This year’s headliners features some of the best and brightest in Jazz. Tony Bennett is obviously one of the highlight and will be closing the festival this year. If you’re looking for some retro funk, don’t miss Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Grandmaster Dave Brubeck and awesome saxophonist Sadao Watanabe will be making an appearance as well. So get your tickets today!

Strangely the one performance I’m looking forward to the most (and thus, has bought a ticket to) is the British Jazz pianist / singer Jamie Cullum. I’ve bought his past three albums, and so far they haven’t disappoint. I find his style in jazz so interesting and different (to the point where sometime it offends some jazz crowds) that I even wrote a final paper on his performativity to jazz and popular music in my fourth year course Music and the Body.

I was wondering when he’ll come to Canada again, I told myself I’d go see one of his concert if he does. I estimated sometime next year on his next album tour, but the announcement that he’ll be playing the TD Toronto Jazz Festival at the end of June got me all excited. I’ll be with good company too — Heather, Dan T. and my sister Anna so far has told me they’d accompany me to this performance. If there’s anything to look forward to this summer for me, it’s the night of June 30th.

With that, I leave you with Cullum’s ‘These Are The Days’ from his earlier album titled Twentysomething. Enjoy!

These are the days that I’ve been missing,
Give me the taste, give me the joy of summer wine.
These are the days that bring new meaning,
I feel the stillness of the sun and I feel fine.

Sometimes when the nights are closing early,
I remember you and I start to smile.
Even though now you don’t want to know me,
I get on by, and I go the extra mile.

These are the times of love and meaning,
Ice of the heart melted away, and found the light.
These are the days of endless dreaming,
Troubles of life are floatin’ away like a bird in flight.

These are the days
These are the days
These are the days

I thought you said our love would last for ever
Believing that the tears would end for good.
I told you that we’d get through any weather
Maybe that didn’t work out, but we did the best we could.

These are the days that I’ve been missing
Give me the taste, give me the joy of summer wine.
These are the days that bring new meaning,
I feel the stillness of the sun…and I feel fine.

If you are around downtown this Sunday, January the 18th at 3:00pm, then feel free to drop by the Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church on 427 Bloor St. West for some youth-choir awesomeness. Viva! Youth Singers are celebrating Jewish composers from around the world. I will be accompanying a choir as well as perform in a few others. Tickets are around $10 each I believe. If you’ve attended The Nutcracker with the National Ballet of Canada the past December, you’ve probably heard some of these kids in the beautiful music.

As well, a few of my friends, Alex, Dan, Adrian and Sherman are presenting their fourth year design project: Gesture Based Presentation System at University of Waterloo’s Design Symposium on Wednesday, January the 21st. From what I’ve heard, their system earned raved reviews from their professors. Catch their presentation, and this very cool hand gesture system in William G. Davis Computer Research Centre, room 1304 at 11:20am.

I caught myself writing nonsense again, so I’ve decided to self censor myself before I blab on for another three paragraphs, I’ll spare you my thoughts on life in this current moment for now.

Not a lot of things are slated next, I’m simply taking it easy for now — Catch up on movies, video games, Disney in late August, and yes, prepping for resume and interviews… alas, responsibilities.

Since the end of my defense on Tuesday, I’ve had two songs recently released into the Mando-pop scene stuck in my head. One’s called “下雨天” (“Rainy Day”) by the pop / hip-hop group 南拳媽媽. The other one is called “開天窗” (“Open the Sunroof”) by my favorite Mando-rock group: 五月天 (May Day). Weirdly enough, both tracks are nothing groundbreaking, in fact, I think they’re just mediocre pop songs, but I figure there’s nothing wrong with sharing whatever song that is stuck in my head at the moment, so enjoy, and hopefully it’ll get stuck in your head too, in a good way.

Side note, the two songs are quite the polar opposite in terms of the mood. “Rainy Day”, as the title suggest, is really a sad song about the persona’s longing and heartache for her boyfriend to care about her more — Quite the typical Mando-pop these days. “Open the Sunroof” is a track about throwing away your sorrow and becoming a very happy person! Whichever mood you decide to summon, enjoy it!

下雨天

下雨天了怎麼辦 我好想你
我不敢打給你 我找不到原因
為什麼失眠的聲音 變得好熟悉
沈默的場景 做你的代替
陪我等雨停

期待讓人越來越沉溺
誰和我一樣 等不到他的誰
愛上你我總在學會 寂寞的滋味
一個人撐傘 一個人擦淚
一個人好累

怎樣的雨 怎樣的夜
怎樣的我能讓你更想念
雨要多大 天要多黑
才能夠有你的體貼

其實 沒有我你分不出那些
差別 結局還能多明顯
別說你會難過
別說你想改變
被愛的人不用道歉

期待讓人越來越疲憊
誰和我一樣 等不到他的誰
愛上你我總在學會 寂寞的滋味
一個人撐傘 一個人擦淚
一個人好累

怎樣的雨 怎樣的夜
怎樣的我能讓你更想念
雨要多大 天要多黑
才能夠有你的體貼

其實 沒有我你分不出那些
差別 結局還能多明顯
別說你會難過 別說你想改變
被愛的人不用道歉

怎樣的雨 怎樣的夜
怎樣的我能讓你更想念
雨要多大 天要多黑
才能夠有你的體貼

其實 沒有我你分不出那些
差別 結局還能多明顯
別說你會難過 別說你想改變
被愛的人不用道歉

開天窗

一隻鯨魚 要怎麼放進冰箱 打開門 然後用力關冰箱
然後呢 如果你還想要 放一隻大象
一份希望 要怎麼放進心臟 如果你 活的有一點悲傷
答案是 用力丟掉鯨魚 用力甩悲傷

是誰說半夜不能吃便當 是誰說彩虹不能長頭上
是誰說藍色就等於憂傷 你看看天空和海洋
順風時就展開雙翅飛翔 逆風時 就當成 在衝浪
沒有風的時候那就讓我 開開天窗

一句歌詞 怎麼讓你很難忘 方文山 林夕和我都在想
想破頭 也鑽不進一個 緊閉的心房
一個難題 要用多少的智商 多少淚 還有多少的盼望
多少人 變成緊閉門窗 孤獨的國王

是誰說半夜不能吃便當 是誰說彩虹不能長頭上
是誰說藍色就等於憂傷 你看看天空和海洋
順風時就展開雙翅飛翔 逆風時 就當成 在衝浪
沒有風的時候那就讓我 開開天窗

是誰說半夜不能吃便當 是誰說彩虹不能長頭上
是誰說藍色就等於憂傷 你看看天空和海洋
順風時就展開雙翅飛翔 逆風時 就當成 在衝浪
沒有風的時候那就讓我 開開天窗

是誰說半夜不能吃便當 是誰說彩虹不能長頭上
是誰說藍色就等於憂傷 你看看天空和海洋
順風時就展開雙翅飛翔 逆風時 就當成 在衝浪
沒有風的時候那就讓我 開開天窗

I pretty much just had the most jam-packed weekend of my life! The weather was fantastic, people were out and about in the city, I got to spend time with both family and friends, nothing gets better then some quality time with friends and fams!

Friday night I had the pleasure of attending the Luminato Festival kick off at Dundas Square, it was quite the crowd. I loved seeing people dancing and jumping to some quality music, and it was great to be downtown on a Friday night, the city was just bursting with life! First Nova Scotia’s East Coast New World Orchestra sizzles the floor with their regional folk music that made everyone danced (or at least, tapped their feet).

The dancing continued with a lindy-hop swing dance lesson, I’ve never seen so many people dancing to swing

Then, the fantastic, Grammy winning Count Basie Orchestra blew the night away with their smooth and swin’in jazz. I still can’t believe I heard them for free at a spot right in front of the stage. This was followed by the brilliant 14-years-old Nikki Yanofsky who wowed the crowd with her strong vocal work. I still have “Ol’ Macdonald had a farm” stuck in my head (in a good way).

After all the festivity was over, I ran into my high-school buddy Tim Chong and we had Pizza together and catch up on some good times as well as discussing good o’l photography, it was definitely a fantastic night all around.

Saturday a bunch of us celebrated Howard’s 22nd birthday with a dim-sum lunch, the food was quite delish, and then we went crazy and played mario-cart and smash brothers for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening, my family and I went to see “Evil Dead — The Musical”, which I think everyone in Toronto should go see because it was freaken hilarious. The one-liners and slapsticks were dead on, I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in a long time. It does use a lot of fake blood for effect though, so those that don’t really like seeing blood might want to skip this one for that reason. Seriously though, if my mom enjoyed it, you will enjoy it too!

Sunday morning I went to see Heather play some tournament baseball with the Lion’s club. They didn’t do so well, and I wasn’t the lucky charm I thought I was. Nevertheless, it was fun being there watching a supporting a friend and enjoy the outdoors and tanning in the sun. In the afternoon I drove to Waterloo to have all-you-can-eat Sushi with Scotty, and then visited Alex for a quick chat (which usually lasts around an hour or more, so much for “quick”).

Jam-packed but fun weekend!? I think so. My cousin is visiting TO next week, plus gatherings here and there, this is going to be a fun summer!

I found this CD when I was shopping around Taipei, Taiwan. The album, Let’s Start From Here was featured in the store, so I took a listen, and I was Pretty impressed. The voice of 王若琳 (Joanna Wang) was absolutely beautiful, to a point where it was a bit commercial — not necessary a bad thing. Nevertheless, the music presented here managed to captures senses of smooth and funky jazz. Instead of using big orchestra, sound samples, and lots of other noise that usually occupies a pop or rock album in Taiwan these days, 王若琳 instead opt for a small band, presenting a more intimate, and almost romantic take on jazz and pop — a rarity these days.

“Let’s Start From Here”, a fitting title to begin the album, a calm piece that talks about taking a chance and starting a relationship, a smart idea, as the soft background provides the perfect stage for 王若琳 to present her beautiful vocal. “Lost in Paradise” immediately provides a nice contrast to the album opener, offering a more flirty side of things (not to mention a fantastic Sax solo by Fabian Lim), as with “Bada Bada”. “As Love Begins to Mend” turns up the soft-rock side of things, and then of course, “Lost Taipei”, my favourite track, turns up the smooth jazz machine and offers a very romantic view on Taipei with the well written lyrics.

The album did feel a bit like it has lost its steam towards the end of the album, perhaps due to multiple slow ballads and blues being put together side by side, a better arrangement of the album would have upped the energy that it needed by the end. As well, the mediocre cover of David Tao’s “I Love You” seemed almost forced and was painfully out of place in the album. Nevertheless, tracks like “For No Reason”, “Stages of Flying” truly reveals 王若琳 as a poetic and fun artist.

Let’s Start From Here is a very solid debut from 王若琳, if you like smooth jazz, and other artists such as Vienna Teng, then you definitely will like 王若琳. I for one am very glad that something different has finally appeared in the music scene in Taiwan, and let’s hope 王若琳 continues to grace us with her wonderful music in her next album, whenever that may be.

Let’s Start From Here
Giving up, Why should I, Have come too far to forget
Beautiful, Just got lost, Somewhere along the way
So much was missing when you went away
Let’s start from here, Lose the past, Change our minds
We don’t need a finish line
Let’s take this chance, Don’t think too deep
All those promises we couldn’t seem to keep
I don’t care where we go, Let’s start from here.

Standing here, Face to face, A finger on your lips
Don’t say a word, don’t make a sound, silence around us now
Even when you were gone I felt you everywhere

Let’s start from here

I’ve neverbeen the one to open up
But you’ve always been the voice within
The only one for my cold heart

Let’s start from here, Lose the past, Change our minds
We don’t need a finish line
Let’s take this chance, Don’t think too deep
All those promises we couldn’t seem to keep
I don’t care where we go, Let’s start from here.

Lost Taipei

Rain-drenched roads, Matching steps
Let-down hair, And someone’s laugher too

City lights, Oh the city sighs
Then loneliness, Lingers in the air

And so it’s said that I left my heart,
I left in a lost Taipei with you
Neon signs and midnight rides
The curve of your smile kisses joy
The curve of your smile kisses joy

Flowers bloom when you play
Can I have your autograph or something like that?
Come on, Come on Flowers bloom when you play
Oh don’t be so stingy now, I want it on my wall
Come on, Come on

Mothers weep, Lovers meet
Don’t make a sound, Close the door behind

Aimless souls, Oh wondering feet
They won’t go home, Waltz into the night

Come on, Come on, Flowers bloom when you play
Don’t be so stingy now, You know I want it bad
Yes you know that

I’ll be raising cattle, And then some sheep

Play the conga, And then some sleep

Anyways, thanks to my friend Dan Hadi, I’m now addicted to Battlestar Galactica. We were in a conversation about soundtracks, actually, and he told me that BSG had a pretty good soundtrack. At first I was all “Are you serious?”, but I decided to watch the show one night anyways because the mini-series was up on Space, and now I’m totally hooked, and not just cuz Grace Park makes my motor rev.

The space battles are pretty fun to watch. Firstly, they’re realistic, because the sounds are muffled, as they would be in airless space, which adds a tension to what’s going on. ‘Realistic’ because the dogfights are tactical in nature, resulting in some spine-tingling aerial maneuvers by Captains Apollo and Starbuck, like Apollo’s last-minute saving of the day in the original mini-series, when he took two Cylon missiles off the civilian passenger ship he was escorting. When the soon-to-be-president asks “Where the hell is our escort,” and the camera switches to a first-person view behind the missiles, and Apollo comes in fishtailing with his thrusters’ heat signature attracting the attention of the missiles that were heading for the passenger ship, it makes for thrilling viewing.

The panic and tension that occurs every time yet another cold, calculating, roving-red-eyed cylon ship appears is only part of the fun. There’s the complex relationships between Captain Lee Adama and his father, Admiral William Adama; the silent agony of President-by-default Laura Roslin — who it is established early on in the first few minutes has cancer; Gaius Baltar, who may or may be mankind’s worst nightmare, or ultimately the key to their liberation; Kara Thrace, the woman whose nickname is ‘Starbuck,’ flipping the script since the original series’ Starbuck was a man; likewise, the new ‘Boomer’ is Sharon Valerii, another woman taking the place of the original series’ male counterpart. Each one of these characters is complex and deep, and each has secrets that are slowly revealed throughout the course of the series, making for great drama in addition to the great action.

The show also deals with some controversial politics. An episode featured humans as suicide bombers against the cylons, who’s the bad guy now!? What does it mean when your friend you’ve known all your life realized that he/she was a Cylon? The depth of exploration in social issues and implications on BGS is really what makes this show worth watching (And I haven’t even delve into the religion aspect of things yet).

As for the soundtrack, yes, I agree with Dan, it is quite fantastic. I especially like the mini-series, instead of opting for bombastic scores in the style of John Williams, it follows the style of Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and uses a percussion driven score that creates quite a contrast and ample of tension with the action on screen.

I’m in the process of finishing up season 3 and Razor at the moment, obviously not going too well with the whole crazy week and exam thing, but I will definitly catch up this summer. Seasons 4 premiers tonight for those of you that follow, if not, start watching! It’s one of the smartest show on TV in the midst of all these reality shows.

I checked out their website and myspace and their new stuff sounded okay. But I won’t get into details here.

Life continues to be crazy, so hang in there boys and girls.

On a totally unrelated note, is anyone surprised that Toronto Councilor Rob Ford got arrested? I’m wondering what the reason was for the dispute, oh wait, I know, his wife must’ve spent 2 cents over their house-hold photocopying budget.

It’s been, it’s been, it’s been, it’s been
su-su-such a long time, long time, long time
since anybody touched me, touched me, touched me
the way that you touch me
So if I stutter, stutter, stutter
and I feel so so so unsexy
so maybe I’ll just keep my mouth shut at least until you kiss me

So kiss me again
Cause only you can stop this stut-stut-stut-stuttering
Kiss me again
And ease my su-su su-su su-su s-su-s-suffering

I know I know
it’s so it’s so sy-sy-symbolic of everything
Everything that’s wrong with me and you
So tell me what I’m supposed to do
Oh it’s been ages since we’ve been really honest
but I can make ch-ch-ch-changes if you really want this

So kiss me again
Cause only you can stop this stut-stut-stut-stuttering
Kiss me again
And ease my su-su su-su su-su s-su-s-suffering

Kiss me again
Cause only you can stop this stut-stut-stut-stut-stuttering
Kiss me again
And ease my su-su su-su su-su s-su-s-suffering

UGFA strike averted, got one of my professor to sponsor me for my summer independent study, crazy work day, 10 minute dinner before rushing off to write an midterm, which was quite tiring because the professor didn’t have enough exam, and the questions ended up being posted one by one on the over head for those of us that didn’t have a copy.

It was definitely good coming home and be able to put on a pair of earphones, relax, and (attempt to) escape it all. Recently stumbled upon the Indy musics of Shane Mack. Don’t know much about the artist, except for the fact that he’s got a pretty good voice and will be featured in the upcoming movie Shelter.

Below is a track called “Lie to Me”. Despite the melancholic (Yet, passionately beautiful) lyrics, I somehow find peace and calm in it. It’s quite a lovely little ballad.

This weekend will be a busy one, St. Patrick’s Day AND College Royal… oh boy.

Lie, while you’re even early
Deny, that you’re in any hurry
Cry, and tell me not to worry
‘Cause what I don’t know, is never gonna hurt me

Breathe, now baby don’t feel guilty
Deceive me, then just walk away
Leave me, the truth will only kill me
It’s gotta be, it’s gotta be this way

One more bad excuse
Before you turn me lose
Give me something to remember you by
Couldn’t you offer me
A little dishonesty
Promise me you’ll try
You’ll lie to me

Go, your plane is not gonna stay
Slow, so I can take it in
And so you say you’ll see me later
When you know you won’t see me again

Please before you let go of me
Take me one more time
Appease me, tell me that you love me
That you haven’t gone and change your mind

One more bad excuse
Before you turn me lose
Give me something to remember you by
Couldn’t you offer me
A little dishonesty
Promise me you’ll try
You’ll lie to me

Lie, while you’re even early
Deny, that you’re in any hurry
Cry, and tell me not to worry
‘Cause what I don’t know, is never gonna hurt me

One more bad excuse
Before you turn me lose
Give me something to remember you by
Couldn’t you offer me
A little dishonesty
Promise me you’ll try
You’ll lie to me

Happy Valentine’s Day, or Single Awareness Day, whatever category you fit under, just know that somewhere out there, someone loves you, and you should love someone too!

I’m officially running on fumes, as I’m sure many people out there are at this moment. So here’s a quick update of what’s been happening.

Last weekend, I presented at the Annual Music Symposium / Festival hosted by SOFAM, NUMUS, MSA and numerous other organizations around Guelph (SOCAN, Macdonald Sterwart Art Centre, Guelph jazz Festival & Colloquium, etc). It was quite frightening, doing a 30 minute presentation on one of my digital music project I did last semester all on my own to many different other students and most of the music professors. Everything seemed so fun once I started presenting though, and the 30 minutes felt like 3 minutes! It was well received if you’re wondering. Thanks to Ann for taking a snapshot of me while I was presenting.

I also got a chance to listen to friend and Professor Jesse Stewart on percussion and Michael Snow on the piano for a night of improvisation (PDF). It was such an eye opener. I didn’t get to attend Lori Freedman with AJ Hebel, Jesse Stewart, David Prentice, and my other professor Ellen Waterman. I’ve been kicking myself all week.

Other then that, it was midterm, labs, and assignments galore! But I’m enjoying it way more than I’ve enjoyed the other years here at Guelph, so much I’ve decided I will stay here for a summer and yes, be a lab rat! I’ve applied to many different labs position here on campus, here’s to hoping I get them.

One more day to go, then reading week. Awesome. What are everyone’s plans?

If there’s anything I’d recommend listening to on a Valentine’s day, it would be Sophie Milman and her album Make Someone Happy. I first heard her live at the 2004 Beaches International Jazz Festival. I remember picking up her self-titled album a few months later, the album impressed me so much, I decided to continue to purchase her Make Someone Happy album last year.

The album starts off with the highly flirtatious “People Will Say We’re In Love” to get the listener in the mood. Milman’s confident vocal makes this a solid album opener. Shifting mood, we’re given a bassa-nova treatment of “Something In The Air Between Us”, which adds an extra romanticism to the piece. “So Long, You Fool” offers great swing by pianist Paul Shrofel, Milman surprises the listener with soft vocal and happy swing, this juxtaposed with the “break-up” themed lyrics achieves a very interesting, fun, and carefree layer. “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” showcases harmonica player Gregoire Maret and pianist Shrofel with Milman’s honest vocal. “Like Someone in Love” features flugelhornist Guido Basso as we’re once again treated with Milman’s happy and light vocal. “Make Someone Happy”, the album single, offers great music arraignment by Cameron Wallis, add this to Milman’s torchy interpretation to the piece makes this song… instant sex.

“Reste” (“Stay”) spins us back to the bassa-nova vibe with a French twist. A load of fun and quite possibly spring itself is unleashed in “It Might As Well Be Spring” as Milman and rest of the band races through this fantastic, doubled-timed version. The fact that a women is on the vocal in this track makes it a particularly interesting interpretation as well.

While this album offers a fresh take on numerous repertoires, some I didn’t find as exciting. A pop cover of Steve Wonder’s “Rocket Love” felt out of place in the mix of all these great jazz numbers. While the addition of a droning opening vamp in “Fever” updates Peggy Lee’s hit along with its hypnotic effect, the number just gets covered too much by other artists. A cover of the Guess Who’s “Undun” sounded quite bogged down despite its fast pace, and “Eli, Eli” (“A Walk to Caesarea”) was a weak ending to the album overall.

This album definitely have faults, but it’s not enough to upset the other great tracks presented in Make Someone Happy. If anything, I applaud Milman for making bold choices in her repertoires, and some of them definitely payed off, making Make Someone Happy Milman’s solid sophomore album.

Make Someone Happy

Make someone happy
Make just one someone happy
Make just one heart the heart to sing to

One smile that cheers you
One face that lights when it nears you
One man you’re everything to

Fame if you win it,
Just comes and goes in a minute
Where’s the real stuff in life to cling to?
Love is the answer
Someone to love is the answer
Once you have found him, build your world around him

And Make someone happy
Make just one someone happy
And you will be happy too

Ooh, Fame if you win it
Just comes and goes in a minute
Where’s the real stuff in life to cling to?
Love is the answer
Someone to love is the answer
Once you have found him, build your world around him

And make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy,
And you will be happy too.
You’ll be happy too.

It Might As Well Be Spring

I’m as restless as a willow in a windstorm
I’m as jumpy as a puppet on a string
I’d say that I had spring fever
But I know it isn’t even spring

I’m as starry eyed and gravely discontented
Like a nightingale without a song to sing
Oh, why should I have spring fever
When I know it isn’t even spring?

I keep wishing I were somewhere else
Walking down a strange new street
Hearing words that I have never heard
From a man I have yet to meet

I’m as busy as a spider spinning daydreams
I’m as giddy as a baby on a swing
I haven’t seen a crocus or a rosebud
Or a robin on the wing
But I feel so gay in a melancholy way
That it might as well be spring
Yes it might, might as well be spring

Ooh, I keep wishing I were somewhere else
Walking down a strange new street
Hearing words that I have never never heard
From a man I have yet to meet

I’m as busy as a spider spinning daydreams
I’m as giddy as a baby on a swing
I haven’t seen a crocus or a rosebud
Or a robin on the wing
But I feel so gay in a melancholy way
That it might as well be spring
Yes it might, might as well be spring