If you're tired of fabricated pop idols and manufactured hits, be sure to watch out for musician Tan Hanjin's new indie release, Raw Jazz. The Singaporean played two abbreviated sets in the basement of Diesel's shop in Queen's Road Central on Saturday afternoon, keeping the vibe loose and live. As on his CD, Tan (below) gave some familiar jazz compositions and old standards a playful twist. He was practically an Asian Michael Buble. In addition to the work of guitarist Dodong Fuego and bassist Paul Candelaria, there was some awesome keyboard work by Jesrael Lucero (riffing Smoke On The Water in a Chick Corea tune and soloing a bit in a Bach style). Tan also added some vocalese solo, mimicking a trumpet and percussion instruments. However, the inspiration for a live CD of jazz standards came during a collaboration with another local musician. 'About six months ago, I was at the club Gecko and saw pianist Jason Cheng. We played together and it just went really well so we decided to do something together.' The result is a session of one-take wonders, in true jazz-improv style, which Tan will be releasing DIY-style with no help from music labels. 'We're also selling it online, virally. We really want to see how far we can take it, without any record company.' You can check out Tan's Raw Jazz on www.tanhanjin.com and on MySpace and Facebook.
