I have a confession: I’m not the best neighbour to have in my community. I live right smack in the city, five minutes walking distance to No Black Tie and if I remember correctly, I’ve only been there maybe five times. That averages out to one visit a year since I moved into the area but I have to make mention that I’ve enjoyed every visit made.
For those who do not know what No Black Tie is, I would describe it as a cultural hub that houses budding and experienced artist alike to showcase their talents and for both the talented and untalented (such as myself) to appreciate their gift.
A couple of weeks back a friend of mine who is musically inclined herself and socializes among the talented, invited me for an evening of entertainment at No Black Tie. Only upon arrival at the venue did I find out that No Black Tie was celebrating its tenth year anniversary and had arranged a line of outstanding local and international performances throughout the whole week. The night I was there we were entertained by a Brazilian performer Valtinho Anastacio as well as a local band called ALI.
As I had prior engagements earlier in the evening, I only arrived towards the end of the first set performed by Valtinho Anastacio. I managed to catch his version of Mas Que Nada and immediately regretted not being able to arrive earlier and witness the full show.
The second set featured a local band called ALI. While ALI was performing, I wondered why I’ve never heard of them before. FYI, ALI is a collaboration of two of the most talented and well known icons from the music industry; Roslan Aziz and Muklis Nor. I recently visited Roslan Aziz’s blog and only then found out that they had just recently launched their album sometime last August through the web. So the album is fairly new in the market and I’m not that backdated after all. Thank God, for a minute there I thought I lived under a huge rock.
They entertained us with a few of their songs from the latest album and I have to say, it would be a disappointment if they didn’t perform well with such a strong and talented partnership, so obviously they were GREAT! I especially love the upbeat song Nonterro which I found had some similarities to Hijau. Not suprising since the duo were responsible for the development of Hijau to begin with. Plus, whilst ALI was performing, Valtinho Anastacio actually went up on stage and joined in the performance. The combination was powerful and the performance seemed naturally coordinated despite its spontaneity.
Anyways, I’d highly recommend that you check out the album especially songs like Benar and Bebas. If I’m not mistaken it’s not out on CD format yet but you can access the music via the blog site. If you’d like to know more about ALI, then check them out at www.roslanaziz.blogspot.com
Btw, to my neglected neighbour, No Black Tie - Happy Tenth Anniversary! Thanks for a great night of entertainment and truly hope that there will be many more to come.
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