DR LONNIE SMITH!!!

Vox 4 played with Lonnie Smith in the studio today!!

Oh for those of you who don't know, Vox 4 is my new band, or if you wanna be more specific, it's a string quartet.

Haruka went to see him performing the other day, and talked to him. He said he wanted to listen to us, so we set up a session with him today and played for him.

He liked how we sounded and started to jam with us together with his drummer and guitarist.

Man, that cheese-fest by DBR that we played became great music all of a sudden!

Then he started to teach us some of his tunes and we picked it up by ears (he doesn't read and write music). We had a great time figuring out our own parts in the music, just improvising along, but you don't feel pointless or time-wasting when you do it ---- as sometimes bad execution of such method could lead to ultimate boredom --- you just... feel good! It made me recall what Justin DiCioccio always said to us in Mancini, "Playin' music's suppose to feel good!" True to the max.

Doc doesn't read or write music at all, but his mind is nothing less than a sophisticated composer. He hears everything in his head and he would tell you verbally what to do with your part. He also told us that using our pair of ears is actually even better than reading the charts, cuz you fully understand your part. I can totally relate to that because I am more an ear-user since young, than a music-reader, never really worked for me, even though I read pretty well in orchestras. (And maybe that's why I picked up jazz easier than most other peers)

Doc is funny as hell and such a wise old man. He would crack jokes anytime and make you laugh like a motherfucker. Like, he would point at his guitarist and tell us, "I don't like this guy, never did." And we started to laugh right? Then he said, "I say, when you don't like somebody, you just tell him straight," after a short pause, he said, "Cuz nobody will believe you anyway." Dude, we just laughed harder!

He's like a grown up kid, having fun all the time, with every little thing around him, even more so with his organ. Damn he would just shred like a motherfucker on the keys so intensely, but you could only see him smiling and singing along when he played. He never shows you how hard it is to command and instrument, because it is beside the point. He said, "Whatever you play, it should come out straight from your heart, otherwise, however many notes you play doesn't matter at all." He said he was impressed with our ability to pick up things with ears, especially we're classically trained string players. "You're usually told, 'Hey! You missed one note there!' But that's where exactly you start from and learn!" He said when the music comes out from your heart, what does it matter if you missed a note?

Then he started to show us lots of shit on his organ, crazy shit that we hear from his recordings and videos. But he said, that's just what he felt right then, not something mathematical nor intellectual. He also told us some stories of how he started and his first gigs with George Benson.

I tell you, this guy knows more about life and music than anyone.

He wants to see us again before he went back to Florida on the 19th. I guess we'll set up two more sessions with him.

Speaking of Florida, he said we can go down to his place there anytime we want and play all day and relax. Oh Lonnie!

See who's got da room??!!

I called the landlord this morning, he told me JULES CAN STAY IN THE ROOM!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

good for u Jules!!!

by the way... I bought a set of speakers for my PC today, Altec Lansing VS2421, damn fuckin' nice sound man!! It only costs me 54 bucks about 10 bucks more than Nick's double speaker set of the same brand (mine got woofer!!)

so... tomorrow Vox 4 will be playing for Lonnie Smith, the Hammond B3 legend...

see what happens...

the group is still in its infancy, and still too much classical sound in there from some of the members... have to work... I hope Seth would pick up some solid bass playing on his cello instead of just some flamboyant and flashy technique. Cuz without the basics, it doesn't matter however fancy your playing is.

Well, I hope if one of you guys bumped into my blog, you won't take offense reading these comments, no ill intentions. By the way... can we not play them DBR pieces anymore? they're real cheesy...

My gig with Mike M...

so i did my shit with Mike again...

ok lah... i liked the first gig better...

i mean... i dunno, maybe because Jesse wasn't there...

i mean, Mike's a good songwriter lah, but his guitar playing (not to mention singing) kinda sucks...

i tried to use a loop station in one of his songs also, that's for the first time i use it in my life. the guitarist let me used his newly purchased looping gear, didn't work so well in the beginning, but afterwards it got alright, almost reaching my expectation...

whatever lah, a gig is a gig! :P

Outside Heath Ledger's apartment

No, I'm no fan of Heath Ledger's.

But I happened to walk by his street and saw a whole bunch of TV station cars parking on the roadside. So I went over out of curiosity, and saw a bunch of people surrounding a news reporter from Channel 7 from Australia that was doing a real time announcement.

His photo was on the wall besides the building door, with a huge Aussie national flag below.

28... just 28...

What would a person dream of when he is 28?

A career? He had quite a great one. A kid or two? He had one.

Damn...

R.I.P.

(guess I have to watch Brokeback Mountain now, haha!)

Waiting for Jules

I'm sitting here in the living right now, 12:54am, just finished watching a DVD.

It's a fairly new film by Luc Besson, called Angel-A.

So my buddy Jules is comin' and I'm so very excited. I still remember the crazy laughter we had that lasted for 3 hours non-stop. I can't believe that I'm getting it soon ---- HERE IN NEW YORK!

Yeah, man, I'm sure he's as excited as me, maybe not because of the laughter (he carries it like a disease anyway), but because of New York and Jazz.

Yes Jules, when you're reading this, you're already in my pad, probably ready to go out for some sightseeing or ready to crash. Whatever it is, I assure you, it will be an exciting new life for you --- learning new things, meeting new people, and who knows? Maybe get a chick or something.

And all you homies out there who are reading this, please don't worry, the fat ass is in good hands, I won't torture him. I don't ask for much you know? Cooking a three-course meal for me everyday and cleaning my room up before 12pm everyday should be good...

JULES YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!! GET HERE SAFE AND WE WILL ROCK DA TOWN!!!!!!!!!!

Keakhirannya...?

Hari terakhirnya di Bandaraya New York

Di suatu warung kopi

Bertemulah mereka

Entah bila cinta memenuhi hati

Tapi hanyalah dari seorang

Gadis hanya nak jadi kawan

Sampai hari ini lagi laki-laki tidak faham

Ah, kisah apa lagi?

Cerita ini sudah tamat

Jadi berpeluklah mereka di stesen keretapi

Nyanyian si bujang bukan merdu

Tapi jelas terdengar si gadis

"Biar musim sejuk, musim bunga, musim panas atau musim luruh
Telefon lah saja kalau nak
Aku akan berada di sana untukmu
Kawanlah aku untukmu"

Termerah mata si gadis

Ia memeluk si bujang sekali lagi

Sambil mencium bibirnya

Sampai sinilah ceritanya si bujang

Tiada apa-apa lagi

(p/s: shit, my Malay sucks!!!)

I Am Legend

The last man on earth was walking on the empty streets of Times Square...





He remembered that fateful day of the final evacutation...





Cops were everywhere, ready to action...




Just kidding... Happy New Year...