Shanghai Jazz Redefined with Janet Lee
Janet Lee, the Shanghai Jazz go-to-girl in town, celebrates the immortal and beautiful music of the Golden Shanghai in more ways than one – singing the Shi-dai-qu repertoire with verve and great gusto,and chasse all over in her vintage Qi-paos. She has been performing the Shidaiqu repertoire since 2009 and developing her unique brand of Shanghai Jazz with various reputable jazz musicians.
This time round Janet dives further into the vast repertoire of Chinese oldies, she promises a fresh songlist that boasts songs from over five decades. Working with bandleader and founder of jazz band WVC Trio, Tay Cher Siang, they will be playing renditions of songs made popular by Gealan, Yao Shu-Yong, Teresa Teng, Bai Kwang, Zhou Xuan and a few original tunes for Janet’s debut album.
Her Shanghai Jazz repertoire includes tunes from Gealan, Zhou Xuan, Yao Li, Bai Kwang, Bai Hong and more. Janet indulges in this recreation of a golden era of songs with her team of passionate bandleaders from the jazz circuit. They nurse, rehearse and serve up sizzling reworked classic tunes from the old Shanghai, to the delight of their loyal followings of this genre.
Janet created a series of Shanghai Jazz songbook in 2012, taking her songbook that has undergone a snazzy treatment of jazz arrangements to various live joints around Kuala Lumpur. Janet and her bands played to many packed houses, in 2012. The initiative of the tour came to her after having received much positive feedback from fans of Shanghai
Jazz who attended her earlier Shanghai Jazz outings. The audience from Kuala Lumpur was starving for good jazzy revivals of old Shanghai Shidaiqu, Janet and her jazz bands delivered what the music lovers wanted, with class and much passion to show.
The Performers
Janet Lee
Janet started her singing stints in a choir, singing songs from the great American Songbook and popular classical songs with 30 other kids. Now, years departed from her choir line, Janet has grown into a
solo performer with her own unique style of performance and personality.
She has trained with singing teacher Cha Seng Tiang from year 2000 till 2008. Janet currently trains with soprano Cecilia Yap in classical singing. Outside of her Mozart & Rossini songbooks, she is an avid fan of the performing arts. To date, she has sung and performed in stage productions by Dama Orchestra, Saidah Rastam, KLPac, Lyric Opera Malaysia, Actors Studio and PAN Productions.
Off the main stage, she is an active performer at concerts, recitals, cabarets, theatre workshops and more – when she is off work from her now steady stream of bookings by corporate clients and private events.
Since her stints with Dama Orchestra in Butterfly Lovers and later I Have A Date With Spring, Janet has reinvented herself as the songstress for Shidaiqu, the popular golden Shanghai music from 1920s.
WVC Trio + 1
Drawing inspiration from the many facets of modern life, influenced by Malaysian and other Asian cultures, the music of WVC TRiO +1 cuts across many musical genres and defies any kind of classification. Tunes such as “The Art of the Wind Up Alarm Clock”, “Found and Lost”, “Standing in the Rain on Euclid Avenue” tries to examine and express the human condition in modern life, using the artform known as “jazz” as its stylistic musical vehicle.
Formed in 2006 as a trio, WVC TRiO +1 completed its quartet line up with the addition of saxophonist Julian Chan. The group has toured extensively in the region, heralding back the spirit being “on the road” of touring jazz bands of old. Through these regional tours, WVC TRiO +1 has brought its music to many corners of Malaysia, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Macao. In one of these tours, the quartet managed to travel extensively over 18 cities within a month, using different means of transportation, playing in many different types of venues.
WVC TRiO +1 has three instrumental albums – “WVC TRiO” (2008), “ELEVEN” (2009), “In the Dark, I See Her” (2011) – that explored different musical genres (while maintaining the spirit of jazz as its core) and combinations in its line-up. Most of the tunes recorded are original tunes written by the band members. In addition, the band also experiments with transforming unlikely pop tunes, Chinese classics, and many mainstream music into new jazz re-arrangements, in the spirit of the great jazz musicians of old.
WVC TRiO +1 has been invited to appear in many festivals in the region such as Taichung Jazz Festival, Kota Kinabalu Jazz Festival, Phuket International Jazz Festival, Tianjin International Jazz Fest, Macao International Jazz Week and many others. In addition, the band has played extensively in the Malaysian local jazz clubs, from No Black Tie, Nero Fico, (the now defunct) Venue, and many others.
The present incarnation of the WVC Trio + 1 consists of bandleader/composer/arranger/music director/pianist Tay Cher Siang, bassist AJ, drummer KJ Wong and saxophonist Julian Chan. The band remains one of the most active units in the Malaysian performance circuit and is one of the most sought after bands in Malaysia for Hi-Fi recordings and live performances.
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