诞生 [jz8 is born!]

ladies and gentlemen, introducing jz8........ (drum roll)

jz8 is tay cher siang on piano and lydia chew (chooi ling) on vocals. together they will bring you modern chinese pop classics with a cool jazz flavour.

jz8's debut album is slated to be out in july 2009!

a brief intro on them:

[tay cher siang]

Tay Cher Siang started his piano lessons just like most people, learning classical music. He took up an interest in Jazz during his teenage years and began to pursue his musical journey as a jazz pianist.

He received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from West Virginia University and continued to get his Masters Degree in Jazz Pedagogy, studying under Dr. James Miltenberger and Professor Paul Scea.

His achievements include winning the WVU Young Artist Competition in 2004, recipient of the HERF Top-Off Award and the Valerie Canady Award. He was the Graduate Assistant for the Jazz Department in WVU where he got the chance to direct the college’s Jazz Big Band and various Small Group Ensembles.

Throughout the years in America, Mr. Tay performed regularly as a soloist, as well as with ensembles such as the WVU Big Band, the Mon River Big Band, the Jenny Menna Trio, the Washington Street Jazz Band, and the WVU Wind Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Tay was awarded Young Artist Competition Winner and performed with WVU Symphony Orchestra performing Gershwin Piano Concerto in F. He also gave concerts as classical and jazz pianist, with various groups. Other than performing, Mr. Tay composes, and arranges for big band and small groups.

Mr. Tay is currently teaching at UCSI and University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. Since his return to Malaysia, he has been active in the Kuala Lumpur music scene. He has performed with Greg Lyons group, The Boplicity, Gruvavenue, Rizal Soliano Band, Louis Soliano Quartet and also played for vocalists from various musical genres: Khadijah Ibrahim, Junji Delfino, Ida Mariana, and Gina Panizales. He has performed in a variety of music festivals: Malacca Straits Jazz Festival in Riau, June 2007, Penang Jazz Festival in Penang, November 2007, and Mosaic Music Festival in Singapore, March 2008. His recent accomplishments include Musical “Inner Voices-Let’s Go Mamak” in KLPac as a composer and pianist (August 2008), and Choir concert presenting the Young KL Singers: Breakin’ It Down Jazz Concert in Oct 2008 as arranger and jazz advisor. He just completed a series of concerts and seminars tour in Malaysia with his trio WV Connection in September 2008, and much acclaimed Unit Asia’s Southeast Asia Tour in Oct 2008.

[lydia chew]

lydia started her singing career in the early 90s so she is a veteran of more than 15 years in the industry. today she is the most sought-after back-up vocalist in malaysia, and even that is an understatement. lydia performs regularly with top malaysian artistes such as sheila majid and top HK cantopop artistes such as jenny tseng, justin lo and many others.

the committee is going to have its first official meeting this sunday. please bookmark this blog if you are interested to follow the progress of this exciting project.

it is going to be another new chapter in the music industry in malaysia!