If Danny Loong and Trevor Jalla had a dollar for every time someone asked them "how is it that you Asians can play the blues" they would be very wealthy young men. They are currently two of the hottest blues musicians in Asia, who are not only proving they can play the blues, but that they can also help bring it to the attention of a wider audience through the inaugural UBlues Fest 2002.
"The search for self - that's the blues", sums up Danny Loong, co-founder of the Universal Blues Band.
Loong,
an avid blues fan and a mostly self-taught musician, has been playing
the blues for more than 10 years - since the day he watched boogie-woogie
legend, Jimmy Yancey, on television back in 1986. He and core-member,
Trevor Jalla, make up the Universal Blues Band, an Australian-born yet
Singapore-based group which, in the three years since they have been together,
have grown from a fledgling band into one of the premier blues bands in
Asia.
Loong and Jalla first met in 1998 on stage at a blues festival in Bridgetown, Western Australia, and soon after decided to get together to form the Universal Blues Band, or ublues for short. Loong describes their first meeting: "I saw Trevor on stage playing and was astounded by what I saw, which was a 19 year old guy playing heart-felt blues… I eventually jammed with him and we felt a chemistry between us when we played on stage, feeding on each other's energy." The reason for the band's name? "We both want to promote the mutual respect and a common human connection within the blues."
Jalla's passionate singing and guitar style has garnered much attention, and at only 22 years of age, he possesses a mature, resonant voice. He grew up in a musical family with Eric Clapton, a main musical influence, before falling under the blues' spell when he first heard Stevie Ray Vaughan's rendition of Texas Flood.
According to Jalla: "Blues is for everyone - it's a human music and a human expression of our honest emotions. There's an element of raw 'urgency' about the blues which is why it appeals to me more than jazz, plus playing the blues doesn't make you blue."
Loong agrees: "Blues makes
me feel good… it's a kind of release… in fact it lightens
my load." He goes on: "The important thing is that blues is the roots
of jazz, and an evolution of the blues roots. I love jazz too, because
there's a wonderful spirit of improvisation which is similar to the blues.
The ublues band is about bringing people together through music, about
building common platforms." While the ublues embrace all styles of blues
(see boxout), their brand of music is inspired by a lot of African American
music, from blues to soul and funk, to swing and gospel.
The musical journey for Loong and Jalla has not however, been all smooth sailing. There have often been obstacles to overcome admits Loong, citing the recent cancellation of their USA visit in February as one setback. They were thrilled to be invited to represent Singapore at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, organised by America's pre-eminent blues organisation, The Blues Foundation. Another highlight of their USA trip was to be their performance at Buddy Guy's 'Legends' club in Chicago, made possible by the recent meeting between the ublues and Buddy Guy here in Singapore. The cancellation, due to last minute visa problems (instigated by new restrictions post-September 11), was an enormous disappointment, yet the resilient duo remain philosophical.
"You learn from the obstacles, but you also learn to keep on your toes and just keep on going," says Loong.
They have done just that. Their tireless work, passion for music, and their ability to maintain cheerful dispositions throughout the gruelling, and sometimes unglamorous aspects of marketing themselves, have paid off. The past 12 months have been spent promoting their debut album, Get On The Blues Train, a recording of 15 original tracks and two covers of classic Robert Johnson songs, which has.resulted in many rave reviews describing them as "having the goods - highly recommended" and "their musicianship is excellent with their heartfelt vocals and superb playing" (Eric Black of Blue Country 101FM, Australia). The positive response has led to some exciting participation in the local arts scene.
The
Chijmes Blues Series, they helped instigate, surpassed both ublues' and
Chijmes' expectations. The series, held at Chijmes Fountain Courtyard,
kicked off in March with a performance by the ublues featuring Kelvin
'Smokey' Ng, Singapore's top harmonica player. The subsequent months saw
the likes of the Farid Ali trio and the Paul Ponnudorai Trio from Singapore
and Malaysia, respectively, in keeping with the ublues' promotion of multiculturalism.
Explains Loong: "It promotes the idea that we can all be different, but
at the same time we can look for similarities rather than differences."
The Singapore Arts Festival 2002 was another important event in their busy calendar for the year. Included in the 'Arts on the Move' series, Loong and Jalla played a variety of public venues to take blues music to the masses.
However, the ublues' contribution to the Singapore arts scene goes beyond finding and playing at gigs. One recent venture was their involvement in iTheatre's production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, for which they composed original music and provided the live accompaniment, and received rave reviews.
They are also interested in teaching music and songwriting to enhance creative thinking through musical expression, and have been working with Singapore Management University's Associate Professor Kirpal Singh on realising this idea.
Their biggest challenge to
date, however, has been the co-planning of Singapore's biggest international
blues festival, to be held mid-July at Fort Canning Green. The project
has taken them beyond performing and self-management, to the new role
of major event management and promotion. The two-day blues, soul and funk
festival will feature musicians from the USA, Australia and Asia, coming
together to celebrate music on a common platform promoting cultural exchange,
mutual respect and a passion for music. 
Signing up The Holmes Brothers from the USA - who have been described as the "most important blues find of the decade" - to headline the festival, has been a major coup. Described as "the undisputed masters of blues-based American roots music: , this will be their first performance in Singapore. The UBlues will also have the chance to share the stage with them at the inaugural event. Other acts will include Blue Shaddy (funk style blues) and Rick Steele (folk/country blues) from Australia, Kelvin 'Smokey' Ng, the Farid Ali Trio featuring guitar virtuoso Farid whose style has been described as "a jazzier aspect of the blues" and, naturally, the Ublues themselves.
As well as performing at the UBlues Fest some of the musicians will be holding various workshops on how to sing the blues andplay the blues guitar. This festival is an obvious magnet for blues, jazz, gospel, funk and soul fans, however it will also appeal to anyone wanting to soak up the atmosphere of a live music event. As Loong explains, "we would love to see a wonderful mixture of audiences at the festival which is reflective of Singapore - a multi-cultural melting pot, coming together to experience the blues heartbeat".
Loong and Jalla see a healthy future for blues in Singapore. They are pleasantly surprised by the young, local, returning crowd that turns out for their gigs at Aubreys club four nights a week, and believe that by raising awareness through various festivals and performances, blues music will continue to attract a growing audience here.
"Blues is such an international form of music - you find it everywhere in the world including Singapore. It's interesting to add an Asian angle to the Blues. We play authentic blues styles from the deep south to Chicago blues, but we are working to develop and merge blues and Asian instruments," says Loong. He goes on, "We found that there are definite similarities and hope it could be yet another evolution of the blues, though with an Asian influence. We believe that the blues is universal, everyone can relate to it, and we like to express our experiences and stories with the blues to the world."
Kelvin
"Smokey" Ng, who plays with the Ublues every Friday night at Aubreys,
agrees. Having played the harmonica since he was 17, Ng has seen an increased
interest in blues which can only grow with more events being organised.
He believes this will be possible with the scheduled opening of the Esplanade
- Theatres on the Bay and other new venues, and with the growing interest
in the arts here. His interpretation of the blues? "Blues is the most
honest music there is", he states before adding that there are no preferences
when it comes to blues. "It's real, gritty, a reality check, and one can
express joy or sadness - it's for the people of today."
What's next for the Ublues band? Loong and Jalla are not the type to sit around waiting for 'it' to happen. After the Chijmes Blues Series and the blues festival, they'll finish writing songs for a second album (which they hope to release in 2003), and push for the regional, European and North American distribution of their current album. With their belief in themselves it's easy to see them achieving these goals and ambitions. Their easy-going natures, and innate talent belie an inner strength and determination to succeed.
Check out the Ublues and 'get on the blues train' in Singapore - it's going to be one hell of a ride.
The UBlues Fest 2002 is on 13-14
July at Fort Canning Park. Check http://www.ublues.com/ for details.
As the forerunner of jazz and one of the most influential musical styles, blues is all about tradition and personal expression. It was created as a musical storytelling response to the hardship and pathos endured by generations of African American people. The blues evolved from the work songs and field shouts (arhoolies), of early African American slaves - their human cry, hope and joy. It originated in the rural Mississippi Delta region at the beginning of the 20th century, and is primarily a vocal narrative style featuring solo voice with instrumental accompaniment. A number of the different blues genres are explained here:
Country or Delta Blues
The earliest blues were a product of the 19th-century Southern rural experience,
especially after emancipation. Early musicians include Charlie Patton, Son
House and Robert Johnson. The Delta Blues style comes from a region in the
Southern part of Mississippi, described as "the land where the blues were
born". In its earliest form, the style became the first African American guitar-dominated
music to make it onto phonograph records back in the late 1920s. Delta Blues
is dominated by fiery slide guitar and passionate vocalising, with the deepest
of feelings applied directly to the music.
Classic Blues
As rural African Americans migrated to urban areas, such as Memphis and New
Orleans, in search of work, blues gradually became more of an urban phenomenon.
Classic or urban blues featured a male or female singer usually accompanied
by a piano or a whole jazz combo. Blues recordings by performers such as Bessie
Smith, 'Empress of the Blues', Jelly Roll Morton, Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey, and
Louis Armstrong dominated the musical landscape.
Texas Blues
Early incarnations occurred in the mid 1920s, and featured acoustic guitar
work. This version of Texas blues embraced both the songster and country-blues
traditions, with its lyrics relying less on affairs of the heart than in other
forms. The next stage of development in the region's sound came after World
War II, bringing forth a fully electric style that featured jazzy, single-string
soloing over predominantly horn-driven backing.
East Coast Blues
This essentially falls into two categories: Piedmont Blues and Jump Blues,
both of which contributed to the development of rock 'n' roll. Jump blues
began in the mid-to-late 1940s, characterised by a driving rhythm, saxophone
solos and shouting vocals. Piedmont blues featured a complex finger-picking
guitar style.
Chicago Blues
What is now referred to as the "classic Chicago style" was developed in the
late 1940s and early 1950s, taking Delta blues, amplifying it and putting
it into a small-band context. Adding drums, bass, and piano (sometimes saxophones)
to the basic string band and harmonica aggregation created the now standard
blues band lineup.
Electric Blues
After World War II, the core blues activity moved to cities such as Chicago,
where musicians such as Muddy Waters, Riley 'BB' King, and Buddy Guy intensified
the sound by amplifying the guitars and adding more emphasis to the drums.
In the 1960s, British musicians such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin,
and Eric Clapton returned to the blues roots as the source for their heavily
amplified hard rock style.
Harmonica Blues
Refers to any style of blues where the harmonica plays a central figure. Although
the harmonica was present in many country-blues recordings, it became a dominant
force in the 50s, when the instrument was amplified. Little Walter Jacobs
made the genre known as Electric Harmonica Blues come to life.
Justine MOSS is a presenter with Passion 99.5FM and a Singapore-based freelance writer.
