My Very First Big Band Concert Experience

We’ve shared about the live music concerts in Malaysia in the past, but it’s almost always about contemporary music. I personally appreciate a wider range of music genre, especially golden oldies of the decades past. Hence, I’m a little disappointed that we never hear about live, big band concerts… Until I received an invitation to attend JOKL’s Viva la Fiesta…

Promotional poster of the event JOKL Big Band Presents Viva La Fiesta — Poster for the *Viva la Fiesta* live concert.
Image by Jazz Orchestra Of Kuala Lumpur (JOKL)

What Exactly Is Big Band Music Anyway?…

Big band orchestra (sometimes also called the jazz orchestra) is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music. Usually consists of ten or more musicians, featuring prominent horn and rhythm sections. Big band music started out in the early 20^th century. But they only gained traction in the mid 20^th century, during the dark days of World War II.

Close-up black and white photo of Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller, from the Glenn Miller Big Band fame. He is viewed from his right side, holding on a trombone. — Alton Glen “Glenn” Miller, American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist and recording artist.
Image by Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

One of my favourite bands, Glenn Miller Orchestra, performed lively and upbeat music to uplift the spirits during the war. And before you think big band music is all about instrumentals, they do accompany vocalists too. One of my all-time favourite Glenn Miller piece is In The Mood, performed by The Andrews Sisters.

In The Mood, performed by The Andrew Sisters. Music by Glenn Miller Orchestra.

JOKL Big Band Presents Viva La Fiesta

A privately run band, Jazz Orchestra Of Kuala Lumpur (JOKL) is based in Kuala Lumpur, hence its name. They’re a collection of like-minded musicians, striving to bring big band concert to the masses.

Corner front view of the horn section of JOKL. There are three rows of musicians. At the front are the saxophones, behind them (elevated) are the trombones, and the back row are the trumpets. This is the typical big band layout. — The horn section of JOKL, during *Viva La Fiesta* live concert.
Image by Author

Unlike past concerts, this time around, they incorporated dancers in the performance too. This is the first time they’re collaborating with dancers from My Dancesport Academy. More about them in the next episode.

Latin dancers performing on the stage, right in front of the big band layout position. — Dancers from My Dancesport Academy, moving rhythmically to the live music performed by JOKL.
Image by Author

As the name suggests, Viva La Fiesta is a concert to celebrate Latin culture, music and dance. It’s a celebration of traditional Latin music, as well as contemporary interpretation of traditional Latin music too. Additionally, let’s not forget about the dancers. They play a complementary role to help get the audience into the Latin groove too…

The Horn Section

As mentioned earlier, horn is one of the main sections in a big band. And here are some of the musicians in the horn section of JOKL :-

Close-up of Shun, performing the Lead Alto Saxophone solo. — Shun, on the Lead Alto Saxophone.
Image by Author

Close-up of David Kelly, performing the Lead Tenor Saxophone solo. — David Kelly, on the Lead Tenor Saxophone.
Image by Author

Close-up of Khairul, performing the Bass Trombone solo. — Khairul, on the Bass Trombone.
Image by Author

Close-up of Hiroshi, performing the Lead Tenor Trombone solo. — Hiroshi, on the Lead Tenor Trombone.
Image by Author

Close-up of the duo, Adrian Rotondo McCord on the Sousaphone, whilst Peter Hupperich performs the Baritone Saxophone solo. — Adrian Rotondo McCord (left) on the Sousaphone, and Peter Hupperich (right), on the Baritone Saxophone.
Image by Author

Close-up of Ian Chan, on the Second Tenor Saxophone. — Ian Chan, on the Second Tenor Saxophone.
Image by Author

Close-up of JL, performing the Bass Trombone solo. — JL, on the Bass Trombone.
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Close-up of Lim Jin Hong, performing the Second Alto Saxophone solo. — Lim Jin Hong, on the Second Alto Saxophone.
Image by Author

And no, that’s not all of them in the horn section lineup. There are also the trumpeters on the back row, which unfortunately, wasn’t quite visible from the stage.

The Rhythm Section

The rhythm section is responsible for keeping pace for the entire band. And here are some of the musicians in the rhythm section :-

Then we have the percussion instruments that create sounds by striking (e.g. timpani), shaking (e.g. maracas), or scrapping (e.g. güiro). They add depth to the overall musical performance. Here are the percussionists :-

Close-up of the percussion side of the Rhythm Section of a big band. Various types of percussion instruments are visible on the left. A more prominent conga and bongo drums are towards the front. — Left to right: Wai Ling on various percussion instruments, Bernadine J Abeysekra on tambourine, and Steve Thornton on conga drums.
Image by Author

A special mention here on guest percussionist Steve Thornton. He has performed and recorded with many A-listers in the music world. Including big names like Miles Davis, Sadao Watanabe, Michael Jackson, Sheila Majid, Siti Nurhaliza, and many others.

Close-up of Steve Thornton, with his eyes closed, completely immersed in the music. All the while rhythmically beating on the conga drums. — Steve Thornton, completely immersed in the music, playing the conga (lower) and bongo (upper) drums.
Image by Author

Big Band Doesn’t Mean Instrumentals Only

As mentioned above, big bands do accompany singers too. And Viva La Fiesta featured two notable Malaysian vocalists.

Latin dancers accompanying the vocalist, Joshua Gui, as he belts out a song. They're performing on the stage, right in front of the big band layout positions. — Joshua Gui (under the spotlight) belting out a number, accompanied by dancers from My Dancesport Academy.
Image by Author

The first is Joshua Gui, a renowned singer, dancer, actor, voiceover artist and teacher. He also runs KrossJenre Entertainment, producing artistic works for corporate and independent platforms.

A large group of Latin dancers, occupying both the stage and the floor. They're accompanying the vocalist Amy Wang, during the finale of a song. — Amy Wang (front of stage, wearing black) belting out the closing number, accompanied by dancers from My Dancesport Academy.
Image by Author

And then there was Amy Wang, a runner-up in the Astro Talent Quest 2004.

Lineup Of The Musicians

As mentioned earlier, I couldn’t get photos of the entire lineup. So here’s the comprehensive list of the musicians at Viva La Fiesta and their respective sections :-

Saxophone	Ian Chan @ianbirdchan Shun @shushushu1121 David Kelly Lim Jin Hong @jinghong_lim Peter Hupperich @joklofficial
Trumpet	Issac Marvin @issac.marvin_ Eddie Wan @ad1trumpet Phinn Tan @phinntan Lim Kah Loke @callmekolak Gisselle @gissellebcn
Trombone	JL @jl_eup_trb_2000 Max @maxtheguacamole Hiroshi @okre23 Khairul @khairul_anuar_ms Adrian Rotondo-McCord @a.jrmcc
Rhythm Section	Efe @taffy_efe Steve Thornton FB: Steve Thornton Bernadine J Abeysekra @bernadine_j Edwin Boon @edwinboon_drummer Wai Ling @wailing_drummer Birgitta Abeysekra @birg_claire Nelson Philip Danker @nellydanks
Vocalists	Joshua Gui @joshuaanthonygui Amy Wang @amy_wangml

A Night To Remember

This was my very first big band, live concert experience. And this will definitely be a night for me to remember… However, this isn’t exactly JOKL’s first rodeo. They’ve performed many live concerts before this, and have many more lined up in the future. So if you’re a big band fan, like myself, then do visit their website for upcoming concerts. They list all future live concerts there. And if tonight’s performance is anything to go by, their future concerts will also be sold-out events too.

Here’s a sneak peek into what Viva La Fiesta was all about.

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