蘇蓮諾七重唱 [the solianos in its full glory]

irene soliano, salvador guerzo, me and isabella soliano at the supper table

NBT's 12th anniversary and solianos' reunion

incredible events are happening one after another!

after the superb run of the bossa princess production, we would have thought we could take a breather but wait, the solianos are coming back to the studio with the full cast, the whole 7 of them on vocals making it - hold your breath - a 7-part harmony! where in malaysia (or in the region) can you find a 7-part harmony group, a family no less?

the addition of big sister isabella and big brother coni, who are based in langkawi datai, proves to be a revelation! the full-strength solianos sound so much more robust, impactful, harmonious and melodious. we were so glad to have made the decision to include bella and coni in the team. this is the the full cast, the whole family making great music together.

coni, besides doing a mean trumpet also lends his voice to the harmony. his trumpet, coupled with salvodor's saxophone, are so superb that had us exclaiming in joy! the duo blowers added so much texture, colors and kicks to songs like "gadis idamanku" and "tanah pusaka".

bella also has a soulful voice that renders malay songs well. she complements irene soliano very well as both of them have similar voicing. at the same time, bella also normalizes some of tricia's individualistic vocal character, making the vocal harmony so much tighter and layered.

both coni and bella are precious additions to the 5 soliano members we initially had. we could also see that salvador is visibly pleased with the improvement the big brother and big sister bring to the team. for once, the perfectionist salvodar said "i am happy now"!

on the same night, we also videotaped the interview, conducted by our good friend and big supporter, laurence, to be included in the "making of" dvd.

laurence didn't even prepare a script, he just fired straight. he said he wanted us to be unprepared, casual and relaxed! the interview was mostly about how the family members cherish their great father, alfonso soliano, the jazz legend in malaysia, and how they see this "pusaka" album as a legacy and imprint to their father's great work.

laurence interviewing the solianos for the "making of" video

while the brasilleiro album excels in being an easy-listening album with superb musicianship and arrangement, the solianos "pusaka" would be best remembered as an historical "landmark" album that pays tribute to a legend. the "pusaka" album embodies the spirits and supreme musicality of the soliano family, who has been somewhat neglected by the mainstream music watchers and players for the past decades. mind you, the solianos is the only harmony group that malaysia has ever had.

both albums are first of its kind in malaysia. it is something that major labels would never do or bat an eyelid to. pop pop music is so proud to be the pioneer and mover in bringing such top musicians to the limelight and, dare we say, international arena.

really, maestros like tay cher siang, salvador guerzo, solianos, roger wang deserve more mainstream recognition.

we feel a deep sense of responsibility 【使命感】 to give these great musicians the due respect and recognition.

there is a great sense of pride and satisfaction in us.

投選我喜愛的芭莎公主封面 [vote for your preferred brasileiro album cover]

[cover design #1]



[cover design #2]



[cover design #3]


hey guys and girls,

time to exercise your musical rights!

we have 3 design options for the brasileiro album cover, would you be so kind to let us know which one do you prefer? please indicate your preferences on the poll on the right panel.

the one which gets the most votes will become our album cover!

thanks so much!

臺灣版的好自在 [taiwan's kings of convenience]

acoustic guitar duo woody woody is apparently groomed by jonathan lee, who has his own guitar brand, lee guitar.

hmmm.... reminds us of kings of convenience meeting acoustic alchemy...

我喜愛的 k 歌和芭樂歌 [of k-song and ballads]

once upon a time, when i was an impressionable young music lover, i used to consume k-song (for cantopop) and ballads (pronouced as "ba-lak" by the chinese for mandopop) like no others, that was, until i acquired more tastes and discerning power la when i approached 30s. nowadays, i absolutely avoid this kind of music in my pop diet.

i don't know when the term k-song or ba-lak was coined. must be in the 90s when karaoke was the hottest pastime in hk, taiwan and malaysia.

what kind of music is categorized as k-song or ba-lak songs? simple. typical chinese k-song has predictable structure of verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus or variations of the same theme. and sadder still, a lot of them have the same darn chord progressions! making it hell of a bore for sessionists to play, especially virtuoso sessionists who are not tuned to chinese pop music!

k-song or ba-lak songs have killer choruses, the kind that can repeat ad nauseum and make you sing the instance you hear it. it is no-brainer kind of ear-friendly, it is very catchy and impressionable. it makes you want to sing-along. it is perfect for karaoke, that's why it is made for.

in today's overly commercialized and highly manufactured pop scene, k-songs or ba-lak songs are considered essential to attract the young generation of music lovers. they are shallow, easily digestible and easily forgettable too but who cares? it is like KFC or McD, they taste good eventho' we know they are not healthy.

but for the minority of discerning music lovers, k-songs or ba-lak songs are being looked at with contempt and disgust, cos they have absolutely no literary value in the history of pop music. to be fair, the same thing can be said to the today's western pop music, altho' they don't really call it k-songs or ba-lak.

but like everything in life, there are good k-songs and there are bad k-songs. we have some which we truly like over the years and would like to share with the readers here. let's start with k-songs first, i mean, cantopop k-songs. later, we will do mandopop ba-lak songs, shall we?

1) janice wei lan 衛蘭 【大哥】 [big brother]



when i visited hk in 2006, janice was so hot. she was first launched as an artiste with a great voice but without being shown her face. so it had many people guessing how she actually looked like. this is the first single that launched her career. we love it. even now we listen to it, we still love it. it has all the ingredients of a perfect k-song.

unfortunately , janice vidal, under leon lai's management does not really make it into top league. i feel she is wasted under leon lai. i would love to have her as my artiste!

more to come....

歡迎回歸 [survival kit]

this must be the greatest news worth celebrating: you are back!

when you announced your retirement years ago, many were disappointed. you were obviously let down by the music industry, to the extent that you name your last album "don't want to sing". love your sardonic humor.

let's face it, the chinese music industry is not about talents, so don't be disillusioned by it. you are simply one of the best exports that singapore ever had. you may lack luck but talents you certain have plenty. and your voice is heavenly. we could listen to 【等了又等】 for the rest of our lives.

in fact, whether you believe it or not, last year we announced to a few close friends that we would love to do an audiophile album with/for you, pure acoustics stuff, but we have no means to track you in singapore. we heard you started your own PR firm. we search in facebook in vain. true, we didn't try very hard. but now we have your website, we shall try again to contact you.

make no bones about it, we are truly elated. a diva like you shouldn't just retire in vain, you have to show them what you are made of.

we also hope that you won't delve in pop music anymore. the scene doesn't suit you. you don't belong there. you should consider doing audiophile or jazz stuff, or what joanna wang or norah jones are doing. this kind of lifestyle music is right in your alley.

we really hope you you would get to read this blog. we know you have started an indie label in singapore and about to work on an album. we dream of collaborating with you and your label.

yes, kit, we dream of working with you.

please make our dream come true!

note: we have found kit! and wrote her an email.... let's pray hard ;-)

有驚喜 [full of surprises]

something magical happened tonight.

this is the first time we solicited a major function performance for zyan, the bossa princess, even before her album release. the client is a big fan of 2v1g but due to roger wang's unavailability, we recommended zyan instead. we played mr. tan the brasileiro album in our car stereo, within minutes, he approved our bossa princess.

we haven't seen the princess perform in a major function before so there was a bit of nagging doubts. unlike winnie ho of 2v1g, zyan is more reserved and shy and she isn't exactly the talkative type.

so we backed her up with cher siang's WVC trio, hoping that cher siang's virtuosity could help bring out the princess' strongest points, which really are her sensuous tone and good looks. and it worked quite perfectly!

our princess has both the aural and visual offerings that many singers don't have. she sounds good and looks good. and this is a rare occasion where the audience actually listened to her singing instead of focusing on the food or chatting loudly! she sang one song which had mr.tan, mr. tan's dad and mr.tan's sister in tears. yes, the tan's family was crying.... such a touching scene.

the 200+ audience were mainly middle-aged uncles and aunties. add "rich" to the adjective, yes, very rich families who have high statuses in the society. and they were listening attentively to our princess the whole night! for the first time in a chinese-dinner function we heard many people clapping in appreciation.

and this is the first time, yes, first time, we were approached by more than 6 people - at various junctures in the show - who asked for the manager's contact for zyan because they were impressed by her and cher siang's trio! we handed out all our business cards and they weren't enough!

what separate cher siang's trio from typical wedding bands is their virtuosity and improvisation skills. it is very obvious to the ears, even if you don't know music. all the members can play any song on the fly, impromptu and they play well too. with such backing, the princess shines like a proud peacock. we noticed many men admiring her beauty too, not that we minded.

to make even more amazing, the client, full of praise for zyan's performance, decided to pay us cash for the performance. and we immediately paid all the musicians, including our sound engineer. what satisfying outing, what happy ending.

of course, client like mr.tan is rare. the kind who appreciates good music and values good performance. the kind who is willing to pay for quality. we know that many wedding bands were competing for price. it is always the cheaper ones who get the deal. but we don't do this kind of price competition.

it is even more satisfying for us, the manager and agent because the princess has come a long way in achieving this level of performance and positive feedback. her debut album 3 years ago wasn't well received and most people have swept her off under the carpet and she is out of the radar from most entertainment watchers. 3 years later, equipped with better vocals skills and better mindset, the princess is destined to make a strong comeback with this new album.

after tonight's confidence-inspiring performance, we are sure that the princess is ready for bigger things ahead. already she has got a movie deal under her portfolio.

and mind you, this is the most satisfying part of being a manager or talent scout.

thanks so much, mr.tan for having us. you are so nice and generous.

放緩 [slowing down]

in all likelihood, brasileiro will be our second last release (solianos "pusaka" will be our last, not counting roger wang "milestone") before we take a long long break.

it has been an exhilarating journey for the past 3 years, practically from zero to what we have now: 7 best-selling album releases under our label. it is just so incredible.

currently we have no solutions to fight against this largely dwindling and diminishing market, while our production costs keep escalating and sales keep plummeting. it is a sad scene.

it is no joy looking at the profit and loss figures of each album. eventho' we are the market leader in the chinese segment (we top the sales in most record shops), we are only talking about relative sales, nothing really to be proud of.

so, dear supporters and music lovers, we hope that you would show your collective strength by supporting our last 3 albums: the brasileiro, roger wang "milestones" and solianos "pusaka" in the best way you can. maybe buy multiple copies as collector items, cos you may never get to buy them anymore!

we won't completely stop making music but may target only one album a year from now on.

it is a tough road ahead but we need to march on, albeit with slower pace and caution.

母帶后期處理開始了 [mastering bossa princess]

the most exciting stage of an album making has begun! the mastering.

mastering is a process not unlike putting makeup on a beautiful or not-so-beautiful woman to make her look good, altho' strictly speaking, mastering does not really hide weaknesses as much as make-up. mastering enhances all the good quality in the mix. in technical terms, it makes the singer and the musicians more 3-dimensional by giving it more texture and meat; it elevates and evens out the gain (volume) of the sound.... mastering is very critical and many recording engineers take years to master this art.

we are employing keith yip of rock in music, hk, to do the mastering for brasileiro album. keith has shown us that he has a keen pair of ears and what's more, being in hk, it is easy to communicate with him as mastering involves critical evaluation that may take many rounds of listening.

so, all set, the brasileiro album promises to be the best recording we have ever produced. it is an album we are happy to retire with, if ever we want to retire from this line.

the most satisfying thing for a music label is to be able to produce a signature work that can break new grounds and best represent the labels' musical vision, and brasileiro is one such album.

又花錢! [our polycarbonate addiction]

our polycarbonate addiction knows no limit as we just bought another two indie albums from taiwan....

soft lipa 【蛋堡】 has impressed us with his brand of jazz-infused hip hop....

whereas miss stocking 【絲襪小姐】 sounds fresh and inventive....

we feed on music, what do you feed on?

超美好 [glorious]

if cheer chen is god, then kay huang is godmother

sounds like kings of convenience?


we can't even begin to tell you how much we appreciate this album, this kind of refreshing music from kay huang. again, only taiwanese singers can deliver this kind of ethereal pop music.

sure, you may not know who kay huang is, if not because of her recent exposure in superstar reality show. if you think cheer chen is god, kay huang should be the godmother then cos she was the one who started this indie singe-songwriter wave way back in the 80s where nobody dared to attempt anything unconventional. she did bossa nova and jazz and stuff. for chinese pop music, mind you.

enough about history. if you don't know who kay huang is, just treat her as an aged newcomer.

music like this is rare now, so poetic, so uncommercial and so untainted. even radio stations in malaysia won't play it but gosh, don't we love it!

kay hasn't changed a bit in her compositions, still poetic and melodic. she is totally unique, just like cheer chen, no one ever comes close in duplicating these two superbly talented singer-songwriters who are separated one generation apart.

in this album, kay gets eason chan to liven things up. she is even close to plagiarizing a song from kings of convenience (koc) but other than that, she is fabulous throughout. this album will be out of place in today's thrashy pop scene, i don't think malaysian record stores bother to bring it in. reality sucks.

its is getting rarer to have genuine music like this. we believe that if not because kay has earned some good income from the superstar reality show, she wouldn't have the budget to gamble on this album cos in all likelihood, she will lose money.

it is so so precious. thank you, kay, for bringing genuine good music for old timers like us.

雙喜 [double celebrations]

roger wang "milestones" and 【brasileiro ： z yan】 are both going to be released on the same day on 25th nov 2010!

post productions for both albums are going at full steam now... we have seen roger's special booklet which introduces all the 6 albums he cut over the last 10 years and we must say it is tastefully designed and well illustrated.

as we have indicated, 399 copies of this album will come in a special edition hard-box case with roger's autograph. we are going to announce the pre-order early next month. let's not brag about it, it is going to be snapped up real fast, knowing roger wang's wide fanbase. you better act fast!

for the audiophile in you, the 24 songs are going to be remastered by our trusted engineer, keith yip of rock in music, hong kong and we have heard the samplers, they definitely sound superior to the original albums' versions!

for brasileiro album, cd design and artwork has just begun. because we want the princess to look really good to match with the great music, we are going to splurge more on the cd design. we have heard the firs cut of the mixing from the ark studios and we are proud to announce that this is our best recording so far surpassing jz8 and 2v1g-2 - the sound quality is really great!

again, keith yip the mastering guru will handle the mastering of brasileiro.

so, two major releases in november! let's have no illusions about it, we are not hoping for miracles in bad times like these; we just hope to break even to recoup back our investment first.

many people have listened to brasileiro and they have nothing but praises, some even told us it will sell 5,000 copies! c'mon, it is impossible in times like these! we and our princess will be happy to surpass jz8's record of 3,000 copies mark!

there will be no internet pre-order for brasilerio album, instead, we are planning a listening party for the brasileiro album in mid-nov, two weeks ahead of its retail launch. all of you are invited! not only can you buy the album ahead of its commercial release, you get to meet the princess and get an autograph from her! wait for our announcement soon! since we are an unconventional music label, might as well do the most unusual pre-order and pre-launch!

at the same time, we have started preparing for 2v1g@NBT gig... it is gonna be a refreshing format! again, the two NBT gigs on 30th november and 1st december are bound to be full-house so you have to monitor our announcement soon!

so many things, what life!

好享受的演唱會 [great show, jz8!]

lydia chew in her element

the jz8 duo - great photography by horng yih

very few knew that jz8 had a mini concert two nights ago due to the lack of publicity.

we were fortunate to catch the brilliant concert featuring cher siang wvc trio + 1 and lydia chew from jz8.

unlike the double bill concert 2 months ago where there were many imperfections, this mini concert had many things right. even from the first song, norah jones' "don't know why", we knew cher siang and his trio was in their best. the sound system, for once, was great because they had the stage in vertical setting, the way bentley music hall is supposed to be, instead of the horizontal setting that was used for double bill concert (which caused too much wall reflections).

lydia chew was in her delectable best. her presence was unmistakable from the first song taken from the jz8's debut album, "if". she followed that with a delightful cover of george lam's, "every minute i need you", 【分分鐘需要你】 which was turned into jazz by cher siang. wonderful arrangement that was! lydia worked with george lam recently for his latest audiophile album, which was recorded in the same studio we rent now, the ark studios.

there wasn't a moment of dullness. the flow of the concert was smooth, unlike the double bill. lydia was less nervous this time and she sang with great finesse. the best moment came when she confided in the audience that the song, taken from the jz8 album, "unforgettable you", makes her cry each time she sings it because it is the song that reminds her of her ex-boyfriend who was forced to part with her due to his depression. as lydia spoke emotively, the lights dimmed completely, leaving only the faint lights from the reading lamps of the music stands, she started singing the song with outpouring emotions.... those were defining moments for us. we could feel our goose bumps all raised....

a great concert that was. pity that the turn out was disappointing.

a local radio station recently described our kind of music (2v1g, jz8) as music for the minority. true, it is for the minority, the discerning ones. if proper promotion and education is given to this minority group, one day it will grow into a decent force, that's what we believe.

kudos to jz8 and musictoxin's team for their persistence in organizing such quality concerts!

殺青！ [brilliant princess!]

【brasileiro: zyan】 wrapped up at 2am this morning! there was supposed to be a celebration party but everyone is just too exhausted to do anything but head home and sleep!

the princess is most relieved, as she has been "tortured" the most by her producer stefano, for the past 5 weeks, to churn out a wide array of tonal palettes to suit the different songs in the album!

if anything, the most amazing thing about this album is zyan's (the princess' name) tonal palette. she has many tones in her arsenal but it needs coaxing and a lot of tactful persuasion on stefano's part. it is great that stefano is an artistic vocal coach, he is good at painting a visual picture for every song to allow zyan to put paint her own vocal tonal palette. for sure, zyan does not have the extension of winnie ho but she is good in playing with her tones and conveying emotions.

as we have said over and over again, this is our fave album to date. never mind the sales and feedback, we are already very happy with what we have done and going to achieve.

the coveted "first chinese bossa/brasileiro album" is ours for the taking!

懷念臺北 [missing taipei]

we recently watched this dream-like movie called "taipei exchanges"【第36個故事】, starring the very sweet gui lun mei 【桂綸鎂】 with the theme song sung by our fave indie band summer lei 【 雷光夏】。

it is a simple story about two sisters who owned a lifestyle cafe but ended up having different paths in life. it is a bland story if not because of summer lei's music and the delectable gui lun mei. the beauty about this movie is you can only find these kind of characters, romance, music and setting in taipei. the cafe in the movie is actually a real one.

we have a talented girlfriend who once dreamed of owning a cafe like this with a small stage for her own singing performance but she finally bowed down to the reality that it won't work in malaysia because culturally, we don't have the depth to appreciate this kind of themed cafe. some people have tried but failed eventually. i don't think it will work in singapore or hong kong either.

taipei is a fascinating city which offers culturally inclined intellects many options to enjoy their lives and vent their artistic expressions. it is little wonder why taiwanese can consume our music much better than any other chinese community in the world.

seriously, we are exploring setting up an office in taipei.

極度失望 [gross disappointment]

we are not fan of teresa carpio but we do like her singing. she is one of the few veterans who really sing from her heart. being the top vocal coach herself, her singing needs no promotion, so we picked up this instantly, what with the audiophile tag "HQCD" (high quality CD from japan).

goodness! words failed us on how disappointed we are when we know the music uses MIDI computer programming! it sound plastic-ky, the whole album.

that's perfectly ok if it is aimed at the pop market since pop albums always use computer to save costs, but an audiophile album using MIDI programming? ha?

we are not sure whether we want to review this album, never mind how good the music is.

心動不如行動 [tempted by tempting hearts]

we didn't actually do a survey, but from what we heard from many people, regine tai's "tempting hearts" remains the crowd's favorite as one of the best 2v1g's cover versions to-date.

this is the track during which she broke down in tears after she finished recording it. you could definitely hear all these pent up emotions in the song. it remains our most cherished song in the debut album.

since it is impossible to get her back to record for us another new song, we are now tempted to ask roger wang to do a solo guitar version of the song, to be included in 2v1g direct-cut 1:1 special edition.

it is gonna be a bonus track not to be found in any other version.

what do you think?

廣播的規則 [radio gaga]

since the successful association of 2v1g with local radio station, we have been working closer with them.

to us, radio is a more effective media than newspapers. internet didn't actually kill the radio stations but it did kill the newspapers. even for us, we have stopped buying physical newspapers (and read the online edition instead) but we still listen to radio.

the interesting bit comes when you need to read the mind of the radio music program director and DJs when it comes to music preferences.

for sure, we at pop pop music here have weird and rather acquired tastes in music, which is not really appreciated by the mass populace, especially the young ones who are the main target of radio stations.

radio has certain guidelines which they adhere to strictly when it comes to the kind of music they want to broadcast, and this is where the gap is!

as an audiophile label, we constantly need to dig out oldies and dress them up with a new arrangement, like jz8's "forever smile" by zhou xuan. oldies are good for audiophiles because of the age group. most audiophile uncles don't dig too much pop stuff except for jacky cheung, alan tam stuff.

the fact is: radio station absolutely bars oldies! no matter how well you redo them. they only want the latest pop music, especially the more upbeat and lively ones

another fact is: radio station don't normally like cover versions, especially those on sacred superstars like faye wong and cheer chen. it is considered blasphemous to even touch their work!

more fact is: they don't like slow numbers, except for night time programs.

so what we are left with? nothing much but original compositions!

no choice, when in rome, you do what the roman do...

this will have to be our direction from now onwards: more original compositions :-)

華語流行音樂的革命 [a musical revolution]

our recent interview with taiwan's top hifi magazine audio art...

our musical revolution has just begun. we are not exactly satisfied with what we have done so far, there is still plenty of room for improvement, especially on recording quality.

the last 4 albums can be considered as "searching-and-exploring", now we are more sure-footed especially with recording and mastering techniques.

our next album 【bossa : brasileiro】 truly embodies what we learned (mistakes and setbacks notwithstanding) from the last 4 albums, recording-wise and music-wise. we are getting nearer to the kind of recording quality and musical contents that we desire.

in short, 【bossa : brasileiro】 is getting closer to pop pop music's vision of high-end recording with quality music. it heralds a new direction for us.

thanks to tim shu 【書世豪】, the executive editor who granted us the opportunity to appear in his prestigious magazine!

忙搵食 [busy "cari makan"]

is it year-end or what? everybody seems to be super busy... yes, everybody.

winnie ho is busy, roger wang is busy, tay cher siang is busy, bossa princess is busy, we are busy.

is it a good sign? we think so. we are all busy "cari makan" (earning a livelihood) but at least we are extremely happy being busy doing things we like.

so we are lucky.

at the moment, we are busy with 3 main projects (bossa brasileiro, roger wang "milestones", 2v1g direct-cut) and some gigs.

maybe you guys would wonder if album sales don't make money, why keep making albums? well, we don't lose money either but at least we get more gigs, shows and other opportunities coming our way. it is a tough industry and we are not doing too well nor too badly. at least, compared to other struggling artistes/musicians, we are just slightly luckier as we get a lot of recognition. you may not know that jz8 and 2v1g-2 sell relatively well in most record shops and that's reassuring. jz8 is hitting the 3,000 mark and 2v1g-2 has sold close to 2,000 copies in just one and half month. 2v1g-1 still gets repeat orders every month, freaking amazing. no inflated figures, we assure you.

just an update:

1) there will be a limited edition of 399 copies of roger wang "milestones" that comes with a hard box case. it will have a unique serial number and also roger wang's autograph, hopefully. this limited edition would only be available via direct order with roger wang or pop pop music.

2) bossa brasileiro will have just one normal edition at the moment

3) 2v1g direct-cut 1:1 will be a limited edition of 499 copies with a unique serial number as well. it will come in a special packaging.

4) we are starting to prepare for the 2v1g@NBT gig on 30th nov and 1st dec. as we have promised, it will be a new "format" which promises to give you a new experience, that much we can assure you.

oh, another reason we rush for album releases before christmas is, once you miss christmas, the retail market will slow down all the way until march next year.

so, make hay while the sun shines!

大師群英會 [the gathering of maestros]

it takes one maestro to appreciate another: tay cher siang and salvador guerzo

bossa guru xiong and roger wang

princess and her producer, stefano chen

how often do you get so many first-class musicians/arrangers to work jointly in an album?

yes, it does happen, like in 【my bossa: brasileiro】 album!

yesterday was a day where two maestros worked with one another in an album for the first time - tay cher siang meeting salvador guerzo (ador). how honored are we to have these two great guys to be involved in project!

ador was to arrange the last two songs for the princess and he wants cher siang to play the piano part. the chemistry is unmistakable and the two and 2 other sessionists finished the two tracks in just less than 5 hours. at the end, we heard ador saying to cher siang unreservedly, "great piano skills, i like it!". coming from the soft-spoken gentlemen who is both critical and carries a high standards in his music, it is indeed a remarkable compliment for cher siang.

having tay cher siang, roger wang and ador as arrangers provides a beautiful contrast in the album. cher siang is always creative and unconventional, roger always elegant and minimalistic and ador is always lush, lively and rhythmic.

the last two songs, one of which is bai guang's autumnal night 【秋夜】 sounds fantastic after ador's great arrangement and is easily the standout song in the album. we could see how delighted the princess was in guiding the vocals. we seldom see her so relaxed and expressive in the studio!

elsewhere, roger wang also recorded an acoustic ballad for the first time with local bossa guru, xiong. now, have we got you excited about the album? :-)

we will be submitting 4 songs to the radio station this week, let's hope they dig it. this is the most commercial and radio-friendly album we have done so far, let's hope it gets the same level of publicity and radio airplay as 2v1g-2!

友弟的上海爵士 [yudi's shanghai jazz]

we had a roaring good time at NBT just now.

no matter how many times you have watched 友弟 [yudi yap] belting her shanghai jazz, you would seldom get bored, not especially if you have the wonderfully creative tay cher siang as the music director.

this time, cher siang re-arranged many "new" old tunes for this gig, which has easily become one of the best crowd-pullers at NBT. yudi's gigs @NBT are always packed to the brim and the crowd is not even the regular NBT crowd.

we especially like 晚風 【evening breeze】, a james wong composition originally sung by sally yeh. cher siang's arrangement is absolutely gorgeous. if we get the chance to do jz8 volume II, we would definitely include this song.

every major city in the world should have at least one jazz chanteuse who is specialized in shanghai jazz.

in malaysia, we have yudi yap.

maybe we should groom a successor, or better still, a competitor ;-)