The ExperiMENTAL Quartet

Had my first show with the ExperiMENTAL Quartet last night in The Top Room, KL.

That was a fun gig, never seen such a great reaction from the crowd doing THIS kinda music.

What kinda music?

You see... we played everything from standards to originals to rock to free jazz to experimental...

I don't suppose KL has ever seen something like this from local musicians.

Our line-up is totally weird too. We do not have drums and bass, only a piano, a violin, a sax and a trumpet.

We were a little worried about the instrumentation at first, but we later sorted it out without thinking too much. The bass is already in the piano, so why worry?

So we focused more on collective improvisation and harmonising and complementing on each other's parts. It worked out perfectly.

Our saxophonist Julian's motto is "I don't give a shit".

We held on to that and did as we feel like on the stage, mixing spontaneity with pre-rehearsed arrangements. We did some funny stuff like playing Take The A Train without playing the head at all --- they know what it is anyway! We also played "The Days of Guns n' Roses".

Yes, you read me right, "The Days of GUNS N' ROSES".

We fused "Sweet Child O' Mine" with Mancini's Days of Wine and Roses. We ended our first set with that. I could see people's faces changing every time we twist the music into another one. That was fun.

We also did free jazz, based on a 3-phrased melody. We stretched out really far and I felt that our souls were transported to somewhere else.

That was a great night! I hope tonight till be a great one too.