12th Jan – 16th Jan

The week before a great Chinese feasting, we see some exciting parties with kick ass (yesssss, really) music towards the end of the week. Grooveworks takes Jan off and will return on Wed in February.. so till Friday, we have ambient music to soothe @ Space and Lounge and jazz play back @ Cafe.

16th January – Friday

Monster Trio brings us only the good stuff from 9:30pm onwards @ Cafe

Pushin’On is 3 this month! SO come celebrate the anniversary of Pushin’On, Singapore’s longest running, independently-promoted funk night.  They’re celebrating it big and early before Blu Jaz Cafe closes for the Lunar New Year. This night will feature DJs Shellsuit, Ko-Flow, Funk Bast*rd, Nazmatazz, Mister Magic, and MC Masterpiece on the soul mic.

It’s their 3rd Anniversary Disco ya’ll! So bring your good self, your dancing shoes and all your rhythm.

Where? The usual – Lounge (2nd Flr) from 9pm onwards

Our new resident belly dancer, Angelina, brings out a new flava and breathes more exotic dance movements to Space from 9pm onwards @ Space (3rd Flr).

17th Jan – Sat

Ayaschool takes centerstage from 9:30pm onwards @ Cafe. Last week was crazy Aidan’s birthday and tons of celebrations going round. This week features Alemay Fernandez on vocals with Aidan and Mohd Noor on percussion. It’s going to be another madcap AND enjoyable night. Don’t just chill, dance

*NOTE – Blu Jaz is closed from the 24th January – 1st February)

A Good Week

November 9th – November 15th

We do not have bad weeks – we have good weeks and better weeks. Firstly – the regulars – our artistes who help make Blu Jaz an even more awesome place

Monday: Omniform – 9pm onwards – our 10 member jazz band playing only original compositions or Greg Lyon’s special arrangements @ Cafe (1st Flr)

Wednesday: Groove Works – 9pm onwards – 4 member team, consisting of jazz passion driven student musicians @ Cafe (1st Flr)

Friday: Monster Trio – 9:30pm onwards with snazzy and complex sounds, pleasing to the ears and engaging the mind – join Greg and gang while going on a jazz journey @ Cafe (1st Flr)

Saturday: Ayaschool – 9:30pm onwards with high energy Aya on keyboards and the Wicked Boys on all other percussion type instruments. Always good. @ Cafe (1st Flr)

FRIDAY (14th November)
The Special – Pushin’On goes to the Lounge (2nd Flr) with DJs’ pick and live band back up

Once again, the Pushin’On crew is putting on a mid-month special. If you caught the Lion City Orchestra’s debut show in October and want more gritty soul and furious funk, come down for this 90 minute long special. Pushin’On DJs, Chunk and Shellsuit, will carry the party till late so you can get your groove on. Tonight, be prepared to dance.

“Bring Back the Band”
�Give As You Please� entry and tips jar (any amount will be greatly appreciated)

Jammed Pack mid Oct @ Blu Jaz

It’s a real gorgeous week with so many people coming together to our lil ole cafe…

15th October: Wed

@ Cafe – Grooveworks – Greg Lyons lead his students to the path of funky jazz, soulful jazz. Just Jazz.
9pm onwards

16th October: Thurs

@ Space (3rd Flr) , we welcome our visitor from Australia:  Trent Williams to showcase his stuff. Two accoustic sets to accompany you and your chilled mood….  meanwhile – here is a sample: www.trentwilliams.com.au

17th October: Friday

@ Cafe – Greg’s Monster Trio. Cool addiction. 9:30pm onwards. We only take reservations for those who come before 8pm, yo.

@ Lounge- Pushin’ On returns with “Bring on the Band” 9pm onwards

After 3 years of having you dance hard to good funk & soul, the Pushin’On crew brings a true “live” sound to the stage. The Lion City Orchestra debuts Fri 17th Oct with some of the tunes that have kept you dancing till the early hours of many Saturday mornings.

8 musicians tighten up in one solid hour of rare funk & soul.  Tasty drums, muscular bass, rhythmic guitars, driving horns and uplifting vocals come together for an exciting “live” night. Here’s the lowdown:

“Bring On the Band” starring  the Lion City Orchestra  & supported by Pushin’On DJs.

@ Space – Kyoko joins us to add some Middle Eastern flava with her belly dancing. 9pm onwards.

18th October: Sat

@ Cafe: Wicked Boys take a break and Mario Lopez teams up with Aya to form the band on Sat for a more Latin sounding twist. Starts 9:30pm onwards

@ Lounge: Right Time, Wrong Speed 2008 – Tribute to John Peel

After the success of the first Right Time Wrong Speed gig at another local indie club last year, the RTWS crew (led by diehard Peeli fan, eklektro) are back again to pay tribute to John Peel, the late great influential British DJ who was instrumental in shaping the global indie music scene into what it is today. In the freewheeling spirit of Peelie, the intrepid RTWS crew is set to spin the whole eclectic gamut from Americana and Afro-Pop to C86 to punk, to reggae and even Cajun Zydeco!

Presenting (non-) DJs:

The enigmatic “bearcanboogie” – a part time DJ who has played at such wonderful little clubs as Home Club, Bar Baa Black Chic and the legendary Cafe Cosmo. His earliest memory of the John Peel show includes the unexpectedness of hearing a Turkish rock song on the BBC. His taste of music comprises the choicest cuts of indie pop, electronica and just a little techno.

Omnipresence (a.k.a. Gerald Tan)…an embracer of genre-defying sorts and a huge sucker for big plastic discs, sets out to pay homage to a revered musicman who had in many ways sculpted the creative direction of many teenage lives… As the music plays on this night, so should the memory of this great man….  R.I.Peel

eklektro (a.k.a. Ivan Thomasz) was once very chuffed to hear his bearded hero play his request for Magazine’s “Shot by Both Sides” sometime in the 1990′s! eklektro first became involved with the local indie music scene writing for Singapore’s first rock magazine, BigO, back in 1988. Like many rock writers, he dabbled with the idea of starting his own band and was, at one point, lead singer for the Twang Bar Kings. In 2004, he found a way to spread his love of indie and classic rock at the Open-Deck nights at the now-defunct Café Cosmo. Currently the PR guy at a local recreation club, when he is not busy writing replies to disgruntled club members, eklektro can be found at record shops at Coleman Street searching for rare or obscure punk and new wave vinyl discs, or else at home trying to figure out how to mix The Fall’s “The Man Whose Head Expanded” with Allan Sherman’s “Hello Muddah, Hello Fuddah”.

Come and savour sounds hardly ever heard on Singapore’s airwaves.

This Week and more…

Omniform presented a great jazz set on Monday and for those who are new to us – Omniform comprises 10 Singapore residing jazz lovers who come together to play from passion, led by Greg Lyons. Sets are on Monday and they go from chill to far out so swing on by our way @ Blu Jaz Cafe if you need a pick-er up-per.

WEDNESDAY - 8th October

Greg takes his students through a journey of self discovery through music and we invite you to join us from 9pm onwards @ The Cafe.

FRIDAY - 10th October

Greg’s Monster Trio plays on… cool jazz, hot notes, inspired sounds

9:30pm till late.

Come.
SATURDAY - 11th October

AYASCHOOL returns for another brutal, kickin’ set on Saturday to bring you over the edge and then back to Mother Earth – anything is possible

Guests include Aidan, Budi, Hanafi and they are all members of Singapore’s own and one and only Batucada(Percussion) Group, WICKED AURA BATUCADA. Come down for some chilled Bossa Nova, spicy Samba and a little of everything else. The music is diverse – you can dance, you can sing along without knowing the lyrics, it has SAUDADE, a sentimentally longing feel which the word only exist in Brazil. Set starts at 9:30pm

Sawadeeka! If you’re in the mood for some eclectic mix, check out our Thai Band @ The Lounge (2nd Floor) Unpredictable and maybe just a little crazy, our Thai band seems to get the guests to sing along just fine. Set starts from 9pm

Upcoming…

Belly dance night with Kyoko on the 17th @ Space from 9pm onwards

Pushin’On Special on 17th @ Lounge from 9pm onwards

Oct Hafla on 25th @ Space from 9pm onwards

And the band plays on

Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke – our awesome combination with Greg Lyons on Saxaphones on Fridays and Ayaschool on Saturdays and this week isn’t different with sweet sounds of jazz with Mr Lyons and wild jungle sounds from Aya.

Special Features in Sept:

Upcoming would be Lila Drums back for an encore this month on the 18th September @ Blu Jaz Cafe (1st Floor) from 8:30pm onwards. And resident belly dancer, Kyoko returns on the 19th Sept @ Blu Jaz Space from 8:30pm onwards. Our last Friday of the month sees Pushin’ On back at the consol at our Lounge to raise body temperatures by some degrees with their brand of funk soul and house.

Catch all of you around!

Aug 18th – 24th

Our Monster Trio takes stage on Friday as usual from 9:30pm onwards. We tend to get filled up on Fridays so if you want a table, do call to reserve. There IS a difference between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Floor, so DO specify, leave your name and number. It’s a casual kinda of place so do be patient with us. Order a drink from the bar to chill out to Greg’s jazz on the first floor.

Aya’s special guests from Wicked Aura are in for the month of August – featuring 3 members of Wicked Aura, singing the blues, the bee-bops, the do-wops – 2 more sessions with Wicked Aya come down on Saturday before 9pm to get seats.

A Sawadeeka Experience

It was on our National Day that our regular Thai customers decided that they should celebrate the school of rock – thai style. They formed a band, impromptu and held a mini-jam session at Blu Jaz Lounge, which turned it to a pretty vibrant scene on the 2nd Floor. We’ve never had a Thai Rock Out before so thank you for the intriguing experience.

Meanwhile, sandwiching the Sawadeeka Band were Aya and our 3 boys from Wicked Aura on the 1st Floor with Budi on vocals belting out blues and jazz renditions and a belly dance party turned retro then hip hop on the 3rd Floor. I suppose you may be thinking what the *$%F? But you know, at Blu Jaz, we’re all about the fun – no pretensions. The last set saw Budi singing Billi Jean acappella style while Aya took a toilette break to the delight and amazement of the audience (including myself), while our DJ at our August Hafla @ Space switched from belly dance music to Bailamos and then to Joan Jet’s I Hate Myself for Loving You with performers in belly dancing costumes rocking out side by side with our regular Jane and Joe Doe.

No regrets. Play hard. See you guys soon.

The Voice.