy. But it's less abrupt than it is gradual. You just let him cool you down. And after that, you feel good.)
So these days, I have a lot of Dr. Smith's soul in me (and I say that in the humblest way), including my recent show at Grappa's Cellar. I must say in terms of playing the chops and owning the stage, that WAS by far my best performance in HK. I just let it all out this time. And the audience could clearly connect with me. I could see it. I could feel it. It's the best feeling in the world.
Check out Ram's weblog for more details about the night.
It's sad to know my PCLL year in going to end soon. I must say this has been a delightful, joyful (though extremely difficult) year for me. I must say I'm blessed to have such a good group of friends in the program. I haven't met one person I don't like (Ok, maybe one). But overall, this support unit is priceless. I can't get it from anywhere else. I really enjoy the small talks at cafes and fast food places in between classes or after the SGs. Sometimes we talk gibberish, other times we talk about careers, but in any case, the talks have been quite interesting. I'm going to miss this wonderful year when I enter the real world again (for the second time). I treasure all this time from here to finish. Most of all, let's pray that we'll all pass the exam.
I hope I use the five point method by Dr. Smith in other areas of my life. I aim to finish everything in an art form, be it going to the market to buy fish or writing a groundbreaking thesis on neurons. Life is about showing some style.
Well I hope you like mine.
|
Went to see Harlem Yu's concert at the Coliseum. Kinda hard to believe this is his first concert at the Coliseum after 20 years in the music business. His voice always catches my attention, and he's a terrific live performer. Great vocal skills yet charismatic entertainer. I have never seen a crowd so appreciative of an artist at the Coliseum before (given HK people's cold reception of musicians), but this crowd demanded 2 encores (the second one was unexpected, even by Harlem himself, for his ran out of songs), and I've seen quite a lot of shows...that's saying a lot about Harlem's ability to woo the audience. I must say this was one of the best shows I've seen lately, on par with Chucho Valdes' thunderous performance at the Cultural Center.
Seeing live shows is indeed an often emotional experience for me. Witnessing certain artists take the stage, own the stage, and living their dreams is more than a spectator sport; you're located in the zone of excitment. Simultaneously, it's a learning experience for me. I always like seeing how artists own the stage. The most exciting performer I've seen is Dr. Lonnie Smith. The way he builds up his solos is amazing, and he goes through certain stages:
1) First stage: warm-up (taking it slow and bit by bit, feeling how the song should proceed, and feeling how the audience wants it [because if the audience isn't receptive, then it's a waste of time altogether])
2) Second stage: build-up (he pushes his emotions a little forward, takes his audience into a deeper emotional level, connects spiritually and intellectually with them, and also shows off his chops a little bit)
3) Third stage: pushing the limit (now his audience is totally comfortable with where he's taking them, then he pushes their limits of acceptance and also challenges them ["basically how far can you go"], and he is at a groovy mode.
4) Fourth stage: explosion (this is the most exciting stage - this is why people buy tickets to see him. This is where he lets all his emotions out. This is not about chops anymore. It's the feeling, the soul, the gut, all flying out. You groove with him b/c you agree with him. Albeit the explosion, Dr. keeps his composure throughout the process.)
5) Fifth stage: cool-down (this is where the emotions and fire die down and he takes you back to normalcy. But it's less abrupt than it is gradual. You just let him cool you down. And after that, you feel good.)
So these days, I have a lot of Dr. Smith's soul in me (and I say that in the humblest way), including my recent show at Grappa's Cellar. I must say in terms of playing the chops and owning the stage, that WAS by far my best performance in HK. I just let it all out this time. And the audience could clearly connect with me. I could see it. I could feel it. It's the best feeling in the world.
Check out Ram's weblog for more details about the night.
It's sad to know my PCLL year in going to end soon. I must say this has been a delightful, joyful (though extremely difficult) year for me. I must say I'm blessed to have such a good group of friends in the program. I haven't met one person I don't like (Ok, maybe one). But overall, this support unit is priceless. I can't get it from anywhere else. I really enjoy the small talks at cafes and fast food places in between classes or after the SGs. Sometimes we talk gibberish, other times we talk about careers, but in any case, the talks have been quite interesting. I'm going to miss this wonderful year when I enter the real world again (for the second time). I treasure all this time from here to finish. Most of all, let's pray that we'll all pass the exam.
I hope I use the five point method by Dr. Smith in other areas of my life. I aim to finish everything in an art form, be it going to the market to buy fish or writing a groundbreaking thesis on neurons. Life is about showing some style.
Well I hope you like mine.
Labels: Dr. Lonnie Smith, Grappa's, gypsy jazz, Harlem Yu, legitimate soul, live music, PCLL
|
