Singapura Blue: The Bands

This is a list of "active" blues and rock bands in Singapore -- active in the sense that if someone's talking about a "blues gig" around town, it's probably one of these bands. If you want to know the exact date and time of the gigs, please check with the respective clubs (phone numbers are listed on the Clubs page) or the bands themselves. Relevant Web sites are listed here, but caveat surfer since they're not updated too often.

Siva Choy & Crossroads
Siva's R&B roots go back to the sixties, when the scene was just starting out. Four decades later, he's become a kind of father figure of the blues who's got a chronic case of boogie.
ROSTER: Siva Choy (vocals and guitar), John Chee (lead guitar), Stephen Rufus (sax), R. Segar (bass), and Gary Tan (drums).
REPERTOIRE: Rocked up blues covers ("Bo Diddley," "Red Rooster," "Bright Lights Big City") with some Sam Cooke and Little Richard.
VENUES: Crazy Elephant (Clarke Quay), TBA. Crossroads also makes occasional guest appearances at Siva's comedy shows.
ON THE WEB: Visit Viyo Records' Siva Choy homepage or Siva's page on mud-jam.
Heritage
Heritage is one of the oldest rock bands around, and they have the accumulated amp wattage to prove it. "Don't call us a blues band," they have been quoted as saying. Okay, we won't.
ROSTER: Atwell Jansen (vocals, flute, violin and harp), Richard Khan (drums), Ashley Jansen (bass), and Robert Tan (guitar).
REPERTOIRE: Seventies rock (Jethro Tull, Allman Brothers, Hendrix) with the occasional blues-rock number ("Oh Well," "Texas Flood").
VENUE: TBA.
Mean Jean & The Blues Machine
The Crazy Elephant's "down-home, deep in the soul, good to the bone" main act.
ROSTER: Jeanne French (vocals), John Chee(guitar), Mann Giani (bass), and Ash (drums).
REPERTOIRE: Blues, R&B (Aretha, Otis Redding), and sixties rock (Blind Faith, Janis Joplin).
VENUE: Crazy Elephant (Clarke Quay) on Tue, Thu, Fri, and Sat.
ON THE WEB: Visit Mean Jean's homepage.
O'Donel "O.D." Levy
Baltimore-import O.D. vanished for a while with the demise of Euro-tycoon Fabrice (and later, the fall of Bernie), but apparently the "Quincy Jones of Southeast Asia" is back -- this time with his own joint, where he continues to dish out George Benson-styled riffs and shameless pick-up lines.
ROSTER: O.D. Levy (vocals, guitar, and ribaldry), "Dr." Eddie Jansen (bass), and Jimmy Lee (drums).
REPERTOIRE: Funked up jazz/blues/soul standards plus the usual pop/rock covers ("Light My Fire," "Johnny B. Goode").
VENUE: O.D.'s Backstage Music Bar (Stadium Cove) on Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, and Sun nights.
ON THE WEB: Visit the O'Donel Levy homepage or O.D. @ Missile Productions. Here's O.D.'s discography on AMG.
Stephen "Lil' Stevie" Low
One of the few local guitarists who actually abstains from power chords. He sure digs that West Coast sound (aiyah, where to find a rhythm section that can swing?), and he will live or die by it.
REPERTOIRE: Jump blues (T-Bone Walker, Duke Robillard, Ronnie Earl) and (upon request) "Hideaway."
VENUE: Roomful of Blues (Prinsep Street).
ON THE WEB: Visit Lil' Stevie's page on mud-jam.
The New Vintage Blues Band
Originally an ex-pat blues band but they're slowly assimilating lah. "New Vintage" -- it's an oxymoron, get it?
ROSTER: Dennis Dalton (guitar & vocals), Chris Ong (guitar), Dick Roark (bass), Bob Sax (reeds and keyboards), John Silva (drums).
REPERTOIRE: Classic rock (Eric Clapton, CCR, Cream, Jimi Hendrix) and blues (the Clapton, CCR, and Hendrix kind).
VENUES: Crazy Elephant (Clarke Quay) on Wed nights; Voodoo Shack (Clarke Quay) on Thu, Fri, and Sun nights.
ON THE WEB: Visit the New Vintage homepage.
Kelvin "Smokey" Ng
Smokey's harp is as close to South Michigan Avenue as Singapura Blue will ever get. He's yet to find the right vehicle for his brand of blues, but for now it's still worth watching him sit in with O.D. or the Universal Blues Band.
REPERTOIRE: Harp-drenched Chicago blues (Junior Wells, Rice Miller, Jimmy Reed), plus the occasional country blues number.
VENUES: Aubrey's (Penang Road) on Sat nights, O.D.'s Backstage Music Bar (Stadium Cove) on Thu nights.
ON THE WEB: Visit Smokey's page on mud-jam.
Shyyne
ROSTER includes Charlie Anchant (vocals and keyboards) and Billy Das (vocals and guitar).
REPERTOIRE: Blues-rock (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Cream), classic rock (Cream, Santana), and country.
VENUES: Roomful of Blues (Prinsep Street) on Fri and Sat nights.
The Universal Blues Band
A blues 'n' roots band with a mission (they actually have a mission statement to prove it). uBlues released their first album, Get on the Blues Train in 2000.
ROSTER: Danny Loong (guitar, keyboards), Trevor Jalla (vocals, guitar), Francis Chan (bass), and Elvin Tan (drums).
REPERTOIRE: Rock 'n' roll, oldies, acoustic blues (Keb' Mo', Robert Johnson), electric blues.
VENUES: Aubrey's (Penang Road) on Fri and Sat nights; Chijmes Blues Series (2nd Sun of every month through June '02).
ON THE WEB: Visit ublues.com.
Don Victor
The boss at Crazy Elephant's jam session, Don is notorious as the Raspiest Man on Clarke Quay. What do you expect when the guitars are so loud?
ROSTER: Don Victor (vocals and guitar), John Chee (lead guitar), Kamal (bass), Gary Tan (drums).
REPERTOIRE: Blues-rock, the loud kind (ZZ Top, Santana, Blues Brothers, Eric Clapton).
VENUE: TBA.