Jackie Hits the Daily Mail

Not quite music, but Jackie's first month at St. Andrews has been memorialized in the UK tabloid The Daily Mail:

Tempus Fugit

“We know you've got talent, but do you have the natural ability?”

Soloing on Tenor with
Dalat's Concert Band

Jackie garnered three major all-school awards at Dalat International School’s end-of-year awards ceremony this morning – two in the performing arts plus an academic one – along with two course awards. Later in the evening she was awarded a scholarship for the performing arts, completing ten awards today overall. Talk about proud dad (and no doubt engendering some green glances...).

Jackie was honored with the Band Director’s Award as Dalat’s outstanding instrumentalist for her saxophone performances in both concert band and jazz band; she started on alto five years ago and progressed to learn both tenor and baritone, tenor being her instrument of choice these days. She then won the school’s Fine Arts Award for her triple – no quadruple – threat in singing, dancing, and acting on top of playing mean horn. She recently played and sang the lead in Dalat’s musical theatre production Boardwalk Melody, not only acting but also contributing to the original script and music. I actually think she is more talented as a vocalist. To cap off the day she was named the recipient of the school's Doug Brokaw Memorial Scholarship for further study in the performing arts, presented by one of her musical mentors, Valeri Brokaw. One of the course awards was in digital media which means she understands how to use technology as well as create quality content. Wow.

Out on a Gig on Alto

I started taking Jackie out on gigs when she was 14 and she just started to improvise on stage in performance situations. She never did have stage fright and has become a comfortable if self-critical performer. I've never had to force her to practice, she just likes to play. She already understands that the journey is its own reward.

Some heavy duty rites of passage happening at the moment as she graduates high school and moves on to university, probably in the UK. But I really believe it is onward and upward for this girl who has always been good at everything she does but humble and in-touch as a person.

It’s nice for her to be recognized so highly but I truly believe you ain't seen nothing yet, and I'm looking forward to watching her flourish in a wider, higher level environment with even more creative performance possibilities in both theatre and music. 

Bud Powell’s crazy tempo 1949 piano composition nails it: time flies. Just yesterday she was first picking up the instrument. I'm looking forward to jamming with her later today. Go girl!

Jackie Awarded Best Supporting Actor (Female)

Best Supporting Actor (Female) 2013
...also Playwright and Director

Short + Sweet Penang 2013 culminated in an awards ceremony on Saturday night and Jackie won the judges' prize for Best Supporting Actor (Female) for her role in Mark Sasse's 'No' In Spite of Itself, despite her limited on-stage time. Congrats! Jackie's behind-the scenes role as director helped that play win Best Script for the series, helped out immensely by Ciera Nash and Joseph Stoltzfus doing strong work as the leads. Congrats to all.

The Penang Blues Brothers entertained with some jump and urban blues both before the performance and afterwards at the cast party. Special thanks to KL guitar hero Joe Goh and harpist Kim Gooi for the down home sound.

Here is the final night's performance of 'No' In Spite of Itself on YouTube:

Short + Sweet Theatre 2013 @ Penang

Joseph Stoltzfus and Jackie Ashkin
"You talkin' to me?"

Short + Sweet Theatre has returned to Penang Performing Arts Centre for the second year, with Faridah Merican and Joe Hasham overseeing production of a series of ten original short plays for a four-night run. Jackie’s original script Noticed was selected as one of this year's ten plays, and Jackie chose to direct another play and act in it as well. Her script Smart Phones Stupid People, which was so popular at last year's Short + Sweet in Penang, is being produced independently in Kuala Lumpur this year.

Ironically, although scripts were selected anonymously, the script Jackie chose to direct turned out to be written by her Dalat International School drama coach Mark Sasse, and Mark’s choice as a director turned out to be Jackie’s script.

Director Jackie takes a bow

This year's run began on Wednesday, September 11 and finishes on Saturday, September 14. Jackie made her directorial debut with ‘No’ In Spite of Itself and also plays a supporting role, with Dalat friends Ciera Nash and Joseph Stoltzfus as the leads. Hope to have some YouTube clips up before long.

Two of Jackie's Original Monologues on YouTube

Our YouTube channel has been rather dormant lately but today I convinced Jackie to post a couple of brief clips of her solo acting. Having been out of the country, I didn't get a chance to see these live; these two clips represent only a fraction of her theatre work this year. Both of these monologues are original scripts she authored. At risk of being labelled a dragon parent, I let the performances speak for themselves.

First, Fading River of Life: 

Next, Calypso's Prophecy:

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.

Drive All Night

Mark Sasse's short comedy-drama Drive All Night won the Audience Choice Award at the 2012 Short + Sweet Theatre Festival in Penang on September 15. It is the story of Sonny, who drives off into the night after a spat with his wife and is tormented by late night radio...

Drive All Night topped ten other productions over four nights to win the award. Jackie [Ashkin] can be seen playing Right Speaker, alongside Sarah Lim as Left Speaker and Joseph Stolzfus as Sonny. Amanda Khoo directed. Playwright Mark is Jackie's drama coach at Dalat International School. Congrats!

Special thanks to Festival Director Faridah Merican and Artistic Director Joe Hasham for bringing Short + Sweet to Penang Performing Arts Centre and for giving Jackie and cohort the chance to perform.

Smart Phones Stupid People

Jackie's original short play Smart Phones Stupid People is now up on YouTube for those who missed the performance at the Short + Sweet Theatre Festival in Penang. A comedy about a couple driving through the African savannah who spot a wild animal in the distance and decide to stop for the perfect Facebook profile picture (based on a true story, believe it or not...).

The Credits

Playwright: Jackie Ashkin; Director: Dr. Shark; Kangaroo: Nik Ahmad Aiman bin Nik Kamaluddin; Panda: Timmy Ong; Leopard/Goat: Dr. Shark; Festival Director: Dato' Faridah Merican; Artistic Director: Joe Hasham. Performed at the Short + Sweet Theatre Festival, Penang Performing Arts Centre, Penang, Malaysia, September 14, 2012.

Jackie Wins Short + Sweet Theatre's Best Newcomer Award

Jackie Ashkin Presented Best Newcomer Award by Faridah Merican and Mark Cleary

Short + Sweet Theatre Penang closed last night with its final run of eleven original 10-minute plays. Closing night concluded with presentation of awards for writers, actors, and directors based on cumulative scores from independent judges and the audience over the four nights of performances. 

Jackie [Ashkin] did really well! She won the "Best Newcomer Youth Award (Female)" from among a very talented group of players. Festival Artistic Director Joe Hasham was exceedingly kind with his words and commended Jackie for her potential both as a writer and as an actor. His advice was "Don't let her stop". 

Audience Choice Award: (L to R)

Mark Sasse, Mark Cleary, Faridah Merican, Jackie

Ashkin, Amanda Khoo, Joseph Stolzfus, Sarah Lim

But that is not all. Mark Sasse's Drive All Night, in which Jackie acted in a key supporting role, was named the "Audience Choice", coming out on top of the eleven productions despite being the very last play to be performed each night. Mark is Jackie's drama coach at Dalat. Rumour has it that Jackie's script Smart Phones Stupid People was the runner-up. A win for all. 

And her Smart Phones Stupid People won the Best Glitz + Glamour award for costumes, and two other awards as well. Dr. Shark ("Leopard") was named the festival's Best Director and actor Timmy Ong ("Panda") received the Festival Director's Award.

Short + Sweet founder Mark Cleary was in the house for Saturday's performance. Thanks go out to Mark for the great concept and to Festival Director Faridah Merican for bringing it to Penang. Short + Sweet is now off to Kuala Lumpur where there will be theatre, dance, stand-up comedy, and musicals at KLPAC over the next month. Try to catch at least one performance if you are in KL.

Short + Sweet Theatre in Penang

Jackie Ashkin in Short + Sweet Theatre Malaysia

Short + Sweet Theatre is a short play format drama festival that started in Australia and has expanded throughout the Asia-Pacific region over the past 10 years. Short + Sweet incorporates original scriptwriting, acting, and directing; participants are selected through a months-long competitive process at each festival location, and then a series of 10-minute mini-plays are produced and performed by the chosen troupe. Short + Sweet came to the Penang Performing Arts Centre this year for the first time, directed by Malaysian theatre icons Faridah Merican and Joe Hasham. Short + Sweet bills itself as "The Biggest Little Festival in the World" - short play festival that is - with four nights of performances at PPAC, September 12 through September 15. Last night, Friday, an engaged and responsive audience packed the house.

Smart Phones Stupid People

Jackie [Ashkin] was chosen as both a playwright and as an actor; easily the youngest writer in the bunch and also one of the youngest actors (some of the competitors included university professors!). Her script Smart Phones Stupid People got a ton of laughs with its outrageous direction by Dr. Shark and hilarious Malaysian-style comedy acting by Nik Ahmad Aiman bin Nik Kamaluddin and Timmy Ong. A 10-minute comedy about a technology-crazy couple driving through the African savannah and wanting to take a Facebook profile picture on an iPad after spotting a wild animal...the point being that no matter how smart the gadgets are, they don't make stupid people any smarter. The performance embellished the original script and Jackie had her first experience with having one of her scripts produced, directed, and acted independently. Quite an experience for a 16-year-old.

Curtain Call for Smart Phones Stupid People
The Playwright, Actors, and Directo

Jackie also acted in Mark Sasse's Drive All Night, in a supporting musical comedy role alongside Joseph Stolzfus and Sarah Lim, with Amanda Khoo directing. The comedy-drama is about a man driving through the night listening to the radio as he flees a spat with his wife. Jackie got to sing and dance her way through several rapid-fire prop changes, playing a succession of late-night radio performers and announcers. She received some of the night's loudest cheers and hoots from the audience. Jackie's characters included a Boy George imitator, a bored classical music announcer, a suggestive dancer, a heavily-accented car wash promoter, and a hard-sell direct mail advertiser.

Jackie in the Spotlight

Jackie Ashkin in Drive All Night

Saturday is the closing night of Short + Sweet Theatre in Penang and the house is expected to be sold out, SRO. Jackie regrets that the run was only four nights, already missing the camaraderie and performer's rush. Short + Sweet is a great concept that offers a forum for honest, original, professionally produced theatre with a variety of roles and concepts ranging from hard-hitting social commentary to local humour. The PPAC production was extremely well done from start to finish and we are already looking forward its return next year. All those involved are highly commended.

Jackie Hits Broadway

Jackie recently had the opportunity to perform with the YES Broadway Academy in Penang. YES stands for Youth Excellence on Stage and is sponsored by the US Embassy and American Voices, part of the US State Department's international cultural outreach program. Jackie was among about 50 young people chosen from around Malaysia to participate in this 10-day intensive program, which ran up to 12 hours per day. The program combined workshops in singing, dancing, and acting and was Jackie's first chance to do choreographed dancing on stage, which she did well despite her lack of experience and sore knees. 

The YES Broadway program culminated in two performances on June 16 at the Penang Performing Arts Centre as part of the Georgetown Festival. The second show was a "VIP" performance for US Ambassador Paul Jones and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and guests. Jackie had a brief vocal solo on Hakuna Matata from Lion King, backed by the entire ensemble, shown here in a clip from the evening performance. 

Broadway veteran Michael Parks Masterson was the lead instructor; Jackie really appreciated his no-holds barred coaching technique, which had her doing things she never knew she could within a few short days. She now can add dancing to her on-stage arsenal of singing, acting, scriptwriting, and playing saxophone. Thanks to Michael, John Ferguson, and the sponsors. The only downside is that I could not be there to see her live since I was in Africa at the time.

The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has a review of the June 16 performance on its web site, found here. The Embassy's web site features a nice photo of Jackie fronting the ensemble during Lion King which can be seen by following this link.

Two of Penang’s Best Young Saxophonists

Today I’ll feature a couple of young players who are already deep into the horn in their teens. Hopefully you will hear much more to come from these two. 

Emily Brokaw: Emily is 17 years old and soon to graduate from Dalat International School. She has been playing for more than 6 years already, since entering middle school at Dalat, which has an American-style band program. She chose saxophone because both of her parents were professional saxophonists! Emily’s mom, Valeri Brokaw, is the middle school music director at Dalat and also directs the high school jazz band (along with a ton of other duties; Valeri is extremely hard working and you’d be hard pressed to find a nicer person). Dalat has the best school band program on the island and Emily is Dalat’s premier saxophonist. 

I asked Emily a few questions about her interest in the saxophone and here is what she wrote: 

• I currently play both tenor saxophone (a Yamaha intermediate horn) and alto saxophone (currently, a Selmer Mark 7). 
• My favorite music: Concert band - anything by David Holsinger (Gathering at the Ranks of Hebron and Havendance) and Holst's First and Second Suites; Jazz band - Take Five, Blues in the Night, most anything; Solo work - Tableaux de Provence by Paule Maurice. 
• Most memorable performances were in the 2010 and 2011 South East Asia Honor Bands and all [Dalat] Fine Arts concerts. 
• Future plans: I plan to study music education in university [in the U.S.] next year and continue playing in ensembles of all sorts. 

Emily is still a bit shy of improvisation but I am sure that will change as she progresses. You can catch her solo on Take the A Train with Dalat’s jazz band on YouTube. 

Jackie Ashkin: 15-year-old Jackie plays alto and has been playing for 2-1/2 years. In middle school, to my delight, she decided on saxophone. Valeri Brokaw was her first instructor. Jackie is a fast learner and traded in her POS Yamaha school horn for a vintage King Zephyr circa 1937 once we found out that she liked playing. If you like playing on a YAS-23 you will LOVE playing on a Zephyr! 

Jackie has a great voice and has been singing in school since about fourth grade. In Kazakhstan she performed for the International women’s group at age 9, singing in both Russian and English and playing dombra, the local two-stringed instrument. She continued with voice lessons in Malaysia and the ear training has paid off in an accelerated ability to play sax. In Dalat’s high school concert band she gets the chance to play every day, which keeps her chops up and has seriously improved her sight reading. She has played in Dalat’s jazz band for the past two years (both on alto and as featured vocalist – see the A Train video), and she has paid her dues in town doing section work with the Northern Jazz Ensemble big band. 

On stage with Jackie at the G Spot, Summer 2011

Last year I started taking Jackie out on gigs with me and basically just threw her in at the deep end. She had her first professional gig at age 14, at this point has performed in public quite a bit for her age (although never enough). She is learning to improvise by ear, as opposed to reading her solos like most of her peers, who are either scared to death of having to improvise or else sound like a bleating billy goat when they do. She is not afraid to get up on stage, she knows what sounds good, and she is her own worst critic. She intuitively understands key concepts like swing and syncopation and knows that music is all about sound, not about dots on a page. A big advantage is that she has actually listened to the greats of the tradition (Dexter, Jug, Dolphy et al.) and knows what a saxophone is supposed to sound like. Jackie currently plays on a Johnny Hodges-era Buescher Aristocrat (ca. 1936) that gives her the intonation necessary to play in concert band along with the flexibility to play jazz. You can see Jackie in action on our YouTube channel. A 15-year-old already playing Trane and Miles and improvising with originality. 

Go girls!

Performance Videos - The Penang Blues Brothers

Here are three YouTube videos from the Penang Blues Brothers jam on Sunday. First up is the set opener Trouble, Trouble with James on vocals:

I've been listening a lot to Chicago blues tenor saxophonist J.T. Brown lately. J.T. is (somewhat) famous for having played with the influential slide guitarist Elmore James in the 1950's. He cut some sides in the 50's that are collected on the album Windy City Boogie on Delmark Records. J.T. died in 1969 and apparently his grave was unmarked until just last year when a benefit was held at a blues festival to raise funds for a headstone.

I've entitled the next tune Blues for J.T. in honor of J.T. Brown. I tried to get in a J.T. groove based on what I keep hearing in my head after listening to Windy City Boogie in the car so often...

The third video I've called Kim's Bb Boogie. Flip, Flop, and Fly is one of Kim's favorite tunes but his mike wasn't loud enough to hear the vocal so I think he gave up on singing and stuck to an instrumental instead. Jackie joined us on this one and played four choruses of hard blues which are pretty impressive improvising for a 15-year old. True to the blues tradition, Jackie's 1930's Zephyr had a bad spring so her axe had a rubber band wrapped around one of the keys.

I had a blast playing on Sunday. As mentioned in a previous post, I've wanted to do a Chicago-style electric blues band for a long time and this opportunity came together on a lark. I was out of town so Kim helped me arrange the musicians long-distance. James is the Little Penang Street Market's director but was a bit shy to perform at first. Tapa just happened to be in town. We had never played together as a unit which shows in some looseness but the blues feeling overruled and the set was relaxed, honest, rockin', and fun. Hopefully more to come. The musicians are Kim Gooi, harp; James Lochhead, keys and vocals; Bonny Jeremiah, bass; Ron Ashkin, tenor sax; Jackie Ashkin, alto sax; Tapa, drums; and Sid, guitar.

Tapa Sits In with the Penang Blues Brothers

The Penang Blues Brothers rocked Upper Penang Road this afternoon with a special surprise guest - our friend Tapa was visiting and sat in on drums. Tapa is well known in Penang musical circles from the years he spent playing on the local scene, but he moved to France with his family about a year ago. What a fortuitous coincidence.

The Penang Blues Brothers +1 Sister: Tapa, drums; Sid, guitar; Kim, harp;
Bonny, bass; Jackie, alto sax; James, keys and vocals; Ron, tenor sax.

We played a single 45-minute set and it was great fun for all. I've wanted to do an electric blues band for quite a while and this was the chance. Actually it was the Penang Blues Brothers +1 Sister, since Jackie played alto on a couple of tunes. I think she's about 30 years younger than the next youngest player.

I will put up audio and/or video from the set tomorrow depending on how the recordings turn out, as soon as I can process the files.

Nice Photo from China House

This popped up on Facebook from our February 24 gig (seems like distant history now, all the more reason to record it). It is always nice to see things from another perspective. We do seem to be concentrating.

Adrian Jones, bass; Jackie Ashkin, alto sax; C.Y. Chee, guitar; Ron Ashkin, tenor sax.

Drummer James Peterson is hidden. Featuring the famous Keluar sign.

Audio Files, China House on February 24

The audio from our China House gig on Friday, February 24, 2012, is available for download in 320k mp3 format at First Set and Second Set. The zip files decompress as individual tracks.

As a taste, here is our rendition of Eddie Harris' Cold Duck Time.

These are audience recordings on a Zoom H2. Plenty of noise from the bar!

First Set

1. Killer Joe and band intro
2. Equinox
3. Doxy
4. Bemsha Swing
5. Blue Monk
6. Lady's Blues
7. Cold Duck Time

Second Set 

1. Chitlins con Carne
2. Folsom Prison Blues (Jackie vocal)
3. Night Train
4. Blue Bird
5. Tequila
6. Over the Rainbow
7. Listen Here

The Chicago Jazz Quartet +1 Live at China House. Ron Ashkin, tenor sax; Jackie Ashkin, alto sax and vocals; Adrian Jones, bass; C.Y. Chee, guitar; James Peterson, drums. Recorded at China House, Georgetown heritage district, Penang, Malaysia, on February 24, 2012.

Performance Videos from China House, February 24, 2012

Here are some YouTube videos from last Friday night's gig at the Canteen at China House in Georgetown. First, Night Train, the Happy Go Lucky Local variant that was first a hit for Jimmy Forrest in 1951 and then famously covered by James Brown on Live at the Apollo in 1962:

Next, Kenny Burrell's Chitlins con Carne from his Midnight Blue album (1963) which originally had Stanley Turrentine on tenor:

The third video is Charlie Parker's Blue Bird, which was covered by Charles Mingus and his Jazz Workshop in the 1960's. Click on the link to go straight to YouTube.

The band was Jackie on alto and me on tenor, with Adrian Jones on bass and James Peterson on drums. C.Y. Chee on guitar completed the rhythm section and did a fine job. We plan to rehearse together in this format for future gigs. I will post the audio files soon.

Photos From Last Night's Gig

Here are some photos from last night's gig at China House. Another full house, good crowd. I am working on mastering the sound recordings and will post some videos to YouTube over the coming days. Currently hindered by the fact that the internet service in our neighborhood has been out for five days now.

Jackie backed by Adrian and Chee

Jackie, Adrian, and Ron

Ron and Chee

Video Trailer - Upcoming Gig at China House

Here is a 30-second video trailer for our upcoming gig this Friday night, February 24, at the Canteen at China House:

Jackie and I will be playing with the excellent guitarist C.Y. Chee in the rhythm section along with Adrian Jones on bass and James Peterson on drums.

As is our habit to introduce new tunes each time we gig, there will be about 8 selections that we haven't performed previously and we've been working hard to get up to speed. Not so easy when everyone has a day gig and we're spread from the mainland to both sides of this very congested island. Come out to China House on the 24th if you are in Penang. Last time the house was packed and we hope for another full house and responsive audience. Jackie will sing one or two again and we'll be playing tunes by Monk, Trane, Sonny, Benny Golson, McCoy Tyner, Rahsaan, Eddie Harris and other greats.

The Canteen at China House is located at 183b Victoria Street in Georgetown's UNESCO Heritage District, Penang, Malaysia. The music starts at 9:45 pm.

By the way - Penang tourism hit the big time and was featured in the New York Times travel section about a week ago - check out the article, which features China House prominently, at http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/travel/36-hours-penang-malaysia.html.

Return Engagement - China House on February 24

We're booked into Georgetown's Canteen at China House on Friday night, February 24. This is a return engagement after our initial gig there on January 13.

(L to R) Ron Ashkin, tenor sax; Jackie Ashkin, alto sax
and vocals; James Peterson, drums; Adrian Jones, bass

I'll be getting the set lists together over the next couple of days; likely to include some Mingus this time so Adrian can be featured. Jackie's vocal last time was a big hit with the crowd and I have asked her to prepare a few more tunes for the 24th. As usual we will introduce some new music at the gig. 

The Canteen at China House is located at 183b Victoria Street in Georgetown's heritage district; you may also enter from the opposite side at 153-155 Beach Street. Armenian is the nearest cross street. Music starts around 9:45pm and China House is set up so you can make an evening of it – have dinner up front at one of the nicest restaurants in Penang and then come back to the Canteen afterwards for live music.