dear readers and music lovers,

now, the 2v1g's blog and jz8's blog have been merged into one and housed under the pop pop music's blog.

click here from now on to read about all the artistes under the musictoxin and pop pop music label.

there won't be anymore updates to this blog.

MTX (musictoxin xpress) is an initiative from musictoxin to promote indie, lifestyle-oriented and non-mainstream music in malaysia. musictoxin aims to produce good music which caters to discerning music lovers and our magazine is our voice. we will leave the mainstream media to do their gossips and sensationalistic news. MTX only talks about music and nothing else.

the key contents would be review articles on jazz music, pop/rock, indie, audiophile and chinese pop. we are going to have an audiophile music chart as well. there will be contests every issue giving away free CDs. there is also be an event calendar from performing venues such as no black tie.

MTX is going to be distributed free-of-charge at all major record stores in the klang valley. those who are from other states, rest assured, we will have pdf download facility at this blog.

this is roughly how it is gonna looks like for our first inaugural issue!

this is the first time an indie label produces its own magazine.

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!

we didn't receive a single demo from malaysia but we were referred to many talented singers in tiny dot singapore.

we were amazed. we are only a crossway apart but the availability of talent pool in tiny dot is so much better than in malaysia.

let's me tell you the profile of singers in SG - they are all good-looking, sophisticated, bilingual (singing jazz in mandarin and english), resourceful (they all release EPs under indie labels), confident and the ability to fuse the west and the east. their portfolios are all impressive. eventho' some of them have very "young" voices, their resourcefulness really impress me.

why is that we don't have such talents in malaysia? to start with, we are not a metropolitan city like SG and we don't have such vibrant cultural landscape, environment and music scene. the goverment in MY also don't support arts and culture as whole-heartedly as the government of SG.

frankly, these are not surprises, knowing how sophisticated the SG society is. but it is really nice to know how vibrant the indie and jazz music scene there.

oh, btw, we are not looking for "diva" la. just some big words to impress. so how about "diva in the making"? ;-)

we are still searching patiently.

this blog chronicles the making of jz8, the search for the ultimate chinese jazz vocalist, the recording process and everything you need to know about jz8.

if you reach here by accident then you have every reason to bookmark this blog.

brought to you by the same producers who gave you 2v1g, jz8 is made up of an accomplished jazz pianist and a (still searching) sensational female jazz vocalist.

together, they titillate your aural senses with refreshing intepretations of contemporary chinese classic love songs with a pop/jazz flavour, much like 2v1g do.

we are now hunting for that elusive jazz vocalist for this project. well, she has to be below 40 year-old, preferably chinese. she sings well in mandarin, preferably with a strong inclination to jazz. she has to be a very musical performer because our pianist is very free-style, free-flowing and highly improvisational. of course, good looks is a bonus ;-)

we have provided here some samples piano tracks without vocals. those who are interested can download it and try!

so, do you know anyone who fits into this role?

please help to spread this message around.

successful candidate will be awarded a 2-year contract with musictoxin productions and get to release two albums which will be launched in the international chinese market.

please submit your demos to lesloh@yahoo.com or call leslie at 012-2083790 for an audition.