Easter Sunday Blues Jam in Penang

I travelled back to Penang for the Easter break, arriving just in time for an Easter Sunday afternoon jam at the Little Penang Street Market with an assemblage of the Penang Blues Brothers (plus one sister) – Kim Gooi and James Lochhead notorious among the bros. Jackie and I brought our tenors – I played my King Super 20 and Jackie her Kohlert 55.

We stuck to the common language of blues; struggles with Windows Movie Maker aside, here is a video of “Trouble, Trouble” on YouTube, featuring James performing his signature tune on keys and vocals. Interesting to compare this to the same tune done at the same venue about a year ago.

There were some nice photos as well. The players are James Lochhead, keyboard and vocals; Kim Gooi, harp; Russell Steadman, bass and vocals; Tapa, drums; Sid, guitar; Jackie Ashkin, tenor sax; and, Ron Ashkin, tenor sax.

The Penang Blues Brothers Ride Again – Audio

Following our end-of-year blues jam the Little Penang Street Market, Kim Gooi hosted a get together last Friday night at his house in Tanjung Bunga. Joe Goh came up with his guitar from KL for the New Year and Kim’s friend Chiang, a Penang native who spent much of his life in Sweden, dropped by ‘round midnight to join in on second guitar. The blues spirit was flowing and we jammed for nearly four hours, caught on my Zoom recorder. From blues classics like Stormy Monday to Miles Davis to free blues jamming - Kim on harp, Joe and Chiang on guitars, and me on tenor sax. A good time was had by all; I had the chance to play my 1948 King Super 20 which is just a fantastic instrument. We plan one more blues jam before I head back to Africa for work.

Here are three downloadable audio tracks from last Friday’s jam – Sweet Home Chicago with Chiang on vocals, Folsom Prison Blues (where I make my vocal debut in the background), and Blue Monk. They are  MP3s at 320k.

By the way, Kim Gooi just published his book Health Tips: Maintaining a Long Life and Seeking a Spiritual Link with the Supreme Spirit which is available here from amazon.com. Kim’s life as a journalist landed him in a Burmese prison in the 1970s and the story of his survival is recounted in his book. An interesting new non-fiction from the man behind the blues harp on these recordings.

Blues Jam at Little Penang Street Market

Let 2013 begin with some YouTube videos from the last weekend of 2012. Jackie and I were asked at the last minute to perform at the Little Penang Street Market on Sunday. The LPSM is always a fun venue because the organizers let the musicians call the shots: we are able to put together our own sets and play whatever we want. No call for Lionel Richie covers or Frank Sinatra tunes to please the audience. The LPSM has evolved into one of the last remaining jam sessions on the island, particularly for jazz and blues fans, since the long-running G Spot jazz jam died over a year ago.

I phoned blues harpist Kim Gooi to join us, but our hopes to pick up the Penang Blues Brothers at short notice were dashed when we discovered that keyboardist James Lochhead was not feeling well and guitarist Sid was in KL for the holidays. Jackie and I were resolved to playing a not-too-fun duet set over Band-In-A-Box. We managed to convince one of the actors from the UK's Click Theatre Company, Richard, in town to play the role of The Major in Fawlty Towers, to sit in on piano for a few tunes.

Then things got interesting. I was told that there was another keyboardist in the crowd, which was larger than normal due to the number of tourists in Penang for the holidays. I asked him to join us and he modestly said he did not think he was up to standard. Ha ha. Fortunately I was able to convince "T" to come up on stage and sit in with me, Jackie, and Kim. The next hour caught fire. We warmed up on Chitlins Con Carne and Night Train, but then T just started jamming in Bb and things took off. T has a great rhythmic sense and we didn't miss the bassist and drummer after that.

I've posted four videos from December 30 on YouTube. First up is a slow gospel blues I've dubbed "Testifying with T" in honor of our mystery guest. I preach an improvised Sunday morning sermon over T's chords, then Kim and Jackie bear witness and Jackie and I harmonize in the choir before we all take it out.

Next up is The Doors' Roadhouse Blues, which I first played with Hans and the Hillbillies at Ziggy's Bar on the beach in St. Kitts. From the sacred to the profane, Roadhouse Blues is one of the all-time classic bar-band rockers. Then, back to tradition with Blue Monk and, finally, Blue Train as our New Years' wish.

As Blue Train closed, T got up from the keys and disappeared back into the crowd. Our time ran out too quickly, like 5 minutes rather than an hour. It has been quite a while since I've been in a pure pick-up band situation that I liked this much. You can see the smile on T's face in the videos. He definitely has the right attitude towards music and it was infectious. The crowd enjoyed listening to our set as much as we enjoyed playing the music, an all-around win-win. Like William Parker told me a couple of months ago, creating positive energy helps keep the world on its axis.

Penang Blues Brothers at Little Penang Street Market this Sunday

The Penang Blues Brothers will be jamming at this coming Sunday's Little Penang Street Market at Upper Penang Road, Georgetown (directly in front of the E&O Hotel). We're on at 3:30pm and the date is Sunday, March 25. Come on down and enjoy the afternoon.

I'm currently in Thailand (my browser knows it even if you don't, as my blogger is titled entirely in Thai which is one of those alphabets that English-language film producers use in outer space flicks) so Kim Gooi is helping pull the musicians together. Right now it looks like Kim will be on harp, I'll be on tenor sax, James Lochhead on keyboards, Bonny Jeremiah on bass, Joe Goh will be coming up from K.L. to play guitar, and we will likely have some guests too. James claims to know only two chords so I hope they are the same two that I know. We're all old enough to have actually had the blues a time or two because as Memphis Slim said, "You can't learn the blues in school."

100% electric blues with a nod to the Windy City. Hope to see you in Georgetown on Sunday.

Stormy Monday - Audio Tracks From Blues Jam

Today being Monday, I will start the week by posting some audio tracks from yesterday's marathon blues jam with Joe and Kim, following on the heels of the "Blues Are Universal" post from a few days ago.

Here are three takes of T-Bone Walker's classic Stormy Monday. I couldn't decide which one to post so all three are available - one instrumental and two with Joe on vocals - you decide. It was an informal jam so each take has its moments as well as its flaws, hopefully more moments than flaws. Played from the heart in any event. These are MP3s at 320K.

Stormy Monday - Take 1

Stormy Monday - Take 2

Stormy Monday - Take 3

And here is a 14-minute jam on Kim's favorite, Big Joe Turner's Flip, Flop and Fly. The vocals were not miked so they are subdued. Kim has to learn to shout like Big Joe! I missed recording the beginning coming down the stairs, so I started the track at the first full chorus.

Flip, Flop and Fly

Old Friends, Blues Jam at Kim's, Penang, Malaysia, recorded March 4, 2012. Joe Goh, guitar and vocals; Kim Gooi, harp and vocals; Ron Ashkin, tenor sax and whisk broom. Recorded on a Zoom H2.

The Blues Are Universal

In addition to practicing at home and playing gigs with the Chicago Jazz Quartet +1, I've had the chance over the past few weeks to jam the blues with a couple of fine musicians just a few minutes away from home. We're all around the same age so there is an element of comradeship to our music; we don't have anything to prove except that we want to play. 

My good friend Kim Gooi tracked me down late last year after we met on a Penang rooftop jamming with some Sape musicians from Sarawak in mid-2010. He is a respected photojournalist and lived in Thailand for about 30 years before returning to his native Malaysia. Kim plays the harp and came upon the blues while working in Bangkok, which has a large expat community and its share of bars with live bands. Close your eyes and you would have no idea that you are listening to a native Penangite and not someone from the South Side of Chicago. Kim said he listened to the blues for about 10 years before picking up the harp and it just came naturally to him after that. 

Two weeks ago, guitarist Joe Goh came to visit from Kuala Lumpur. Joe is originally from Malacca. The first time I met him we were jamming the blues before I could even get my gear fully unpacked. After playing for so many years he just has the sound in his blood. We don't need to talk much, just set up and play. Again, close your eyes and you are on the South Side. We've played everything from T-Bone Walker to Miles Davis over the last couple of weeks as well as hundreds of choruses of blues in every key, tempo, rhythm, and style we can think of, spinning off marathon choruses that have me imagining Paul Gonsalves on stage at Newport 1956 in my own minor-league way. Every chorus different, trying never to repeat, trading leads, playing backings for each other, varying the harmonies - just close your eyes and blow. Amazingly, Joe told me he has never played with a sax before! 

Joe was first exposed to the blues through the British Invasion bands in the 60's; then listening to US Armed Forces Radio broadcast from Vietnam he got to hear James Brown, Ray Charles and such. By the 70's he went to Europe for work and played rock and roll, then returned to Penang where he ran a guest house. One of his guests taught him some guitar and exposed him to jazz. A second stint playing music overseas followed. Along the way he heard T-Bone and B.B. King in person. It wasn't until the 90's that Miles and Trane connected for him, and now he is playing their music too. Joe told me that he has given up on being a full time musician in K.L. because there just aren't enough opportunities for him to play honest music, the music he wants to play. That's the subject of a whole separate blog post, forthcoming. 

Hope to get in at least one more jam before Joe heads back to K.L.