The year has just begun so i thought it’d be good to renew my wishlist as well.

Hehehe

If you’re wondering why I didn’t put out the list a couple of weeks earlier in time for Christmas, it was because I just wasn’t inspired to do so then.

First up is the Matthew Garrison Imperial made by Fodera. Matt is one of today’s most respected electric bass players in the world. Actually, I’m dying to watch him play live after I was blown away listening to his Shapeshifter album. I feel that he’s truly an innovator of electric bass playing, because he can really make a bass sing.

Back to the bass, one of the main reasons why i like it is because it looks so darn good!

The other reason is because it was built on a philosophy that one shouldn’t have to “fight” with the instrument in order to produce music, something I heard Matt say in one of his YouTube clips. This means that Fodera has taken every initiative to make the instrument extremely effortless to play.

In order to achieve that, the bass is built with a shorter 33″ scale (most basses feature a 34″ scale) so there’s less fatigue and stretching from the fretting hand.

To accommodate economy of motion for the plucking hand, the bass also features a finger ramp located in between the pick ups so that the plucking fingers do not get stuck under strings (a problem I face sometimes when playing fast passages).

Under the hood, there’s  a preamp designed by Mike Pope, which is something I’m dying to try out as well.

###

There’s actually a few more things I’d like for 2011 but I think this post is getting too long – will probably post something up tomorrow…

Posted on January 4th, 2011 by Jon
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Just before I left for South Korea, I felt that I should go with some new strings strapped on to my trusty Warwick Streamer LX4.

Prior to this I was using Ken Smith Ultra light Slap Masters – make no mistake, the Smith’s are an amazing set of strings, but I wanted to try something fresh for Jarasum.

I knew I had a set of Black Diamonds lying around somewhere, which I got off my good buddy Suj aka Bass Raptor. The ones I opted for was the Black Diamond Black Coated Nickel Strings 100-80-60-40. Honesly, the only Black Diamond brand I had heard prior to this was a company which manufactures outdoor climbing gear.

I’ll post more about my Black Diamond gear in another post.

Anyways, back to the strings. Once strapped on the LX4, they did quite a job in complementing the visual aesthetics of the bass. The combination of black against a backdrop of the bass’s honey-satin brown brown, highlighted by the gold hardware and bell brass frets of the LX4 was in my eyes quite a sight indeed.

Feelwise, the black coating felt a little sticky which i thought was more of an irritance rather than a hindrance to smooth playing. After a few hours of playing, I guess I must have gotten used to it until it did not bother me anymore.

Tonewise… It produces an interesting set of tonal colours, which I think I’m still getting used to at the moment. Not that the t0nes produced are bad, it’s just different.

Generally, the BDs produce deep lows and crisp highs leaving the mids… erm… no where? Really, I felt that mids were just scooped out to the extent that LX4′s growl… dissapeared…

However, the slap sound from the lower E and A strings was just the way I liked it – lots of bottom with lots bite as well. The top D and G strings could have had a little more twang, but that’s just my preference.

Anyways, after the honeymoon period of “new string feel” had worn off, I felt that the tones produced were kinda too refined to the extent of being a little synthetic and not so raw and organic to what I’m usually used to. Again, this doesn’t mean it sounds bad, it’s just different.

I know my buddy Kenny will use these strings anytime!

I’m hoping that as the strings mature, they will bring more tonal surprises. Until that happens, I’ll rate the strings 6.5/10

Posted on October 21st, 2010 by Jon
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It’s Thursday and I’m still recovering from a mindblowing Jarasum International Jazz Festival 2010 (JIJF) which ended last Sunday.

All of us, save for Paul’s team were totally unprepared for what awaited us when we first stepped foot into South Korea last Wednesday.

In short, the festival was three full days of power-packed creative music which left not only me, but everyone on the Ocean of Fire team reeling from its after effects of the festival.

It’s already been three days since we arrived back in Malaysia, but my mind is still in overdrive in an attempt to digest and process all that I’ve seen and heard during the five days I was in Korea.

All the performers were in a class of their own and the level of musicianship displayed throughout the festival was phenomenal to say the least.

The crowd was fabulous as well as they created an atmosphere of celebration throughout the festival. I’m told that the crowd on Saturday’s performance on the main stage numbered more than 30,000 people.Well, it was the first time I’ve been part of a crowd that large.

I’ll be posting up more stories soon, it’s just that I’m still in a surreal state of mind at the moment.

First things first: All of us at OOF just wanna say a huge THANK YOU to Paul Augustin and Aunty Chin of Capricorn Productions for getting us the gig; to Simon for being a wonderful soundman; and to Mike for taking all the photographs!

Mike and Aunty Chin

Simon, our sound man

The man who made things happen: Paul Augustin

Posted on October 21st, 2010 by Jon
Filed under: Events, Jon's News, Music, Ocean Of Fire News | 1 Comment »

I really can’t believe that it’s only 6 more days before Ocean of Fire jumps on a plane which will take us to the Jarasum Jazz Festival.

Time really flies.

Sadly, Chiat won’t be joining us this time around, but Dasha Logan is up his slot and will join the band on vocals for a few numbers.

At the moment, I’m a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Excited because South Korea is a major milestone for the band. This is our first gig outside Malaysia and we have in a sense made to the world stage. However, we are also shitting bricks because we want to deliver an earth-shattering show, but are unsure if we can actually pull it off.

Our concerns stemmed for the fact without Chiat, OOF is going to Jarasum as a guitar trio. This means that the melody and harmony is carried by both the bass and guitar. That means I have a dual role which is to lock the groove with Scully as well as to imply the harmony to support Kelvyn’s melodic lines.

It’s a freakin’ challenging assignment for me.

So, what’s good? It’s all good!

Up till last week’s practice session, I was still feeling uncomfortable but I think yesterday’s rehearsal was encouraging as things were finally taking shape.

We still have a couple more rehearsals to go before the big day – more updates to come later!

Posted on October 7th, 2010 by Jon
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There’s just something fascinating about Malaysians at the airport.

I was at the departure gate at leaving from Perth to Kuala Lumpur when the airport officers started calling for passengers seated only from rows 34-51 to board the aircraft.

As soon as that announcement was made, a group of about 10-15 Malay girls from UTM I think decided to jump queue to wait in line knowing that their seats weren’t in rows 34-51.

Either, they didn’t know (which is ridiculous) or they were blind, because I managed to catch a glimpse of their seat numbers printed on their tickets.

I mean, wtf? The airline already allocated your seat – couldn’t the Malay girls have waited for their rows to be called?

The airport officers had to tell them off in front of everyone else to go wait in line with everyone else.

Good on you, Aussies and shame on you Malay girls!

Posted on September 19th, 2010 by Jon
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Every year, I look forward to the month of Ramadhan. During this time, Muslims practice fasting (known as Puasa in Malay) from dawn to dusk, which is supposed to teach them patience, humility and spirituality.

What I like about the Puasa month is the crazy amount of food available starting from about 5pm onwards everyday at almost every corner of the street in Penang. I kinda like Malay food so that’s good for me but bad for my health because I think sometimes Malay food a little too oily for my liking.

What I like more about Puasa month is the almost unbelievable smooth traffic conditions on Penang roads, more so during rush hours.  I think what most probably explains this is that traffic is dispersed twice.

According to the papers, fasting office workers start to clock out from 4.30pm, but I guess those who are not fasting leave their offices at normal times starting from 5 or 6pm. Thanks to this, the volume of vehicles is more spread out over a longer time = less congestion on the roads.

I think this is a win – win situation for everyone. Those who fast learn to be more patient, humble and spiritual by abstaining from food and water while those are struggling to learn patience, humility and spirituality from being stuck in traffic throughout the year get a month off.

If that’s the case, then wouldn’t it be cool if 11 months of the year were Puasa months?

hehe

Posted on August 23rd, 2010 by Jon
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The man you are seeing in the photo is none other than Mr Ray Rozells and he is the most super crazy hyper energetic frontman of a band that I know personally.

I seriously doubt there many others who can rock the house the way Uncle Ray can. The way he jumps and runs and does all the crazy stuff on stage will make a 16-year old kid look old.

The only reason I don’t have a photo of him doing acrobatics on stage is because the man moves just too damn fast

If you are in Penang, it’s highly recommended that you catch the man in action performing with the JAZZHATS either at G-Spot, G Hotel on Monday and Tuesday nights or at the lounge in the Hard Rock Hotel on the weekends.

Your world will be rocked

Posted on July 26th, 2010 by Jon
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Was browsing in one of Warwick’s website when I found out about this:

When I saw this, i thought my eyes were kidding me.

Yes, it’s virtual university initiated by the legendary Bootsy Collins who says you gotta “bring some funk…to get some funk“. Well, this is way cool cos I’m a strong believer that funk also makes the world go round.

According to his website:

I always wanted to get some real education and I figure this is one of the ways go get it

Way to go Professor Bootsy!

Posted on July 20th, 2010 by Jon
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The Jarasum International Jazz Festival is returning this October and guess what? Ocean of Fire + Dasha Logan has been invited to perform at the 7th edition of the event!

According to news reports on the net, the festival draws about 100,000 people each year to the area of Jaraseom, which translates to “Turtle Island”, but I don’t think it’s really an island, it’s just somewhat similar to Penang’s version of Pulau Tikus or “Rat Island”

This year’s festival will feature some of the grooviest and hippest jazz cats on the planet. On the main stage we have:

And on the other stages:

Speaking on behalf of the band and Dasha, we are truly honoured to be part of the line up of this year’s festival.

However, I heard that the organisers have scaled down the event somewhat due to the current dismal economic circumstances, but are fighting hard to keep the event afloat this year. Let’s hope nothing bad happens that causes the festival to be scrapped entirely this year.

For further info, just log on to www.jarasumjazz.com. I’ll be posting more updates as the event draws closer. This has definately got to be my musical highlight of 2010!!!

Posted on July 13th, 2010 by Jon
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I remember when I just started playing bass maybe about 5 years ago this was one of the bass amps that caught my attention: the Fender Rumble 100.

I think I first saw this amp in Art Tune along Kajang Road and I thought this was the best amp in the world cos it had little red lights at the bottom of the cabinet which flashed on and off in sync with what the bass player was playing on the instrument.

It had ok features – a four way EQ settings, mid scoop switch for slapping and popping, CD input, send-return effects loop, headphones out and a direct out socket with level control and ground lift. Sound wise- well it was ok-lah. What more could a beginner want?

Maybe something a little less heavy. The model I used to play was the 1×15 combo which left me knackered after lugging it around for gigs. I recall getting it from the music school, transporting it to Spice and Rice (which sadly is no more) and hauling the little monster back to the music school all in one night.

Then there was the time where I was bass player for the  Sunny Side Up Jazz Trio (hmmm… wonder where they are now) and used to do gigs at Audees (which is also no more). Our gig took place in the upstairs lounge on the weekends. No lift  – had to walk up 2 flights of stairs with a 40 kg bundle just to get there. Best part was most of the time we played for empty sofas and chairs, hahaha…

Bottom line, it’s an ok beginners amp – I kinda “grew up” with this but I won’t recommend this to a friend-lah.

Posted on July 12th, 2010 by Jon
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