The Unofficial Traxx.FM Jazz Selecta!

Here are some excerpts from a couple e-mails from one of our listeners Reza…

I’m a devoted listener of your jazz show and I just would like to say…great job guys! I love all those little known trivias about jazz ( like yesterday, the one about Mussolini’s son) It goes to show the length of effort you put to make the show not just enjoyable, but enlightening as well. Keep it up and if possible avoid “diabetic jazz” at all cost! I hope you could also play more esoteric stuffs. Like maybe something as abstract as Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew or as quaint as Jelly Roll Morton. Take some chances guys, Im sure it’ll win new devotees who are already sick of formulaic jazz.

And he had a couple suggestions to improve the show….

(1) Why not feature covers of a classic jazz song. Like lets say Sound Of Music’s “My Favorite Things” as reinterpreted by John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck. Improvisation after all is the foundation of jazz, so itll be noteworthy listening to the different styles adopted by jazz artists to a particular song.

(2) Feature snippets of sounds taken from jazz themed movies. For example, the anguished dialogue between Charlie Parker and his wife from the movie “Bird”. Or the fiery rhetoric of Dexter Gordon in “Round Midnight”.

(3) MTV Movie Awards feature quirky awards…why not Jazz Selekta. Best Trumpet Duels, Best Dressed Jazz Artist (Sun Ra and his outlandish costume!) , Best Gimmick…etc.

Thanks Reza for your kind words and suggestions. We’ll definetely keep them in mind!

In case you tuned in the time we were giving dinner vouchers away, Reza was the one who sang “sleazy” as opposed to “Cheesy”… Good joB!

Hello Jezza and Maya,
I have just heard your clips of interview with Mia from the alldatjazz website. Let me just say it was very entertaining and a few interesting points were made regarding support “or lack thereof” of Malaysian musicians - even more so, when comes to Jazz. More on this later but first, please allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Victor Yong. I was born in Miri, 45 yrs ago but have reside in Vancouver, Canada for close to 30 yrs now. 28 yrs to be exact. I am a professional session guitarist and being Malaysian, I am very proud of all things Malaysia. What prompted this email? Well, I’ll try my very best to make it short…

It started a few months ago when my cousin, working as a nurse in KL, started chatting online about music. She sent me website infos on many musicians back there esp. on Jazz. To say I am impressed is really an understatement but I really didn’t think there would be anyone interested in Jazz in Malaysia. To discover events like the Penang Jazz Festival, Rainforest music festival in Kuching and now the Miri International Jazz Festival, I am totally awe struck. Needless to say, I will make a trip back home next May for the event.

Mia is really quite correct about lack of support sometimes. I think this is a common attitude all over the world. I remember reading articles about British Fusion guitarists John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth, who said the same thing. The only time the people back in Britain would accept them is after their travel to the States, make it there and return, then they become superstars - so to speak. Also, when you have music that requires a little more sophisticated listening skills that is not in the Mainstream, it does seem to go unnoticed. Otherwise, Britney Spears or Janet Jackson would still be singing in bars and Sonny Rollins or Tuck Andress would be playing coliseums.

Anyhow, I just want to say I think your Jazz show is fantastic in promoting the local Jazz scene. Eugene’s alldatjazz website is really THE website to go to for anyone interested in Malaysian Jazz. That’s how I found out about your radio show and tons of other very interesting musicians.

Recently, my brother just returned from a business trip in Malaysia and I had my cousin bought me some CDs of the local musicians. Two CDs of Double Take and one of APU. I just want to say, after hearing those CDs, the music standard back there is really world class. I really hope one day our annual Vancouver International Jazz Festival will bring in bands like APU or Double Take. I wrote to APU to have them submit their CDs to our local scene but have not heard from them.

I am doing my share of “spreading the good word” of Malaysian music scene. Wished I can do more.

All the best and keep up the good work.

Regards,
Victor

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay in this update - been quite busy makin ends meet if ya know what I’m sayin! Anyway, who caught the Anita Sarawak interview last week? It was a great honour interviewing her and at one point I got a taste of what it’d be like on her show. Well I know a couple of you were hoping to get your dirty hands on a copy of her latest album Another Dimension and tonight you finally can! We have 3 copies to give out alongside a couple dinner vouchers at the Cotton Club! I know I know we shoulda promo’d this sooner but honestly I only found out recently! Hey that’s how it works sometimes! Better something than nothing. I will let you know that next week JAzz Selecta falls on VALENTINE$ DAY - and you can bet we’ll have something to give out..so tune in!