the biggest jazz festival in Asia took place again in jakarta from 2nd to 4th March 2007. needless to say, it was a superb experience again being able to watch live jazz luminaries such as sergio mendes, sadao watanabe, harvey mason, john scofield and many more ..

they say that images speak for themselves. well, take a look at some that yours truly managed to capture ..

cheers. keep jazz alive !!



all photos by hakimamir / copyrighted 2007

Alex Wong aka Singkletrackmind (STM) is a Kuching-born rocker and [hey.] is his sophomore effort after the brilliant debut CD, No Reason.

Yours truly was privileged enough to attend the exclusive showcase cum album launch at the chic Senso Club in Kuching Hilton. It was a great night of alternative rock music courtesy of STM and during the show, the crowd were treated to his renditions of songs such as as his version of Peterpan's Mungkin Nanti entitled 'One Day'. There were also ‘Still The Same’ and ‘Light Fades’ – songs featured in the psychic thriller movie The 3rd Doorway, starring Gary Dourdan from the CSI Vegas television series.

This part I lifted from the official press release. Read on la ...

In 2004, Alex’s debut album “No Reason” garnered him nominations for Best New Local English Artist, Best Engineered Album and Best Video at the Anugerah Industri Malaysia Awards (AIM). Much time, effort and creativity have gone into [hey.] and it certainly shows in the album. It won’t be surprising then if STM’s latest work of art wins some awards and manages to break into the international market! Something to look out for!

However, all is not lost to those fans who were not able to catch the concert at Senso, Hilton in Kuching. The good news is that in conjunction with the album launch, STM will also be performing at the Cacoon Bar (Kota Kinabalu) on March 9th and Hard Rock Café (Kuala Lumpur) on March 16th 2007. More performances are in the pipeline for Kuala Lumpur and West Malaysia but are yet to be confirmed. So stay tuned!

Websites:
www.SingleTrackMind.tv
www.myspace.com/singletrackmind

A nice change from my normal routine. A Sunday that was spent with the folks & kids of the Orang Asli Settlement of Dong Lai Village, off Hulu Langat. This village is actually less than an hour from KLCC ..

The kids were just wonderful and everywhere, they are faces of child-innocences and plain simple happy children, running around, playing their basic 'kampung' games, eating 'rambutan' fruits, chasing the dogs, cats & chickens etc ...

To the folks & children of Dong Lai Village, Salam Maal Hijrah and may the shiftings (or Hijrah) for them towards better & improved lives will continue on ...

15th Oct 2006 at Euro Fun Park site (next to OU Mall)

snapped with my new Shiro DVM 200, recently purchased for S'pore $ 149 at the PC Fair there.

Fun Fairs are great idea for communities, don't you think so?

I havent hanged out with the AF (Akademi Fantasia) kids for quite a while now, so it's a pleasant nite out in Shah Alam tonite, meeting some of them at the Buka Puasa (Breaking Fast) do to draw close the Marhaban Astro campaign ...

Some pics here from the event. Kudos to Wonder Women, Molina Musa & Zac Malek of Astro's Marketing Dept for successfully organized yet another round of Marhaban campaign in this holy month of Ramadhan..

Cheers

hakimamir

MCA Hall in Wisma MCA was the venue for this unique Roland Showcase featuring the legendary drummer Omar Hakim & his compadre, synth wizard Scott Tibbs. The occassion was to introduce the new V Drums, TD-20K-BK among others.

To those uninitiated, this is the guy who is regarded as one of the world's best and the list of people that he has played with read out like a list of the Top Who's Who in the music biz. These are but few; Weather Report, Madonna, Sting, Victor Bailey, Najee, Celine Dion, Jewel, George Benson, Joe Sample, David Bowie, John Scofield, Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, Mick Jagger, Anita Baker and the late, great Prince Of Jazz, my idol, Miles Davis. On Miles, I am making it my personal mission to meet in person musicians who have played for him. Besides Omar, I've also hv met Steve Thornton ...

Remember Bowie's big hit 'Let's Dance' ... " put on yr red shoes and dance the blues ....let's dance ! "? Well, the man behind all those memorable drum beats is none other than Omar Hakim.

A stellar line-up at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Resort at hand, non-stop entertainment on stage from 6pm till about 2am, those who were kind enough to be present were treated to a superb showcase from local & Indonesian performers.

As for me, the highlight has got to be my fav Indon band (from Bali, that is..), Saharadja, led by the enigmatic husband & wife team of Rio Sidik & Sally Jo. World Music at its best, this is the band that you want to pay attention to. That nite, they belted just 3 songs, one of which was an amazing version of John Lennon's 'Imagine'. If you have a chance, do check them out performing The Police/Sting's 'Roxanne' .. you'll be blown, so far away.

To the people of Jogja, may you persevere and let the spirit of humanity and the will to survive, rises above all else !

Al Sadd FC (Qatar) vs PKNS FC Selection (Malaysia)
14th August @ 8.45pm
MPPJ Stadium

Final score : Al Sadd won 1-0 (goal scored by Carlos Tenorio in the 70th minute)

Ticket at RM 10 each is dirt cheap. All proceeds to the Fund to assist Lebanon victims in the Middle East tragedy at the moment. Guest of Honour was the legendary Ustaz Hassan Azhari who led everyone in reciting a special 'doa' prayer for the Lebanese victims in the Middle East. Nice touch by the organizer

Not sure what went wrong with the crowd not showing up. A rough count showed about less than 100 people turned up Lack of publicities & awareness about the match? Public apathy ? (hmmm but we're the number 1 caring society kan?) or plain lack of interest?

Fact : Carlos Tenorio, the Ecuadorian striker playing for Al Sadd FC is the 1st ever World Cup 2006 star to play on our soil, since that hectic June/July tournament in Germany.

Date : 30th July 2006
Venue : Planet Hollywood, KL Plaza Building, Kuala Lumpur
Event : Sheila Majid Sunday Nite Showcase

Gosh! has it been 20 years?? My my, it has. More actually, as I can still remember way back in 1985 (when I was in Form Four!) when Malaysia first heard on radio, jazzy-pop numbers by this petite young singer that goes by the name Sheila Majid. Hey, who can forget tunes such as ‘Dia’, ‘Pengemis Muda’ , ‘Gerimis Semalam’ and many more!! The 20 years plus journey has taken people like me thru memorable stops such as ‘ground-breaking ‘Emosi’, ‘Warna’, ‘Hitam Putih Kehidupan’ the Ikhlas Tapi Jauh unit, ‘Gemilang’, ‘Warna Tours’, ‘Konsert Legenda in Stadium Negara 1991’, Japanese number ‘Sparkle’ (the only non-Malay song in the legendary Konsert Legenda 1991), P.Ramlee’s Legenda, Ratu, Jentayu with Nora & Johan Nawawi, ‘Bersatu Hati’ with the Aziz sisters of Liza & Azlina, ‘Ku Mohon’, duet with Harvey Malaiholo ‘Begitulah Cinta’, duel with the boys of Poetic Ammo in the seldom-heard but superb tune ‘Tiada Tandingan, ‘Inikah Cinta’ the ‘15’ greatest hits album, yet another collaboration with the Indonesian musicians in ‘Cinta Kita’ … the list seems endless lah !

Last nite ‘s showcase was a packed-house standing room only affair and Sheila was in her element (as usual) backed by superb musos led by Acis and comprising pros such as Steve Thornton, Aji, Zailan Razak, Fendi & Fiad.

Close to 40 numbers were belted by Sheila Majid. You’re a bona-fide fan if you can sing along to about 30 of that 40 songs (err..as I found out myself!). And she even gave us that song taken from the movie ‘Ali Setan’ (where she made her one & only acting appearance)

Sheila Majid. A ‘colourful’ journey indeed. Thank you for the music.

a wedding in jakarta . the union of ade meylie & dodit waluyo jati. sealed july 2nd 2006. venue of choice at kemang garden hotel

meylie & dodit, congrats!!!