芽菜鸡和河粉 [of beansprout chicken and hor fun]

the 4th installment of "the jazzy sounds of teresa teng" is finally confirmed!

it is gonna be held in the city of beansprout chicken and sar hor fun! the last we discovered, there are many more new restaurants selling beansprout chicken other than old hand lou wong!  in fact, ipohan have relegated lou wong from the top spot.  what makes it worth looking forward to, apart from the fun of having another repeated showcase, is the food, the glorious food of ipoh!

the date is 7th june 2012 (thursday),  you can buy tickets from us. for those in ipoh, you can get the tickets from friendly records in kinta city or CD-RAMA in ipoh parade. check the phone numbers in the poster above.

ticket price are RM168 and RM138. please don't ask whether it includes dinner because this is a charity show to raise funds for sam tet school! ;-)

fresh from her latest album, winnie ho is gonna re-deliver her signature performance albeit with added confidence that she now has an album to back her up.  roger wang and zyan will be there too. 

sin chew is gonna be our media partner so readers in perak are gonna read a lot about this event in the forth coming weeks under the perak edition of sinchew.

the second half of 2012 is event-packed. we will soon be announcing many more events which you could participate, including KL live house's opening month in july where pop pop music will be hosting a night  and our chinese jazz appreciation night in june.

winnie ho's and tay cher siang's strong profiles have opened many doors. we have been invited to many jazz festivals all over asia so you will see us traveling a fair bit. it is so wonderful that a malaysian chinese singer is gonna represent the country in so many jazz festivals. already confirmed are macau jazz fest, tianjin (china) jazz fest, kota kinabalu jazz fest  and hopefully taichung (taiwan) jazz fest!

it is wonderful to be busy with music! we feel so blessed!

诉求 [a message to new century workshop]

to the ceo of new century workshop of hk, the very productive audiophile music label in hk....

you do have some great veteran artistes but can we consumers demand that you at least improve your recording quality a bit so that we get our money's worth when we buy your CDs?


thank you!

赞赞赞 [double thumbs up]

we tried to write a report on last week's double take concert but after reading what joanna funk wrote in sabah song music blog, we gave up!

joanna gave an excellent rundown of the concert, blow by blow, and it is hard to beat.

so here's it http://sabahsongs.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/jazz-duo-double-take-wins-sabah/

 

first time we had a concert where we get 100% positive feedback!

a friend commented that mia sounds like sarah vaughan

the till is ringing at the CD counter

many wondered how a guitar and a voice can carry the whole of 90 minutes, i think after watching double take they should all be silenced now.

there is an unspoken chemistry about roger and mia. it is like old friends, old partners having fun on stage. mia's presence is larger than life. you can't believe she is only 27 when she has the presence of someone 20 years older. the calmness, the confidence and the ease of which she carried herself on stage. it is the culmination of 12 years in the business, since she was a teenager at 15.  

roger put a lot of thoughts into the program to avoid boredom and singularity. his michael jackson medley and the muppet "rainbow connection" easily won the crowd over. a friend, who came to watch for the first-time confessed that she had tears running down her cheek when roger reprised "the moon speaks for my heart" from "the jazzy sounds of teresa teng" concert repertoire.  

at the end of the day, we witnessed how two genuine musicians make genuine music in the most simplest format. you really can ask for more, except for more songs in the encore. mia only did one song for encore, which was such a pity cos the crowd wanted more.

it is also the first time that we got a 100% positive feedback on our concert. amazing.  
  

优的 [another good one]

the day will come for major celebration

another good review on "the jazzy sounds of teresa teng" from a local music blogger...

we feel that it will take at least one year for this album to make a real impact on the market， just like 2v1g four years ago.  we remember how the critics (and slanderers!)  were silenced when overseas recognition and awards started to "flow" back to malaysia. what a good feeling that was! ;-)  


本地一个部落客给《靡靡之音》的正面评论。。。我们都觉得这专辑需要一年的时间去发光发热， 就像当年的 2v1g

http://songismusic.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-post.html?m=1

and a fan, mandy,  has laboriously created 3 youtube videos of her fave songs in the album! what wonderful gesture! we are not even idol type, you know ;-)  thanks, mandy!

中文爵士欣赏会 [chinese jazz appreciation night]

we are buoyed by the awesome feedback to double take concert last saturday! seriously, it was not easy to amass 300 people to come to watch a local act amidst such miserable climate in the event industry but we did it in style! we would be writing a short review shortly!

we didn't make money in the concert but never mind, we gained in credibility.  the trust and support we gained far exceeds the minor monetary loss we suffered. now, that is the true spirits of a music label who is bent of promoting local talents, wouldn't you agree?    

up next, a  chinese jazz appreciation night brought to you by us! it is totally FOC, with red wine to boot!

our purpose is to further influence/educate/make aware/enlighten more music lovers to listen to chinese jazz. you will be asked to bring at least 3 friends whom you think are potential convert. the flow would be casual and not formal and the place we choose is going to allow plenty of mingling among the crowd.

tay cher siang and myself (and perhaps with another guest speaker) would be doing some talking, interspersed with singing by our singers (winnie ho, z Yan, etc etc) and music videos of some chinese jazz divas who are not known to many.

the session is supposed to be fun and relaxing, so if you are keen, please register early with lesloh@yahoo.com!

we would only allow a max of 100 guests, and each of you need to bring at least 3 guests! timeline would be May 2012, venue to be informed later!

in case you get worried by the "getting 3 friends" thingy, fret not, this is not Multi Level Marketing! ;-))))

介紹有氣質的攝影師，pacino [introducing a great photographer, pacino]

flying high

2M1V (2 maestros, 1 voice)

friends, if you have the need for artistic and cool photography, try pacino of you studio.
here's some of the photos he shot for us.
 judge for yourself!

贈票競賽！[win tickets to watch double take!]

here's santa claus coming to you early!

pop pop music is giving away 10 complimentary RM50 tickets (5 couples/pairs) to our supporters, on a first come first served basis, if you can answer the following questions correctly......

1) how many albums have double take released so far?

2) name two collaborations (album based) roger wang had with other artistes apart from double take

3) how many stops this concert tour have and what are the cities?

all entries must be sent to lesloh@yahoo.com, before friday 5pm! include your name, email and contact number.

lucky you!

最后沖刺 [last-minute rush]

have you bought the tickets? never mind, we are used to last minute rush.... do it now!

check out the best news article from rama lohan from the star....

我們叫這為音樂感 [we call this musicality]

a few veteran singers remained unchallenged in the music industry, not because they can sing well, but because they immerse themselves into the music when they sing. we call that musicality. in that aspect, they are unsurpassed. 

bobby chen sheng, deanie yip tuck han, lowell lo kun ting， jonathan lee to name but a few.

they don't have good pitching to start with; they don't have wide vocal range; they don't have great tone but they just make music. music that touches your heart and melt you instantly. music that makes you cry.

they sing with their hearts, they tell stories that they experienced in their lives, stories that young singers would not have.

in their music and lyrics, you find life's philosophy, profound and wise thoughts, poetic musings, it makes you realize listening to music is more than listening to vocals and chorus.

they bring music appreciation to another level. we love them endlessly.

this just happened two days ago. deannie yip won multiple best actress awards. this is her tribute to all those great movie stars, past and present

this one - a tribute by lowell lo and jonathan li to all those musicians and singers who passed away - makes me cry every time.

the inimitable bobby chen. his music is so very narcissistic but that's him through and through

我聽說它非常棒 [i heard it was awesome]

standing ovation from 700 people!

look at this photo and you know what an awesome concert double take had last friday in kk!

look at the crowd. feel the ambience.

coming to you this saturday at bentley auditorium at 8pm.

be there or be square.

that old loving feeling [舊情懷]

i haven't played a turntable for at least 5 years but i still keep all my LP records.

the fact that the rega brio-R integrated amplifier has a phono stage that comes with it,  makes me itchy about buying a new turntable. playing LP is a troublesome thing but just for old time's sake, the trouble is worth it.

i am amazed that i can get a beautiful looking turntable in rega RP1 for around RM1K. the sound is definitely decent and the old nostalgia feeling is worth more than the admission price. the cracking sounds emanating from the black piece of vinyl gives one a feeling of authenticity and substance.

so my next move is to clean all my dusty LPs using my friend's LP cleaning machine!

talking about LP, our dream is to release "the jazzy sounds" in LP format. it is not all that remote if we can convince china to take 500 copies as HK and Taiwan have confirmed their order of 200 copies respectively. once we can justify 1,000, it is all green light.

LP is a way to immortalize the album, something CD can never be.

    

又一好評！[another good review from HK！]

no worries, we would post a better resolution next week!

this must count as the all-time best review we have ever read fro hk!

we don't know who joe tang is but this reviewer from Hi-Fi Review sure does know his major chord from minor chord!

his major points being:

1) this is a fantastic cover version album, which fully justifies the high expectations on cover version because of its superb arrangement, creativity and delivery both in vocals and musicianship
2) the same songs he praised (forget him, the girl from south sea, rain of tears) are the same as being commended by local hifi blog hifi-unlimited. so there is no coincidence!
3) he thinks this is the most important career milestone for winnie ho
4) he gives full marks for boldness, excitement and execution

both reviews are just photocopies, we apologize for the poor quality but next week we would post the high-resolution scanned copy of these revsiews once we receive them from hk.

we feel greatly satisfied with  the feedback from hk. surely, these are not favors done to return kickbacks from advertising in the magazine! you can tell the reviewers are sincere in their praise!

while the feedback from taiwan and hong kong have been good, we are not too confident about the feedback from average malaysian music lover on the street, especially the older folks.

we are known to be slow to appreciate substance. never mind, this album would remain for at least 10 years on the shelf, so there is plenty of time to appreciate it!

發燒音響本月最佳CD！[HK Audiophile's CD of the month!]

click to enlarge!

that winnie ho sings well in this album is already a fact many acknowledged, but editor chan ying kong 『陳煐光』 truly has discerning ear: he says tay cher siang's trio is exceptional! wow, that's what we are dying to hear!

that's the whole point of music appreciation, isn't it? aside from vocals, listen to the musicians! listen to the arrangement!  which is sadly not what the typical pop music lover would do. most just assess the vocals. but in jazz, we are critical of the musicians: his skills with his instrument, his musicianship and his artistry. read the accompanying credit note in the inlay and find out who's in the band! apart from tay cher siang, we have the superb joseph prussner from MPO playing the double bass (who also played in jz8) , julian chan and salvador guerzo on sax, eddie wen on trumpet, AJ of popshuvit on electric guitar and charles wong on drums.... these are some of the best musicians in malaysian!

hooray to winnie ho for getting the highest praise from chan yin kong, the vetaran of veteran of audiophile in HK! altho' this review is extremely short but mr. chan cuts to the chase as he rightly pointed out that teresa teng is merely a pretext to exhibit the exceptional strong character of winnie ho and tay cher siang's trio. what incredible discerning power. 

elsewhere we also know many HK supporters have got hold of the HK pressing of the CD!

there is another stunning review from HK Hifi review which we will post tomorrow...

we also thank local top hifi blog hifi unlimited for giving a rave review too!

hk pressing!

double take 對我的影響 [how double take influenced me]

it must be more than 10 years ago. my fist meeting with double take was in the then no black tie jazz bar located at the same row that is jalan mesui.

NBT then was a smoky joint with poor ventilation, with glass bottles adorning the wall, which also acted as some sort of acoustic treatment i guess. the ambience was great, so was the acoustics.

my first visit was to watch roger and mia, with guest guitarist, the brother of tommy emmanuel. sorry, i forgot his name... it was so long ago. i remember vividly roger jammed with him towards the encore.  

i was stunned by the duo. mia was only, 18? she possessed a deep and bassy tone that belies her age and both of them had so much chemistry on the small stage. what stunned me was how a simple guitar can accompany a female voice. i already heard of tuck and patti then but i don't subscribe to ALL their songs. double take was even simpler, and less jazzy than tuck and patti. it was closer to pop actually. i remember i was riveted to my seat when mia sang "my romance".  i had goose bumps, i remember.

being the thick-skinned producer wannabe i was, i approached roger after the performance and asked for his friendship. roger was so much thinner and handsome then, and with more hair, on his head. he is really a friendly chap and we started talking about working on some projects. one led to another and we became friends.

i couldn't remember how many double take gigs i have watched over the past 12 years but the best ones were always at NBT. not equatorial FLO, i don't like that place. not at all. the one at DFP was good but not definitive.

from a producer's angle, double take is the perfect act for a music label like pop pop but then i hadn't even started pop pop then. to date, double take only have two albums, which is a pity. they could have more.

over the past 12 years, double take managed to accumulate quite a loyal fan base, but they were never mainstream. i guess the lack of albums is one but many of the reasons.

radio stations are still playing their debut album once in a while, which is a shame because they have progressed so much since their debut.

roger went on to do many collaborations while mia pursued her solo career.

in no small ways, it is double take who inspired me to start an audiophile label and you guess it, 2V1G project. 

over the past 3 to 4 years, roger's partnership with mia was an on-and-off thing. the talk of their 3rd album never quite materialized, nobody knows why.

fast forward to 2012, 12 year after their formation. roger thought it is the RIGHT time to have a reunion concert with mia, who has spent two years in tasmania pursuing her studies in music. roger approached me to host it. without much hesitation, i took up the challenge.

while i am fully aware of roger's progress as a guitarist/musician, i have lost touch of mia's. in last week's rehearsal at my house,  i heard a mia palencia who is so much more composed, richer tonally, and has so much depth in her voice that had me yelling: " I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE CONCERT!"

the same chemistry that makes them so likeable and enjoyable is still very much intact and alive. roger treats mia like his own sister. you seldom see roger being so at ease and comfortable with his vocalist. trust me, i know.    

so, ladies and gentlemen, so if you are like me, eager to watch the bigger-and-better double take, get your tickets now at REDTIX.

see you at the concert next week!       
    

         

我們為什么選擇做音樂 [why we make music our career]

music is a very tough business but when you see an old man reacting like this to music, you know your mission is divine.

years ago, a man wrote to us and thanked us for our music because his relationship with his wife improved dramatically after he shared our music with his wife. he said it is the first time his wife sat lovingly with him in the living hall and listened to our CDs. 

過了高峰 [way past the prime]

there are quite a few singers who raised the question: "why they bothered to come out from retirement?"

the first being kit chan. frankly, we used to love her so much but her recent two albums had us thinking otherwise. she has lost the magic.

second being stefanie sun. her live singing is unbearable, with terrible pitching and short-of-breath problems.

third is elisa chan， the veteran cantopop singer. her latest audiophile album is skip-button inviting. that's so much we can say.

a professional singer has to constantly sing, constantly improve, constantly pushes the boundary in order to maintain her art and artistry. all the singers above mentioned have all stopped singing for a considerable period. vocal cord will deteriorate once you stop practicing. some singers, like cai qin, ripens with age because she has never stopped. she is the exception rather than the rule.

if you stop learning, that's where the art ends. this is the harsh reality in music and singing.

累垮了 [burnt out]

winnie ho appearing in astro's entertainment program

we didn't know how hard we have been working until lately our bodies started giving signals of complaint.

seriously, since last april, we have never stopped working. we always tell people our job is not like any job per se, because it is our hobby and we enjoy every minute of it. but months of meeting and chasing deadlines are beginning to take on toll on our health. we suffer burnt out, total exhaustion.

winnie ho's latest album is our milestone. we worked so hard for this. and now it is out and greatly promoted, we really should slow things down, eventho' we have china in mind.

it is really counter-productive to have multiple concerts/gigs in the same week/month. we make ourselves so stressed out and as a result, mistakes and quarrels start creeping into our work.

so we declare this month of april a logical break, except for the double take concert on 21st april.

next month is an exciting month, for it is the opening of pavillion's live house, a big live venue promises to compete with NBT.  we are excited alright. we hope live house can become another must-visit night spot in KL live music scene.

the music retail and events scene is miserable for the past months. CD sales keep plummeting all around the world, many event promoters suffered huge losses.  there is a lot of uncertainty on the horizon for the entertainment industry.

it is high time we go back to our therapy of music listening and shopping for good music. we have introduced 3 more friends to buy the same stellar under-RM10K hifi system in our bedroom, comprising of mini maggie, rega brio-R intergrated amplifier and marantz cd6004 cd player.

our friend, debbie, loves her new hifi system so much!

  
all these friends (non-audiophiles) profess to liking their music more after listening to such an incredible system. debbie, one of the proud owners, says, our CDs sound especially good on her system. sure what, we used maggie to tune our sound!

next week, we will be adding an entry-level Rega turntable to our bedroom system to play our LPs! playing LP has always been a sensuous act, akin to making love with the music.

bravo to music therapy to counter burnt-out!     

它又來了！[IT is back!]

the 4th installment is gonna be in IPOH!

ipohans rejoice! the last time we had "in the mood for love" concert, it left the sam tet alumni wanting more and so more we give, this time we bring our teresa teng to ipoh!


ticketing info to come.....

前進！[moving forward！]

jazzy teresa teng in LP soon!

winne ho's album was launched in taiwan last week and in hong kong this week!

we don't know how to make out of this: websites for illegal download of winnie ho's album are sprouting out like overnight mushroom in taiwan and china....  it must be a good thing, we console ourselves.

good thing or not, we are relentlessly marching forward. we are looking to break into mainland china with a possible launch of a LP (vinyl record) of "the jazzy sounds". for the last four years, we didn't make much progress in mainland china due to a lack of connection and the fear of uncontrollable piracy of CDs. but this time, we are confident we will go somewhere as we know someone authoritative. also, you really cann't pirate LP!

the album has received the highest praise from a few people we hold high regards with. their unanimous comment is: you have to bring this overseas, this is your most impressive and complete profile!

another great news to please those who missed the "jazzy teresa teng" concert, there will be a 4th installment of the concert on 7th june 2012, to be held in ipoh syuen hotel. it is gonna be a charity concert to aid sam tet school's education foundation. tickets are RM168 and RM138. this time, the concert is titled "winnie ho: the jazzy sounds of teresa teng" to emphasize winnie's leading role.

winnie's rising fame has helped us in our visibility and recognition. we are very much thankful to CD-RAMA and 8TV (whose reality singing show has winnie as the judge) for that.  really, nobody will give you any attention until you rise up and make yourself visible in the public's eyes. this is the first great step we have achieved!

there will be a new batch of the CDs using better paper! the previous batch we used art paper which can easily be crumbled . also, the printing quality for some inlays are poor.  for this batch, we are using matt art paper, which has a better and thicker texture and we assure you the printing would be better and more refined.. so, for those who wanna change to this new inlay, you can call me! we have 200 copies extra for exchange!

aren't we customer friendly? ;-)