Esplanade's Mosaic Music Festival returns!

Written by The Esplanade Co Ltd

Page 4 of 8 HEINEKEN MUSIC CLUB Fri, 7 Mar 08 SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS and All Stars Jam (Japan) Buckle up or risk being blown away by the explosive SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS! Made up of six musicians - trumpeter Tabu Zombie, saxophonist Motoharu, pianist Josei, bass player Akita Goldman, drummer Midorin, and agitator Shacho ("agitator", because he stirs up the audience) - SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS gives pulsating live performances that are rough around the edges, unabashedly  entertaining, and constantly kept at boiling point. They got together in 2001 after meeting at a Tokyo club event, putting "life" and "live" back into the Tokyo club scene, then dominated by deejays. Their international breakthrough came when  renowned British DJ Gilles Peterson introduced them on his radio programme in 2005. At the BBC World Wide Award later that year, the band was awarded the John Peel Play More Jazz Award. The term the band has coined for their music gives a clue to what it sounds like - "death jazz". The aggressive alternative jazz performances of SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS have gotten so popular that the band is now one of the hottest bands in Japan, and it has performed in over 12 European countries and at major international music festivals including Montreux, North Sea, and more recently at the Glastonbury and Fuji Rock festivals. SOIL &"PIMP" SESSIONS would be a tough act to follow, but stick around for more superb music at the All Stars Jam. Both international and local musicians will appear on stage to stretch out an unparalleled set of wondrous improvisation. Heineken Music Club (Theatre Studio) 10pm (75mins, no intermission, followed by All Stars Jam till late) $48 (includes one drink) Admission only for patrons aged 18 and above. Sat, 8 Mar 08 Lady Doo-Bop Saskia Laroo Band and Midnight Jam (The Netherlands) "Amazing showmanship... a Jazz Goddess." - All About Jazz "...combining various music styles and cultures in a way as if they always meant to be together..." - J. Lyon Layden Myriad tones lovingly coaxed out of a muted trumpet, groovy rhythms, exciting solos and kickin' rap vocals... This is the famous sound of Saskia Laroo and her multi-national unit, a vivacious, pulsating blend of hip-hop, jazz, salsa, funk, reggae and world music. Saskia Laroo is a rare breed, one of a few women trumpet stylists in the world. To watch her command the stage is to be seized by the sultry glamour of this musical goddess, dubbed the "Lady Miles Davis". Saskia merges an ocean of today's sounds with a deep regard for musical traditions, and a flair for the chic. Everything that lent lustre to Miles Davis and his unforgettable style of trumpeting is apparent in Saskia's sound. Her most interesting achievement is that she created her own world of sound by fusing jazz with hip-hop and rap. This amalgam, often termed "doo-bop," has an addictive rhythm that propels people to dance. Its spirited quality is enhanced by vocals which range from soulful ballads to edgy rap. Heineken Music Club (Theatre Studio) 10pm (90mins, no intermission, followed by Midnight Jam till late) $48 (includes one drink) Admission only for patrons aged 18 and above. In collaboration with Montreux Jazz Festival Supported by Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Sun, 9 Mar 08 Bass Fiction: Kode9 & the Spaceape (UK) "...An altogether more adrenaline-fuelled concept of music with its own uniquely addictive cadence." - Boomkat Based in South London, Kode9 & the Spaceape is a unique producer/vocalist collaboration that vibrates the parts other artists don't reach. Spaceape is a vocal/ video artist whose dubtronic styles span from deep, gravely spoken word and mesmeric chanting to high-octane toasting. Working mostly with Kode9, but also in collaboration with The Bug and Roger Robinson, Spaceape tells abstract, open-ended stories from another  dimension. Kode9's hyperdub sound is difficult to define - sometimes beats, sometimes without, sometimes with a vocalist, sometimes without - the only continuity is the heavy sub bass. Currently, Kode9's DJ sets travel through a selection of dancehall-influenced, bass-heavy skank, currently referred to as grime and dubstep. Kode9 also runs record label Hyperdub (releasing artists such as the Spaceape, Warrior Queen, the Bug and Burial), has released tracks on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label, pioneering dubstep label Tempa, Domino and his own Hyperdub imprint, and has remixed artists such as the Junior Boys. For four years, Kode9 hosted the weekly Fwd>> show on London grime and dubstep pirate radio station Rinse Fm and is a rotating DJ at the seminal dubstep nights DMZand Forward>> in London, spreading the South London sound internationally with his DJ sets. In 2006, he mixed the Dubstep Allstars Vol. 3 CD compilation on Tempa records with vocalist  Spaceape, and released their debut album Memories of the Future. In the same year, their track, Backward, was featured in the 2006 film Children of Men on Universal Pictures. Then in 2007, from Sonar in Barcelona to Mutek in Montreal, they gave exclusive performances of their unlive Bass Fiction set, which mixed their old and new material in a new, intense,  bass-submerged mutation. Heineken Music Club (Theatre Studio)10pm (120mins, no intermission) $38 (includes one drink) Admission only for patrons aged 18 and above. Wed, 12 Mar 08 the bird and the bee (USA) "...light, electronics-specked pop that touches on the Beach Boys, Burt Bacharach and bossa nova. The tracks are expertly constructed and often packed with ideas..." - Rollingstone.com "Their self-titled debut album has a certain lounge-inspired laziness, but with sharp incisors that cut through the easiness with enough of an edge to keep you from becoming lost in your martini. Kitsch is all fine and good, but George and Kurstin have something far more rewarding - good songs." - www.treblezine.com Sunshine, wafting breezes, retro pastels, inflatable pools and blues skies pop into mind with the music of the bird and the bee - light, languid and intoxicating as a bottle of bubbly on a cool summer's day. The duo from sunny Southern California - comprising multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Greg Kurstin and vocalist Inara George - doles out bouncy, sparkly electropop that is part trip-hop, part breezy Brazilian tropicalia, part jazz, part delirious twee pop, part 60s pop, part nü lounge, and a whole lot of cheeky originality. Greg was a jazz piano prodigy who studied with jazz icon and Charles Mingus' pianist, Jaki Byard, and then became one of Los Angeles' most well-respected musicians, performing with Beck and Robert Moog, as well as writing with and/or producing The Flaming Lips, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Peaches and Lily Allen, among others. Inara, the daughter of Lowell George, frontman of the eclectic 70s Southern rock band Little Feat, had been in several bands in Los Angeles and had begun a solo career in 2005,releasing a debut album All Rise. It was during the making of that record that Greg and Inara first met and since then it has been the bird and the bee. Through two successful EPs and an acclaimed self-titled debut album, Greg's inspired songwriting and understated electronics, and Inara's fresh-as-spearmint vocals come together with a charm that simply beguiles. Heineken Music Club (Theatre Studio) 7.30pm, 10pm (60mins, no intermission) $38 (includes one drink) Admission only for patrons aged 18 and above. Thu, 13 Mar 08 Get Up, Stand Up! - Reggae's Greatest Songs by Desmond Foster and band, with guest MC/DJ Papa Dee (UK and Sweden) Get up, stand up, move it to the reggae beats of Desmond Foster, hip-hop and ragga master of genuine old school Jamaican groove and funky rhymes, and his gang of musicians in this tribute to the greatest of reggae masters. Celebrating music from Bob Marley, Dennis Brown and Bunny Wailer, the talents of Desmond Foster, guest MC/DJ Papa Dee (of Brooklyn Funk Essentials) and the rest of the crew take reggae to another level. Desmond's Jamaican roots shine through on his self-produced reggae-album Under Oath. That he grew up in England and now lives in Sweden might not be as obvious as is the fact that he is a natural singer and a talented multi-instrumentalist. The sought-after musician who has played with David Byrne, Boy George, Brooklyn Funk Essentials and reggae greats - Aswad, Dennis Brown, Lady Saw, Gregory Isaacs - is as comfortable behind the bass as he is behind the guitar and the mic. Desmond is also a long-time hiphop/ragga producer and lover of timeless organic grooves that  only spontaneous live-sessions can bring. Guest artist reggae MC, DJ, and producer Papa Dee a.k.a. Daniel Wahlgren, a native of Sweden, brings his ever-charismatic personality and funky dancehall rhythms and rhymes to the party. Fellow Swedes, drummer Christer Björklund and keyboardist Jonahgold have played with several top  Swedish artists, while bassist Anders Kappelinis a reggae-specialist having played with international dance-hall artist Million Styles. From London is keyboardist/ vocalist Glenn Scott, who has performed with Blacknuss Allstars and Craig David. French percussionist Philippe Monrose from Brooklyn Funk Essentials plays with most of the big names that pass through Paris. Sound-engineer Internal Dread is a regular with acts like reggae superstar and poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. Together with this band, Desmond, who jams on the studio sofa with the same intensity that he brings to the stage, builds tracks with a genuine old-time Jamaican sound and feel, flavoured with everything from soul, hip-hop and ragga to pure pop. Heineken Music Club (Theatre Studio) 10pm (90mins, no intermission) $38 (includes one drink) Admission only for patrons aged 18 and above. Fri, 14 Mar 08 Fujiya & Miyagi (UK) "This is dance music downsized for Ipods but also indie rock expanded for the dance floor." - Spin Fujiya & Miyagi is David Best (vocals, guitar), Steve Lewis (keyboard, beats, programming), Matt Hainsby (bass guitar) and Lee Adams (drums). The story of how they met and formed the band is one of mutual hero-worship of world heavyweight wrestler Kendo Nagasaki and a shared interest in krautrock and early 90s electronica discovered while warming the subs bench during Sunday league football. Taking their name from a record player and the film The Karate Kid, Fujiya & Miyagi produces a sound that has been located by the music and media fraternity as somewhere between Can, Happy Mondays, Alabama 3, Kraftwerk and Talking Heads. This, combined with David's penchant for eclectic lyrics - "I've got a slow, a slow, a slowmetabolism" - has won them an excited legion of supporters, inclduing DFA, Tiga, Andrew Weatherall, Chicken Lips and Damo Suzuki. Fujiya & Miyagi released its first album, electro karaoke, in 2002 on Massive Advance Records. The duo was then augmented by Grunder and Mathew Avery for a couple of years and, for the last two, has been whittled down to a three-piece with Matt Hainsby. Fujiya & Miyagi's newest album Transparent Things - said by The Guardian to be "one of the year's freshest dance records but also the wittiest" - compiles new versions of tracks from its successful Tirk 10" vinyl-only singles, with previously unreleased scorchers such as "Sucker Punch", "Transparent Things", "Cylinders and Reeboks In Heaven", described by Uncut as "odes to porn mags and busted ankles over the most irresistible grooves". Heineken Music Club (Theatre Studio) 7.30pm, 10pm (60mins, no intermission) $38 (includes one drink) Admission only for patrons aged 18 and above. Sat, 15 Mar 08 House of Blues II Featuring Lampano Alley, uBlues, Enrico Crivellaro and Teo Boon Chye (The Philippines/ Singapore/ Italy) "The band's sophisticated mix of swing, blues and advanced harmony is about as good as I've ever heard, and that covers major bar hanging-out and friend-of-the-band roles earlier in life in towns like the Big Easy, San Francisco, Nashville, and Los Angeles." - Clarence Henderson, www.apnforum.com (on Lampano Alley) "One of the premier blues bands in Asia - tight and funky. Dig the killer Buddy Guy style guitar, funky Hammond sounds, and great horn arrangements" - CDBaby.com (on uBlues) Putting together a driving contemporary blues groove, a little jaunty swing, abit of jazz vocals, and some R&B flavour, the music Lampano Alley dishes out is all of sharp, smoky and warm. Out front, its founder, songwriter and main man Binky Lampano growls, his voice at times bringing to mind Muddy Waters, intuitive, rich and deeply authentic. In accompaniment, Tomcat Colvin's harmonica yowls and sings, vibrato-laden and perceptive in interplay. Add to that Edwin Vergara's clean, lyrical guitar, Simon Tan's deft, tripping bass and Jojo Lim's drums rounding off the rhythm section, and it becomes clear that this blues band from the Philippines is a real gem. A blues icon in the Philippines, Binky Lampano formed Lampano Alley in 1996, and the band quickly grew to become a driving force in the Filipino blues scene. It has since released its debut album, Songs from the Alley, the first all-original blues album ever recorded in the Philippines, and has performed to standing ovation. uBlues also known as Universal Blues Band, is Singapore's blues band, known to blend blues, swing, funk and soul into one crazy stew. Comprising Danny Loong on keyboards,guitar and vocals, Francis Chan on bass and vocals, Gary Tan on drums and special guests guitarist Enrico and saxophonist Boon Chye, the band has almost singlehandedly brought life back into the local blues scene with its electric energy and sweet, sweet music. The band received critical acclaim in USA reaching the semi-finals at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 2003, where they were the first South East Asian band ever to participate, received positive response at BB King's club in Memphis and at Chicago's No.1 TV superstation, WGN TV who broadcast nation-wide, where they madea special TV appearance, shared the same billing with James Brown, Jackson Browne, Robben Ford and other music greats at the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival at ByronBay Australia in 2004. They were also the first Asian band to be invited to perform at the Barcelona Blues Festival in Spain. Their talent has led Bruce Iglauer, the founder of Grammy winning Alligator Records, America's  largest independent blues label, to say, "The Universal Blues Band plays and sings the blues with deep feeling and real taste. They are excellent musicians who compare favorably with the finest American blues bands. The intensity and honesty oftheir music truly moved me." Heineken Music Club (Theatre Studio) 7.30pm, 10pm (90mins, no intermission) $38 (includes one drink) Admission only for patrons aged 18 and above. << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next > End >>

 

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