Gerard sings solo
Steele (centre) appears in the first two bands
Rozario as Elvis stole the show
As I write this, the 10th Anniversary Charity Jam Session 2009 is ongoing at Uncle Chilli's in Hilton Petaling Jaya. It is a great jam session with lots of music from the 80s and a good wholesome crowd.
Upon returning home after spending a few hours there, I was eager to twit about it so that those who did not know about this event earlier can make their way there before it ends at 1am. Alas, twitter was down.
I had arrived for the function at 2.45pm. The jam session was just about to start. I was glad I didn’t miss much of the opening ceremony which was slated at 2pm.
Like other first timers to this event, we had this idea of grabbing a bite here while we enjoy some music and songs. It was a family event for some. They had brought their children along. The kids could be seen playing some card games while they waited for the organisers to get their act together.
It’s Sunday and idea of a late lunch was not far from many of our thoughts. To learn that food would only be served at 4pm, some of us decided to make some noise and requested for the food to be served earlier at 3.15pm.
We succeeded and got more than just jumbo chicken sausages, onion rings, potatoes wedges and cheese fondue. I went for the chicken curry, satay and roast whole lamb and happily parted with my RM10 coupons for each of these items. Grabbed a glass of beer and a fruit juice as well.
Food and drinks were charged RM10 nett. The coupons were sold at the entrance. A minimum RM10 donation entrance fee was imposed but this entitled you to quite attractive lucky draw prizes such as hotel accommodation stay and high tea vouchers.
The first round of lucky draw was held around 5.30pm with the second one to be held at 7.30pm. You have to be there when your name is called. Otherwise, it’s burned.
The theme of this 10th anniversary charity jam session is No Child Shall Knock in Vain. The bulk of the proceeds raised will go to University Malaya Medical Centre's Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) while the rest will be for the Malay Mail Care Fund.
Kudos should go to The Malaysian Association of Hotels, Chefs
Association of Malaysia, The Malaysian Food & Beverage Executives Association, Malaysian Association of Housekeepers and Hilton
Petaling Jaya for putting this event together.
Other event partners include Carlsberg, Harley Motorcycle Owners Club and Mini Owners Club Malaysia.
PICU, the main beneficiary, had their staff stationed to conduct blood and sugar tests slightly past 3pm instead of 6pm, which I was told when I arrived.
Borderline or serious cases were asked to have a tete-a-tete with PICU Professor Dr Lucy Lam Chai See. I was among one of them and
advised to exercise at least three times a week for about 20 minutes each time if I do not want my sugar level to go higher. I was
told to consider carrying dumb bells or weights as well.
Lam, who looked trim and fit, said she does not exercise at the gym. She uses the stairs instead of lifts and would carry her bags instead of using the rollers of her luggage when she is at the airport. She also suggested lots of walking.
Back to the jam session, although 15 bands are listed in the promotional flyer, we got more than what we bargained for. The organisers had
missed out Fats n Vernon, which has been playing for the last nine years in the charity jam session held annually in July except for this year.
Not to be deterred, Vernon Steele called the organisers and had
his band slotted in. Although they were supposed to play much
later, the trio ended up kick-starting off the jam session. One of
the songs they sang is “Reflection Of My Life”.
According to Steele, “We consider this charity jam session to be one of our official gigs. We have regrouped about two months ago after a very long time since 1980s.
“We are trying to get our original members back. We hope to have
a five or six member band and come back strong. We do not want to
play just anything new but good new numbers.
“I believe we are almost there and need to have more regular gigs. We want to recreate something that is long lost,” said Steele, a member of the next band, Ages 3, which played “The last train to London” besides other songs.
The rendition of the third band, Small Stones, included songs like
“And I Love Her” made popular by the Beatles and “You Light Up
My Life”.
The trio had Joe Rozario, one of our local impersonators of Elvis Presley, joining in. Besides belting some songs by the King of Rock n Roll,
the latter also did an old popular number from the late 60s,
Proud Mary, by CCR (Credence Clearwater Revival).
When it was the turn for the fourth band to play, Gerard Singh, apologised he would be singing alone without his friends due to the erratic timing. Despite telling us he has a bad throat, Gerard gave us a convincing Santana number. He mesmerised us with his guitar
plucking.
I had to pull myself away from the jam session due to work commitments. For those who stayed on or trickled in later, enjoy!
