THE Mia Palencia-Roger Wang team, performing as Double Take, made its first performance at the Petronas Philharmonic Hall in KLCC truly unforgettably. The first of a brand new three-set jazz series entitled, DFP Spotlight: Jazz in the 01/10 season, the one-night-only showcase was the last in Malaysia for Palencia who would be leaving soon to further her education in Australia.
The DFP Spotlight: Jazz series was developed to showcase local artists in a particular genre of music.
Both Palencia and Wang come from Sabah and have been performing together since February 2000. Tickets (RM40, free seating) were sold out a week before the performance. Hailed as the standard to meet in the local jazz scene, the duo certainly did not disappoint.
They opened with a few Malay numbers such as Tunggu Sekejap by P. Ramlee and Mengapa Kasih by Sheila Majid.
Palencia (photo right) was faultless in her delivery.
Earlier, they admitted to being in slight awe of the DFP, which is nothing like the laidback clubs and intimate venues that they are more used to performing in.
But they needn’t have worried as almost right from the start, they got the audience bopping and swaying to the music.
The first set flew past and midway, the audience was left with just Wang to entertain.
Keeping the crowd in stitches with his witty banter as he set up his surprise for the night, it’s a wonder why he hadn’t pursued a career in comedy. His dry humour and cheeky grin would certainly take him far.
Then he introduced his surprise – a harp guitar – which he had managed to convince a skilled luthier in Kepong to make for him. A harp guitar has, apart from a standard guitar neck, additional floating harp-like strings to create more range, more depth, and more music.
Roger Wang in action
He said playing the instrument at first made him feel like a clumsy beginner and the first composition on the instrument was done in time for his fourth wedding anniversary.
The song was specifically composed for his wife and you could almost hear the collective “aawwwww” from the audience.
Then Palencia came back on stage in a stunning green dress to belt out classics like And I Love Her, God Bless the Child, Mona Lisa and Four. As promised, the duo included some new songs into the set — two fabulous Michael Jackson hits.
Man In The Mirror was excellent though Human Nature really had everyone singing along and doing a Stevie Wonder-esque head sway. The last song was the aptly titled Everytime We Say Goodbye.
The crowd was having none of it though. A standing ovation was enough to bring them out for an encore and if anyone doubted Palencia’s powerful vocals, Somewhere Over The Rainbow quickly put out that fire.
Dedicated to her mother, it was a fantastic end to a fabulous evening. – The New Sunday Times magazine, Sunday People (Nov. 21, 2009)
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Sat, Nov 21, 2009
Music, News & Views