The Reader

Mabok Kepayang

Thank you Zulkifli for coming over to meet me at KLCC yesterday.Thanks for the CD of Mabok Kepayang.The first time I saw Dewangga Sakti performance was at RA Fine Art Gallery(see the photo).And I love the music you guys playing when I saw you a gambus,violin and drum.

By the way ,may I congratulate your group on the release of your first album Mabok Kepayang.More information about this up and coming group to watch and to listen is here.

Disclaimer:I have no commercial interest in this musical group, but Zul is my school mate who is at least two decades younger.

P Ramlee-The Musical

P Ramlee-The Musical
Originally uploaded by Adibi

How true...It is no business like show business!

My wife and me have great time at Istana Budaya last night.It was the last day of the shows.If it was not due to some technical glitch for about 15 minutes just before the intermission,the show was perfect.Anyway,I gave it 9.5 out of 10.This is a REAL Malaysia Boleh.The theatrical performance was as good as I have seen at Broadway,New York and London theatres.

Jamming SDARA

Jamming SDARA
Originally uploaded by Adibi

Last night,I attended a small gathering of my schoolmates.Our host is a retired general in the Malaysian Armed Forces.(the one in the middle as shown in the photo).For me,it was a very nostalgic event..

Most of us have grey hairs.When I asked our guitarist,how he could remember to play guitar after more than 30 years since we left school,he said it is always there he picks the guitar.I think it is like riding a bicycle-I never forget even though I didnot ride a bike for than three years due to my knee problems.

One of the song Oh Fatimah made me sang along...it brought me to my alma mater SDAR in Tanjung Malim within seconds.Virtually,I was there...

Those were the days..

NB: Musical Notes...I am taking my wife to attend P Ramlee The Musical [the last day-Sunday 15/6/08(sponsored by Celcom)].Any comments of The Musical?

Gamelan

Last weekend I attended a wedding ceremony in Shah Alam.Instead of kompang,we have gamelan music to accompany the specific events during the 'bersanding' ceremony and the dinner.

This event reminded me of my first encounter with gamelan musical performance when I was in Jakarta way back in mid-80's. I don't know much about music but I like it.Then,I observed that gamelan music is making its presence in my country Malaysia.Another beautiful musical experience was in late 90's when I attended a musical event at MPO,KLCC.Here I experienced the combination of gamelan music with the Western modern orchestra.

Music is like mathematics ,in a way.It transcends language and geographical borders.My cousin from Kelantan does not understand a word of Hindi/Urdu, but she confessed to me she watched the film Bobby 7 times! When I was schooling in Tanjung Malim, Perak I used to watch Hindustani movies and I even can recite the  Hindustani song from the film Sangam! Those were the days...now I sometimes forget my classmate name.

When I was growing up in my kampung, I used to play rebana and keretok.Nowadays, my kids only know how to listen to music from CD's or mp3 downloads.

Love has no destination..

Love is a subject that I am most unqualified to talk about.Is it a noun or a verb? It all depends on the context and if I may add,the contact. According to the scholars of philosophy, love cannot be defined - so who am I to know what is love?

The title of this posting is the name  of one of the famous songs by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali .He was the maestro of Qawwali.

And tonight, I am going alone to sit and listen to the Qawwali at MPO -  which I have not heard before. What is Qawwali? Honestly,I do not know before I google it . And after reading about it here,I bought a ticket for tonight.I hope it is going to be a musical adventure for me...

If music is the food of love,play on.I hope to be able to  return home sober...

But then,it is not really the music to the ears in the similar manner as the rolling waves of the oceans to the eyes. .It is the water..

PS:

Writing the above note,it reminds me of the song I love to sing when I was much younger...

Loving you
Is easy because you're beautiful....
Making love with you
Is all I want to do....
Loving you
Is more than just a dream come true....
And everything that I do
Is out of loving you....

No one else can make me feel
The colors that you bring....
Stay with me while we grow old....
And we will live each day in spring time....

Because loving you....
Has made my life so beautiful....
And every day of my life
Is filled with loving you....
Loving you....
I see your soul come shining through....
And everytime that we....
Oh I'm more in love with you....

Nafas Cahaya

To keep my mind from wandering aimlessly while doing my morning walk, I switched on my iPod and listened to a few Malay songs like "Masih kah engkau ingat"[kopratasa] and "Nafas cahaya"[Mishar Omar]. Both songs made me felt younger...nafas segar;-)

The photo shown is a 'layang-layang putus tali..'.

Live Jazz

When was the last time have I been to the live jazz show?It must be more than five years ago. The last one was in Birmingham, England -standing room only.But, the one I really enjoyed the most was in Manila when a Filipino music played saxaphone.

So, this weekend,I plan to accept my friend's invitation to be at California Jazz...@ The Curve.

A kind of Blue

Yesterday I got the special favour from my friend to accompany me to Tower Records at KLCC to select some 'easy listening' music. He knows I like jazz and straight away we went into the Jazz Section of the music mega store. Sadly, I could not get a copy of A Kind of Blue-SOLD OUT:-(

According to Bob,the supervisor, there are three hot albums now but all sold out as soon as they arrive at the shop. The three are A Kind of Blue, Time Out and When Harry met Sally sountrack. Do you know any where else I could lay my hands on these CD's?

Special Notice to those who love writing in their diaries/journals:

My friends and I are organising a get together for moleskine notebook owners/users this Saturday 2/12/2006 at Starbuck Coffee at KL Sentral from 2pm onwards. This meeting is to share our knowledge/experience in writing journals and any other matters of mutual interests. Anyone of you are welcome to join the conversations irrespective whether you are  writing  journals (not necessarily using moleskine) or not. No entrance fees.

Music you like..

I am looking for a few CD's to install to my mp3 player -iPod.Yesterday, a friend recommended the one shown on the left. May I ask you to suggest some good music for my listening pleasures. Thank you.

PMP

First,let me clarify that PMP stands for Portable Music Players and not what I usually mean as project management professional.

Yesterday, I read  a very interesting article about the battles among the big companies like Apple,Sony,Samsung and Creative Technology in MP3 music players industry.In 2004,40.3m MP3 players were produced and this year it may reach 74.4m. That is BIG business when I translate that into dollar value.

Looking back to when I started listening to music from our house radio in late 60's, so much has changed in the the way music are produced, distributed and enjoyed. I remember we congregated to one corner and listened to Lagu Permintaan and Drama Radio. By the way,for the information to younger people,TV came to Malaysia only in 1963 and my first time watching TV was in Tanjong Malim in 1965 when I went to SDAR-a full boarding school.At that time,none of my kampung mates have watch TV.

With TV in almost every house now,I notice that we seldom listen to the radio unless we are on the road.And now, with the affordable MP3 players, the way and the style of listening to radio and music has changed tremendously.Some smart phones also act as radios! By the way,I seldom see my children listen to radio anymore. Not only my kids have changed but I also have my own MP3 player-which I called Adipod;-)

May I have your views on how technology has changed the way we listen to the radio and to the music. Thanks.