My ex-drum teacher of 2 months, Wen, is back in town for summer break. He’s definitely one of the best young drummers around (and I’m not saying that just because) and he’s set up a band that includes 2 prodigies — Alex Wintz on guitar and Katie Thiroux on upright bass and vocals, shipped here from the US. Both of them have won awards from DOWNBEAT magazine at the age of 18! They will be joining Wen on drums and his long time musical companion and friend, Chok Kerong on piano and Rhodes.
If you’re interested in Jazz and Fusion numbers or watching kickass musicians per se, this is something you definitely cannot miss!
Here’s the schedule:
Jazz@Southbridge
Date: 10th and 11th Of July
Time: 3 sets, 1st set starts at 9:30pm
Address: 82B Boat Quay
Tel: 6327-4671
Website: http://www.southbridgejazz.com.sg/
Barstop
Date: 12th of July
Time: 3 sets, 1st set starts at 8pm
Address: 8 Devonshire Road
Tel: 6735-6614
Website: http://www.imaginings.com.sg/
Esplanade Outdoor Theatre - Stage@Powerhouse
Date: 13th 14th and 15th of July
Time: 13th and 14th – 3 sets, 1st set 7.30 - 8.15pm., 8.45 - 9.30pm,
10-10.45pm;
15th –2 sets, 1st sets starts at 7.30 pm
Website: http://www.esplanade.com.sg
BluJaz
Date: 20th July
Time: 3 sets, 1st set starts at 9:30pm
Address: 11 Bali Lane
Tel: 6292-3800
Timbre
Date: 19th and 21st of July
Time: 3 sets, 1st set starts at 9.30pm
Address: 45 Armenian Street (The Substation Garden)
Website: www.timbre.com.sg
Some information about the musicians:
Alex Wintz:
Alex Wintz is a guitar player originally from Jersey. He has already at a very young age performed with some of today’s best musicians as well as at world class venues in New York City and New Jersey. Born in California, and raised in New York and northern New Jersey, Alex began learning guitar at the age of 4. He has had the opportunity to be mentored by some great teachers including
Vic Juris http://www.vicjuris.com/ , Mick Goodrick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Goodrick, and Tim Miller http://www.timmillermusic.com/.
Awards and recognition Alex have achieved includes
− The New Jersey All State Jazz Band
− The New York Youth Symphony Jazz Band Classic
− New Jersey Performing Arts Center Composition award,
− 2006 Level II ARTS awards Winner,
− 2006 Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship, a substantial scholarship to the Berklee School of Music before entering his senior year,
− New Jersey Region Band,
− 2006 Most Outstanding Jazz Soloist in High School category in the
Downbeat Student Music Awards
− Outstanding soloist at the New Jersey-International Association for Jazz Education (NJ-IAJE) jazz festival for 2 years straight!
He has also performed at NJPAC, the Knitting Factory, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, The Dancing Goat, IAJE, the Monterrey Jazz Festival, and the Borgata Casino. He is extremely proud of these awards however he also knows that these awards MEAN NOTHING and that it is the search for enlightenment in music that is most gratifying.
Alex is 19 and currently pursuing a degree in Berklee School of Music.
Katie Thiroux:
Katie Thiroux, a bassist and vocalist from Los Angeles, California, is the recipient of the Phil Ramone Presidential Scholarship. She began her musical studies on the violin at the age of 3, switching to string bass while in elementary school. She is a 2006 graduate of Los Angeles Hamilton High School Music Academy, where she performed with two acclaimed vocal jazz ensembles. She performed at the 2004 and 2005 International Association for Jazz Education conferences, and was a featured vocalist at the past three Monterey Jazz festivals. For four years in a row, Thiroux was selected to be a member of the elite Gibson/Baldwin Grammy National Honor Jazz Ensemble. She has also received fellowships to the prestigious Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony, and the Vail Jazz Festival. In 2005, Thiroux received the Downbeat Magazine Student Music Award for Outstanding Vocal Performance.
Katie is 19 years old is considering pursuing music education as a major at Berklee.
Chok Kerong:
Chok Kerong began playing the piano at the age of 4, and hasn’t looked back since. As an improviser, his style is described as "muscular and risk-taking", and influenced by the likes of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. He has played at many jazz clubs in Singapore, and has also worked in studio on albums by Singapore Idol Taufik Batisah, Sheikh Haikel, Parking Lot Pimp and Penny Tai. Kerong’s versatility as a pianist has allowed him to perform in a wide range of genres that includes acoustic jazz, rock/pop and soul/R&B. In 2002, he performed at the Esplanade’s Music Box Festival in a trio format featuring Eddie Layman drums and Dr Tony Makarome on bass. In 2004, he performed on electric organ with Andrew Lim on guitar and Soh Wenming drums at "JazzUp," a jazz festival held at the Arts House. He also performed at the CHIJmes Jazz Festival (CHIJazz) that year with Soh Wenming on drums and Joshua Wan on bass. In 2005, Kerong performed at SPH’s Gift of Music Concert ttp://www.sph.com.sg/news/latest/press_051107_001.html with multi-talented Singaporean musicians. He also performed with Joshua and Wenming at "Jazzpiration," a jazz festival organised by South-East CDC held at East Coast Park, as well as "Rhythms and Rhapsodies," an arts festival organised by the National University of Singapore. In 2006, Kerong performed at the Mosaic Music Festival http://www.mosaicmusicfestival.com/2006/prog1D.html held at the Esplanade. He played keyboards for Michaela Therese and Vanessa Fernandez, popular band EIC and Sheikh Haikel’s Hip-Hop Festival. He was also featured in his own performance leading a jazz trio comprising Dr Tony Makarome (bass) and Andrew Lim (guitar). Earlier this year, he performed at the ASEAN Rocks! http://www.aseanrocks.com/openday.html music festival held at the Hard Rock Café. Recently, Kerong has been performing more often as an organist, drawing upon the innovations of Larry Young, Jimmy Smith, Larry Goldings and Sam Yahel.
Soh Wen Ming:
Wenming is currently attending the Berklee College of Music and is a recipient of both the Berklee World Scholarship Tour Scholarship and the Singapore National Arts Council Overseas Grant. While still in Singapore, he spent a three year stint with noted Singaporean drum instructor Anthony Fong and later engaged the late, great Edmond Branson Jr as a teacher and mentor. Currently studying at the Berklee College of Music, Wenming has had the opportunity to study with great musicians such as Jon Hazilla, Dave Samuels and Ralph Peterson Jr. Wenming has worked with numerous people in the Singapore jazz scene such as Jeremy Monteiro, Christy Smith, Rick Smith, Joshua Wan, Aya Sekine, Tony Makarome, Timothy O Dwyer and Andrew Lim. He is a member of two permanent groups – WIRED (featuring Chok Kerong on keyboards and Joshua Wan on bass) and the Andrew Lim Trio (featuring Chok Kerong on organ and Andrew Lim on guitar). He returned last December as a drummer for Corinne May’s sold-out concert at Esplanade. When not playing jazz, Wenming also finds time to be involved in many other kinds of music. He has performed with Corrinne May, local RnB band "Fuse", noted pop/rock band Parousia and top 40’s band "EIC".
