jUnKoFuNc

What do a bunch of musicians who are busy with studio recordings, music festivals, music workshops and traveling for gigs in and out of the country do with their time off? Why, they play more music, of course.

Albert Sirimal, guitar maestro, has put together a funk band for the Genting International Jazz Festival with an ensemble that reads like a Who’s Who of Malaysian jazz musicians.

They are the only local band to join the other 9 international bands flying in for the festival that will be held on the 4th – 5th of April 2008 at Genting Highlands.

Named jUnKoFuNc, the project band was conceptualised by Albert and bass player Andy Peterson. Over a cold beer, I asked his music direction and he replied “Dude, the genre is funk, pure funk”.

Funk music is an American creation of the 1960’s. In the 1950’s, West Coast jazz styles were the chic thing to listen to. These had more European elements, were more experimental, had smaller chamber groups and catered to an elitist upper-class audience.

As a directly opposing reaction, hard bop music came about and moved back to its “bebop” roots – incorporating more gospel, blues and a very dominant bass line.

With the addition of the organ and saxophone and simpler harmonies, the style became what was called soul jazz. The main rhythm groove was more repetitive and less improvised.

Soul jazz then mixed with Rhythm & Blues to become more upbeat and dance based. These were the beginnings of Funk.

The bass line and the drums in funk music still form the dominant anchor. Complex polyphonic rhythms are the aim. The harmony is more static, tending to hover around a single chord.

There is a distinctive percussive timbre in funk music – not just from the drums and the bass guitar with its exciting slap-bass technique, but also from the attack of guitars and keyboards or organ and saxophone.

This off-shoot of bebop jazz is particularly popular with Malaysian jazz bands.

The band consists of Albert Sirimal on guitars and main vocals, Andy Peterson on bass, John Ashley Thomas on drums, Justin on keyboards, Badar on percussions and Ahmad Muriz on saxophone.

ALBERT started his musical career in 1985 as a soloist, playing the guitar and singing in many of the local clubs around Klang Valley.

When he emerged as runner-up in the Carlsberg Top Of The Pubs 1989 competition, Albert expanded his horizon by collaborating with other musicians to form bands, working alongside them in concerts, tours, sessions, music festivals and workshops.

Having played with some of the most talented musicians in and outside Malaysia, he has developed his own finger-style guitar picking.

As a highly-respected sessionist, Albert has been called upon to play with a plethora of local stars including Ning, Sheila, Ferhad, Prema Lucas, Maya Karin, Zainal Abidin, Jamal Abdillah, M. Nasir, Too Phat, Reshmonu and various others.

Albert's distinctive guitaring ability saw him exploring beyond Malaysian shores and performing gigs in Thailand, Singapore, Germany and the UK.

ANDY PETERSON is the most sought after bass player in Asia. An outstanding and amazing bass player, Andy has worked with Jackie Cheung, A-Mei, David Tao, Billy Cobham, Harlem Yu and local artistes like Siti Nurharliza, Steve Thorton, Zainal Abidin and Sheila Majid.

Currently a Yamaha Bass Endorsee, Andy encompasses all genres, be it jazz, rock, soul and in the case of jUnKoFuNc, it’s Andys favourite, funk.

Teaming up with Andy to handle the rhythm section is JOHN ASHLEY THOMAS on drums. A very talented and phenomenal drummer, John started playing drums when he was just 3 years old.

His credits include working with Grammy award-winning flautist Nestor Torres and touring the Blue Note circuit in Japan with Motown legends The Three Degrees, and playing at numerous jazz festivals including Arts Alive! Jazz Fest in South Africa and Jarasum International Jazz Fest in South Korea.

He has performed with premiere Jazz/Latin/Funk musicians and bands like Farid Ali, Steve Thornton, Grey Lyons, Alonso Gonzalez, Akihiko Matsui and Jiro Okada of Junky Funk from Japan, Yu Quan from China and Frank Gambale.

He won the Best Drummer Award 2002 at the Yamaha AsiaBeat Band competition and currently is a Yamaha Drums Endorsee and Sabian Cymbals International Endorsee. John currently heads his own band Funk Mob.

Also in the ensemble is JUSTIN LIM who will be handling the piano and keyboards. Justin has performed and recorded with musicians and artistes of diverse inclinations. His performing experience includes stints with artistes like Isaac Entry, Noryn Aziz, Angelita Li and Kris Dayanti.

He has contributed his talents to various recordings such as the yet-to-be-released album by Greg Lyons Nonet, indie icon Pete Teo's sophomore album Television (2006) and Malay pop artiste Min Malik's single "Jemu" (2000).

From 2004-2005, he was a member of the now defunct indie rock outfit, Her Reverie, playing guitars and keyboards. His compositions and arrangements can be heard on Ong Yuen Kwan's spoken word album The Most Beautiful Time (2007) and also on the independent film Thank God I'm an Atheist (2007). Justin is a recent graduate of the Penn State University with a MMus in Composition/Theory.

When the idea of getting a horn section to be part of the band was brought up, the vote was unanimous. AHMAD MURIZ CHE ROS. A graduate from the highly acclaimed Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, majoring in film score, Muriz may like jazz but his feet can’t stop tapping to contemporary orchestral music.

Currently attached with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Muriz’s extensive work on arrangements and composition exploring the rich heritage of traditional Malay music has been highly respected by music lovers and musicians themselves. Muriz will be playing the saxophone and handle all brass arrangements for jUnKoFuNc.

And to top it all, providing that bit of Latin flair to the whole music arrangements is BADAR. Having associated himself with the likes of Mr Gambus @ Farid Ali and Karen Nunis, Badar is one of the most sought after percussionists in Malaysia.

His dedication towards his profession has taken him all over Malaysia and across Asia. Badar can be caught playing regularly alongside Albert Sirimal and singer Vijay David, shuttling between KL, Singapore and various parts of Asia.

The Genting International Jazz Festival 2008 will feature the largest repertoire presented so far in its run.

Tickets, band information, room packages etc can be found on the website www.gentingjazz.com. The hotline number to call is 03-2718 1118.

Here and Now The Best of the 80’s

It’s hard to put a price on nostalgia. Shows like Here and Now The Best of the 80’s evoke powerful memories for children of the '80s and new converts alike. People like me who grew up in that decade. We like to think back to that wonderful time when we were aged between 16 and 25 and were free of all responsibilities. I feel very privileged to be associated with such a fantastic era.

It was a time before the corporations, the conglomerates and the globalization of music began. Almost all the artistes in the 80s were very individualistic. They designed their own images, bought their own synthesizers, played around with the sounds, experimented and did their own thing all from the heart.

This is why I jumped at the chance to attend the concert at Genting’s Arena of Stars. The tour has already been staged in Britain, Australia, Japan and Europe, to rapturous response.

For the Malaysian show, five international acts took the audience down memory lane with their string of hit songs. The tour featured the following amazing artists playing their greatest hits.

LIMAHL

Kicking off the show was Limahl, 50, best known for his song Never Ending StoryToo Shy and Only For Love. which was the theme song for the fairytale movie of the same name. The former frontman of Kajagoogoo teamed his charming good looks with his soulful voice to enjoy a successful solo career after leaving the group, with hits like

In 1991, Limahl got back into the music business, not as a singer, but as a producer songwriter and arranger for other artistes such as Kim Wilde, Peter André (who had a big hit with Mysterious Girl) and the like. His real name is Christopher Hamill (his stage name is an anagram of his surname).

After the first song Limahl’s vocals were drowned out by the band, evidence that the soundman was on a different planet from the rest of us.

JOHNNY HATES JAZZ

Johnny Hates Jazz is an English pop band formed in 1986 by Clark Datchler, 44, (vocals, piano), Calvin Hayes, 47 (keyboards), and Mike Nocito, 45 (bass).

Clark Datchler left in 1988 and was replaced by The Cure’s bass guitarist, Phil Thornalley, 47.

In 1992, the band was involved in a serious car accident which left Hayes in a body cast for over a year. The band lost momentum and eventually split. In September 2007 Hayes announced that he and Mike Nocito, with a new vocalist, Danny Saxon, would be reforming the band.

Their classic pop hits include the top 5 hit Shattered Dreams, Different Seasons, I Don't Want To Be A Hero, Heart Of Gold and Turn Back The Clock (which featured Kim Wilde on backing vocals), their album of the same name went to No. 1 and went double platinum in the UK selling over 4 million copies worldwide.

Being one of their hardcore fans, I found their performance heartbreakingly dismal, with Saxon sounding like an amateur karaoke singer, compounded by the inefficient soundman. Images of Simon Cowell and his scathing remarks kept running through my head.

PAUL YOUNG

Paul Anthony Young, 50, most recently seen on The Asian Food Channel’s Hell’s Kitchen, has a genuinely soulful voice and hits that have spanned the decades. This former singer and bass player with the Q-Tips returns for this tour after appearing on the very first one in 2001 to great critical acclaim. Paul sang a selection of his hits from Come Back And Stay, Love Of The Common People, Senza Una Donna, Tear Your Playhouse Down to 'Every time You Go Away.

The voice may be a little throaty now but ever the showman, he was very energetic, dancing all over the stage and even coming down to dance a slow number with a lucky gal from the audience.

Paul was featured on the recording and video for the Band-Aid project, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band-Aid's proceeds went directly to famine relief in Ethiopia.

HOWARD JONES

John Howard Jones, 53, made his debut performance on UK’s Top of the Pops in October 1983. His album Human's Lib went platinum. Jones combines synthesizer music with commentary on animal rights and life's excesses, with philosophy, spirituality and humanistic ideals as his lyrical themes.

In 1984, he released a single called Like To Get To Know You Well, which he dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games. Although it was not an official Olympic anthem for the Games in Los Angeles that summer, it caught on and was a huge worldwide hit. The song appeared in the film Better Off Dead and the computer game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Howard sang hits such as What Is Love, Things Can Only Get Better, New SongPearl In The Shell. Corny as it was, him reading “Selamat datang keGenting nama saya Howard Jones” in Bahasa endeared him as much as his stage antics and vocals.

BANANARAMA

This band was one of the first in the music industry to promote “girl power” in the ’80s and are listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as Britain’s most successful girl group

This sassy duo (Siobhan Fahey left in 1988 after getting married to Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and formed Shakespear's Sister with Marcella Detroit) comprises of original members Sara Elizabeth Dallin, 47, and Keren Jane Woodward, 47, took to the stage for their first Here & Now tour. They belted out Cruel Summer, Robert De Niro's Waiting, Venus, Love In The First Degree, Nathan Jones and Na Na Hey Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.

Their hard rocking, slick choreography and hunky male backing dancers certainly helped the show to reach its peak, leaving us wanting more.

Bananarama also featured on the Band Aid hit single 'Do They Know It's Christmas? as well as a cover of 'Help' with French & Saunders for Comic Relief. Keren lives with ex-Wham star Andrew Ridgely.