Unit Asia Asian Tour 2012

The above event took place on 9/2/12 at 8.00pm. As usual, traffic in downtown is terrible especially  infamous Jalan Sultan Ismail. I got there early.

Show supposed to start at 8.00pm but delayed to after 9.00pm to accommodate the crowd. I hate the later comers for interrupting my show enjoyment for whatever the reasons.

The band called themselves Unit Asia, made up of a group of talented musicians, a lead guitarist, a saxophonist, a pianist, a bassist and a drummer. Each one of them is a virtuoso in their own right.

Before the show starts

The songs were composed by the band members. Not the jazz standards, there were some elements of Rock, Blue, Funk etc. It was a nasty mix. They played the type of jazz that appealed to them and less of the commercial elements, you know the type appeals to the audience.

List of songs:

1. Prelude au Voyage
2. New Blues
3. The art of Wind-up Alarm Clock
4. The Sea Outside My Window
5. Adventure of the Sanchiki            <break>
6. Galinha do Caril
7. Hot Curry, Summer Dish
8. A Day In Blue
9. Walkin' Around the "K"
10. Quiet Love
11. Song of Unit Asia

Once the light is dimmed, the spotlights is lighted up, the release of smoke and fog, you still do not know what in installed until the drum broke the silence. The Thai saxophonist could really create magics with his sax. Great diaphragm workout. The guitar and sax interplay smoked the stage. They went overdrive right away as if they have taken ice at the back stage. No warm up required. The facial expression and body language tells it all. At times, you see the lead guitarist was showing an agony face, muscle scram or somewhat, the saxophonist was suffering a serious constipation, push..123... push..., the drummer was on a hot seat and the pianist was doing the Egyptian head nodding. They got high. The music spoke and the effect of the spotlighting did nothing more but tantalizing our visual senses. The crowd were cheering, fueling the play.

You may ask how nasty? Many times when all musical instruments come into play, the loudness peaked to an unbearable level, I did notice the speakers were cracking occasionally. There was no way I could follow the instrument/music when all come together. I got a wall of unidentifiable sound, confused and lost. You could follow the instruments playing reproduced music through your stereo because the recording engineers help you to. No hi fi terminology can be found. Noise is a total disrespect to the band.

Their jazz was free spirited at times, showcasing individuality, jam you jam me. Mostly, the sax took center stage with the guitar came in for the interplay. The rest played the supporting role. Unit Asia took a 15 minutes breather after a 30 minutes of grooving, took our moods to another level. The crowd were treated a taste of speed. All hell break loose! The individual improvising was breathtaking with each playing at breakneck speed. I was yearning to myself "faster, faster, faster...".  The band members went into infighting on showmanship at times. The crowd reached the climax. I was waiting for the guitarist to smash his guitar, that did not come unfortunately.

Encore, encore, encore....

Show ends at 10.30pm, the crowd wanted more, "Encore, encore, encore...". Like any showbiz pro would do, Unit Asia came back out and played 2 more songs. They saved their best songs and slowed things down. Those slow numbers were as if downplaying their skills and talent. It was chicken feet to them. Overall, their performance was energetic, enthusiastic and thrilling. A good performance always pump you up after the show.

Jamal is depositing ...

Unit Asia is not for any one. I took some time to get in to the groove. It is not my type of Jazz but I have now experienced the different dimension of Jazz. In my humble opinion, we should not try to understand Jazz but to "flow with the flow". Whether you arrive at Jamal in the stinky shit hole in "Slumdog Millionaire" or seeing haven is immaterial. It is about the emotional connection and charismatic play.

Now, back to hifi. The dynamic was fabulous, the drum was thundering but effortless. What is that supposed to mean, it was powerful and yet not dominating. Nope, you do not get the sense of being there listening to your stereo. The sax possessed the sheen metallic quality, not as extreme as some systems that I have heard of. Which system? Sorry, I can't tell. It must be the work of sound mastering at the venue. The timing and pitching is very critical.

I played "When Ronan met Burt" the next night, a good non audiophile pop jazz cd, the recording is decent. You never get wrong with Burt Burcharat or David Foster for the music! I got a closer picture of the real things when I cranked up the loudness. I only managed to achieve a stage as big as my room and the dynamic is notably compressed. However, thes sense of "live" was less apparent. Sigh!

Our systems failed miserably to emulate the vast scale of ambiance and the energy, no matter how high end it gets. Our system sounded too well manner, too polite and too tidy!  I have no chance of listening to the mighty FM Acoustic power house, it is said to sound like the real things, I have my doubts....

Special thanks to MK for the tickets.