Happy New Year of the Snake 2025! Please come to our first event of 2025 since the fantastic festival events in December last year! A night of eclectic music improvisation with local improvisers Loke Xiaoyun (voice), Kok Siew-Wai (voice), John TR Long (saxophone), Yong Yandsen (saxophone), and let’s welcome Adam Sharawi (percussion) to join the SPIL series for the first time! See you on Saturday, and bring a friend!
Date: Saturday, 22nd February, 2025
Time: Doors open @ 8pm
Venue: @Percussion Store
Add: A-01-03 LG Floor, Dataran Cascades, No. 13A, Jalan PJU 5/1, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Admission by donation: RM30
For Reservation, WhatsApp: 012 919 8031
More info and musicians’ profiles: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Kf4JWaQf5/
Design: OMNIBVS WORKS @omnibvs.design
More info:
[email protected]
www.klexfestival.com
www.facebook.com/groups/klexfest
Instagram: @klexfestival
Founded in May 2014, SERIOUS PLAY IMPROV LAB (SPIL) is the music series of KLEX Festival. It is an art laboratory focusing on music experimentation and improvisation. SPIL provides a platform for musicians from various backgrounds to collaborate and present a new collective expression through improvisation. Over the years, many local and international artists have initiated experimentations and collaborated in the SPIL series, enriching the region’s experimental and improvised music scene.
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS:
Adam Sharawi is a Malaysian percussionist and drummer who graduated from UiTM Faculty of Music (Malaysia) for his diploma, and a bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore). Adam has performed with numerous ensembles, bands and orchestras such as Singapore’s Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, Orchestra of the Music Makers, Musicians’ Iniative, Morse Percussion, UiTM Percussion Ensemble and mainly YST’s Orchestral Institute. Adam’s interest lies in collaborating and performing with other musicians whether in jazz bands, orchestral, and in chamber settings.
John Long is an active performer, composer and teacher with over thirty years of experience in the music industry. He has performed at some of the most prestigious venues across the globe, including the Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Tokyo Dome. John’s arranging and playing can be heard on the album “Tuk Tak” by Zahid Ahmad. John also features as a sideman on Siels’ latest album “Moment of Movement” and as a soloist on the album “I Think of You”, (a collection of compositions written by the late King of Thailand). John’s most recent performances have been with the “Serious Play Improv Lab” (SPIL) and are featured on their debut album! John has held teaching posts in the private sector (UK), and international schools. He has led an award winning youth Jazz orchestra and many of his former students have gone on to study at the top music colleges and universities in the UK, and have also gone on to pursue successful careers in creative arts and education. John currently resides in the fabulous city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Kok Siew-Wai started out as a video artist, now active as an improvised vocalist and artist-curator/organizer. She has shown her videos, curatorial video programmes and performed in Asia, Europe, Australia, Canada and USA, including allEars Improvised Music Festival (Norway), Asian Meeting Festival (Japan), CTM Festival (Germany), Hanoi New Music Festival (Vietnam), Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival, Nusasonic (Indonesia) amongst others. Siew-Wai is interested in improvisation and the exploration of expressions with the human voice.
Loke Xiaoyun sings, and plays the piano, the flute, and the Sape. She also has deep interest in different aspects of music and was involved in different academic research projects in music education, music sociology and ethnomusicology. Trained as a classical musician, Xiaoyun first dipped her toes in atonal vocal improvisation when she was a member of Merle Noir. She also draws inspiration from nuances in different ethnic singing styles. Xiaoyun enjoys working with different artists from disciplines, such as dance and visual works. One of her collaborative works was a multi disciplinary project with Seni Tiga #8: Foundry. She also contributed to KLEX Nusasonic Radio Episode #1: So Far So Good in 2020. Apart from performing, Xiaoyun is a music educator with students from different age groups and currently in training to be a Dalcroze Eurhythmics certified instructor.
Yong Yandsen is a free jazz and improvised saxophonist from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Yandsen has released albums through XingWu and Herbal Records in Malaysia, Utech Records (USA), Dream Sheep (Italy), and his solo debut on vinyl through Doubtful Sound (France). He has played at allEars Improvised Music Festival (Norway), Asian Meeting Festival (Japan), Mosaic Music Festiva, Jazz in July (Singapore), amongst others. Yandsen, together with Darren Moore and Brian O’Reily, form the improvised trio Game of Patience. Hungry Ghosts is his trio with European musicians Christian Meaas Svendsen and Paal Nilssen-Love. In 2022, the Big Foot quartet was formed with Akira Sakata, Seo Takashi and Darren Moore. Yandsen is the co-founder of a Malaysian record label, LaoBan Records, focusing on releasing contemporary improvised music. He is also the co-founder of Khatulistiwa, a local venue for experimental and improvised music.
More info:
[email protected]
www.klexfestival.com
www.facebook.com/groups/klexfest
Instagram: @klexfestival