the moment i stepped into esplanade's dome, i knew i was in for a treat. this is a different hall from the one where sheila majid held her concert last year. the dome is smaller but gorgeously built. i sat in the 6th row, exactly the same row and distance from the stage as my last DFP concert where nah youn sun performed.

it was such a treat to listen to emi fujita in this kind of acoustic environment. i really have to thank my lucky stars that i got so many chances like this in my life to listen to world-class performances in a world-class halls.

emi's peformance was good, steady and sweet, without the technical supremacy of nah youn sun. it just goes to show all you need is a good song and a good voice; technicality may not be everything. you would never expect emi to do vocal acrobatics; she is the kind of singer who will sing a good song in a down-to-earth way. all the songs she chose for the night are golden classics - the rose, tears in heaven, annie's song, all my loving, daydream believer, somewhere over the rainbow etc etc. at times, emi's voice is just too flat to carry the song, like in the chirpy "daydream believer" but the audience just lapped it up. emi even did "singapura, singapura" much to the delight of singaporean fans.

to be absolutely frank, the dome's acoustics are not as great as DFP. the bass, from where i sat, is slightly boomy and a lot of details and nuances were lost in emi's voice, unlike my experience with nah youn sun where i could even hear her breathing. and the big speakers flanking the stage were too directional; one could not feel the sound coming from the centrestage. my anti-audiophile friend was complaining "see, there's no soundstage in live performance?? all the sound was coming from the two speakers!" i just couldn't rebutt him.

a little bird to me that emi's cds sold a whopping 30,000 copies in singapore alone. that's an incredible figure considering that most best-selling audiophile cds sold an average of 2,000 copies. (note: 2v1g sold close to 1,000 copies in sg) it speaks volume of emi's popularity in tiny dot.

the autograph session is overwhelming (as can be seen from the photo), the queue was building up fast as soon as the concert finished. the sales of emi's cds was brisk too with another long queue forming at a different counter. poor me had to wait for the autograph session to be over before i got to talk to emi.

i finally got to meet with emi at around 11:00pm at the backstage and all her crew were rushing to get out of esplanade by then. apparently, esplanade has to be closed by 11:00pm. emi looked tired and but nevertheless she is nice and sweet. her event organizer, ms shirleen jong, actually invited us for supper but we felt that we were intruding so we turned down their invitation.

this ranks as my best singapore trip in recent years.

how lucky can one get?

some kind soul is flying me to SG this weekend to cover the emi fujita acoustic live concert in esplanade!

not only will i get the best seat, i also get to interview her!

the interview article will appear in the first issue of MTX (musictoxin xpress), slated to be out in mid-jan 2009.

btw, the january gig at NBT has been postponed due to exhaustion on the part of the two voices, who are going to finish their first musical (magic mirror) stint at genting this sunday. months of preparation has taken a toll on their health. we apologize to those who have made reservations. rest assured, we will be back stronger and better!

once in a while, a concert performance comes along that completely blows your mind away. i just couldn't get enough of tonight's concert at DFP (dewan filharmonik petronas).

anyone who was at DFP last night and tonight must have come out from the hall, like us, totally mesmerized over the superlative performance by korean jazz princess, nah youn sun. for the five of us, we went completely ga-ga. how could anyone who's into jazz music could possibly afford to miss such a stunning performance?

i went with winnie ho and her friends who are all in the music line and all of us had nothing but the highest praise for nah and her band. everyone of us thinks we had the best concert ever for the year. for me, it is one of the very best concerts in the last few years, a few notches above diana krall's concert last month.

nah has the silkiest of voice i have ever heard. it not so much of her tone but he extraordinary voice control. some singers can be soft and velvety; some can be power-packed and explosive but nah has everything. she could be tender and sweet one moment, the next moment she could be hitting the high notes and power-packing the song with so much energy. every singer (like my winnie girl) would be envious of the talents of nah. she has the most perfect of pitch; i couldn't find any faults in her singing eventho' it is a live performance. and her scatting, wow, is absolutely out of this world, i am telling you.

another thing worthy of mention is nah sang many original compositions, which normally would not elicit instant response from the crowd because they are not familiar with the tunes but nah's compositions are so good and packed a pop sensibility that even first-timers could appreciate it instantly.

nah sings a few songs in spanish, cuban and french and she even sang a convincing malay classic "jauh jauh" just to please the malaysian audience.

we met our distributor, interglobal's boss, cheah mun kit there, who distributes nah cd in malaysia (see the cover above). ever the jovial guy, cheah introduced me to nah's producer, who is also called nah. i showed cheah two thumbs-up sign after the concert and cheah the joker jested "i finally met a singer who could sing as well as me!". cheah, you can't sing la!

concert like this enriches our musical life and leaves a permanent mark in our memory. i couldn't believe that i didn't invite all my friends (like jin liang and regine) to this memorable occasion. and audiophiles who are always talking about how good music and good singer should be - you really need to watch out for DFP's programme for future performances of nah youn sun. you can bet that i would return for her future performances.

another note. DFP's acoutics are as usual fantastic but i would prefer a bit more midrange thickness and density. i sat on the 6th row and i did feel that the mid-highs were a bit emphasized. but that's the neurotic audiophile in me talking la!

fabulous, superb, memorable, breathless, stunning, what a night!

p/s now go and get the album "memory lane" from interglobal!

mrs. costello has visibly gained some weights since she became a mother, something which she proudly declared during the concert in kl last night. she even mentioned about her famous husband but i guess not many people know who her husband is. and yes, krall has the most beautiful blonde hair i have ever seen ;-)

the acoustics in plenery hall are good, tho' nowhere approaching the dewan filharmonik petronas (DFP). from where we sat, the sound did not have enough volume. anthony wilson's guitar came across louder than diana krall's piano but it doesn't matter, the quartet played a tight set throughout the entire night.

what impressed me is how seasoned krall's voice has become. it has a kind of tone that is akin to the best of wine reserved for the connoisseurs. many people dislike krall because they think her voice is technically perfect but lacking of real emotions and this i have to disagree. listening to her rendition of joni mitchell "a case of you" with just the piano with pin-drop silence from the audience, i could feel my goose bumps raised and my heart stopped beating.

and anthony wilson's is a gem, his guitar is so soulful and sensitive. i actually mentioned to my producer (chow) that how i wished roger wang is here. i am not saying that roger is not as good as anthony wilson but he could learn a thing or two from anthony. what i love about anthony's guitar is the contrast in his playing between the fast numbers and the slows numbers. there is a good mix of slow and fast numbers in the set and when it comes to the slow (really really slow) ones, krall (and her piano playing) sounded so very seductive and sensitive; it touched and moved the soul. and anthony's guitar playing complemented very well, like hand and glove.

a lot of local musicians i know do not have enough of contrast in their playing, this much i can tell you. most of them revel in playing fast dynamic numbers but when it comes to slow ones, they lack sensitivity and delicacy.

overall, krall and her quartet delivered a night of quality jazz. but i wished the venue could be smaller with more intimate crowd. i was told that krall and entourage adjourned to no black tie (NBT) after the concert to jam with local jazz musicians but it was too late for me to go to NBT.

talking about NBT, yes, two of 2v1g's gigs are full house next week! yay, give me five!