Bobby Kimball, the lead singer of Toto.

BOBBY Kimball, lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning and chart-topping American rock band Toto, will be performing live at Hard Rock Cafe in Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur at 11pm on Nov 29.

This special performance is in celebration of Hard Rock Cafe’s recent re-launch and its 17th anniversary.

The cafe recently underwent a RM3 million refurbishment exercise involving both its exterior and interior and now sports an exciting new look.

Kimball will be performing Toto’s hits such as Rosanna, Africa and Hold the Line, which made the band popular worldwide in the ’80s.

Toto was founded in 1977 with Kimball, keyboardist David Paich, (son of composer Marty Paich), drummer Jeff Porcaro (son of acclaimed percussionist Joe Porcaro), guitarist Steve Lukather and Jeff’s brother, keyboardist Steve Porcaro. It released its first, self-titled album in 1978.
Toto also composed music for the 1984 science fiction film Dune starring singer Sting and Twin Peaks’ Kyle MacLachlan.

Toto is best known for its technical prowess in the studio and its musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, R&B and jazz.

The band has released 17 albums and sold over 30 million records. Its 18th release, Falling In Between Live, was released last year.

Its earliest hits were Hold the Line, I’ll Supply the Love and Georgy Porgy.

Its second album contained another monster hit, 99, inspired by Star Wars creator George Lucas’ cult film THX 1138.

Toto also provided American Idol judge and notable choreographer Paula Abdul with her first claim to fame. She was a dancer in the band’s music video for Till The End.

Steve left the band in 1987 to pursue a solo music and acting career. Another Porcaro brother, Mike, joined as bassist.

Jeff died in 1992. He suffered a fatal heart attack caused by an allergic reaction to insecticide used in his house. He was replaced by Simon Phillips, a Londoner noted for collaborating with The Who, Mike Oldfield and Mick Jagger.

In 2005, Greg Philinganes, a protege of Stevie Wonder, joined the group as its new keyboardist.

In April this year, Toto’s members chose to call it a day as a band. They performed together for the last time that month in Seoul, South Korea. Each member is currently working on solo projects.

Toto, and its individual members have collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music industry and they include Michael Jackson, Steely Dan, Santana, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Larry Carlton, Chicago, Sir Elton John, Eric Clapton, Quincy Jones, Sir Paul McCartney, Steve Vai and Lionel Richie.

Paich has also composed music for the Beijing Olympics this year.

Kimball’s one-night-only showcase promises fans an enjoyable moment of timeless music from the ’80s.

Entry is RM40, inclusive of one drink. For details, call 03-2715-5555.

New Straits Times

Catch Paolo live at the Apple Mac and iPod Discovery Week at The Pavilion on Sunday.

Paolo Delfino may be a web editor by day but the lad aspires to be ‘a singer-songwriter and musician who reaches out to all Malaysians’. DENNIS CHUA writes.

SINGER-songwriter and musician Paolo Delfino is best known for his soulful sounds, strong melodies and old-school pop.

The Manila-born Malaysian-Filipino talent is part of a family of respected jazz musicians.

The son of jazz pianist David Gomes and his vocalist wife Junji Delfino, the 25-year-old Paolo is also the nephew of Hong Kong singer and actor Alex Delfino or Alex Toh Tak Wai.

His paternal grandfather Lawrence Gomes and his maternal grandfather, Albert Delfino, were both drummers.
Paolo chooses to use his maternal surname as his stage name as “Delfino” and “Paolo” rhyme and is more catchy.

Not one to ride on the coat-tails of his parents’ and uncle’s fame, Paolo is a skilled guitarist in his own right.

The eldest of five siblings, he learnt the piano and guitar during his schooldays in the Klang Valley.

“My father insisted that my siblings and I know how to play the piano. I took lessons, but did not sit for music exams. At 14, I learnt the guitar from a family friend,” he said.

Paolo subsequently pursued a University of Queensland multimedia degree course locally.

He graduated two years ago and currently works as a web editor in publishing company Free Form.

“It’s tricky to be a full-time musician. My parents wrote jingles for ads besides performing ‘live’,” he said.

During his teenage years, Paolo enjoyed listening to Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Joni Mitchell.

“I still enjoy their music, but these days, my influences are John Mayer and Jason Mraz,” he said, adding that his family friends have described him as “sounding like Mayer”.

Describing himself as an English language acoustic pop proponent, Paolo believes that having good, credible lyrics are important.

“While chart-topping songs often have great tunes, those with powerful and meaningful lyrics make it bigger,” he said, adding that the success of bands such as U2 and The Beatles, as well as soloists like Eric Clapton, Yusuf Islam and Sting had a lot to do with their superior songwriting.

Paolo begs to differ when asked if the 1970s and 1980s were the best times for songwriters.

He says there have been superbly written songs in every decade.

“Perhaps, back in those decades, songwriters were more prominent. Those were the days when the music video was not as big, and songs were admired because of their lyrics rather than their artiste’s image,” he said.

Paolo counts himself lucky to be part of a generation of information technology (IT)-savvy musicians.

“MySpace, Facebook and YouTube have been of great help for budding musicians like me. IT helps us reach out to fans,” said Paolo.

Paolo has been performing for about two years. Among singer-songwriters and musicians he has performed with are Mia Palencia, Otam, Reza Salleh, Jerome Kugan, Azmyl Yunor and Prema Yin.

Paolo is also a regular at the Moonshine gigs staged at the Laundry Bar in The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya and participated in Kuala Lumpur Urbanscapes musical showcase at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre in Sentul Park, Kuala Lumpur earlier this year.

“I’ve also backed my mother’s musical showcases in Bangkok Jazz, Jalan Raja Chulan this year,” he said.

He plans to come up with his debut album in a year or two, and aspires to be “a singer-songwriter and musician who reaches out to all Malaysians”.

Paolo will be performing live at the Apple Mac and iPod Discovery Week at The Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur at 3.30pm on Sunday.

He will be backed by djembe musician Edwin Lau and bassist Eugene Koh.

New Straits Times

STEVE WINWOOD
Nine Lives
(Sony/BMG)

FRANKLY speaking, I’m one of those who never found my way to the Steve Winwood party. Though some of his greater hits, such as Higher Love, were all but impossible to not notice, the musician, by and large, just flew under my radar.

As such, this review is one which does not have the benefit (or curse, depending on your point of view) of being compared to any of his previous works.

All I know is that I rarely hear an album on which I like every single song - but this nine-track release is definitely one of the chosen few.

The opening track, I’m Not Drowning, is barren, bleak and bluesy; its lack of bluster a deceptive sleight-of-hand masking the impressive fact that every instrument, from the staccato drums to the twangy guitars, are played by Winwood.
The succeeding number, Fly, is an interesting contrast - a song as clean and full of hope as a freshly washed sky.

A soprano saxophone lends a touch of class while a trilling whistle gives it the sweet simplicity of a Japanese haiku.

Winwood’s longtime jamming buddy, Eric Clapton, turns up with a shimmering guitar solo on Dirty City - which is deservedly the album’s lead single, not only for its excellent instrumentation, but also for its grimy lyrics, which simply chill you to the bone.

It is also from this point onwards where the album moves away somewhat from its blues feel into a more upbeat funk groove.

Winwood, hamming it up on the Hammond organ, injects exuberance, energy and warmth into his music while cheeky flutes, tripping congas and silvery guitars all romp gaily to the Pied-Piper’s call of Winwood’s working-man vocals.

This is one party you don’t want to miss.

Rating: HHHHH

Selected tracks: Fly, Dirty City, Secrets, At Times We Do Forget

MAROON 5
It Won’t Be Soon Before Long
(Universal Music)

POP does not necessarily have to be the kind of music that makes purists and “serious” aficionados cringe.

Michael Jackson, Prince and more lately, Justin Timberlake, have all proved that pop can on occasion be as popular among the snooty crowd as it can be among the heaving masses to teenyboppers.

Maroon 5 did exactly that with their sensational debut album, Songs About Jane, and the question on most people’s minds was whether or not they could repeat the feat with the nonsensically titled It Won’t Be Soon Before Long.

Thankfully, the silly title is about as bad as it gets.

Adam Levine and his boys give us a beautifully-paced, tightly produced soap opera that, as is often the case with pop music, revolves mainly around luurrrvve….

Worry not as this is not just a pimply teen’s wet hanky soundtrack.

Somehow, whether he’s talking about coldly shooting dead the other man in his bed or pathetically begging the woman who’s about to ditch him for one more chance to make things right, Levine manages to entertain and engage his listeners, suckering us into buying his brand of heartbreak.

Rating: HHH ´

Selected tracks: Won’t Go Home Without You, Not Falling Apart, Wake Up Call (Mark Ronson remix featuring Mary J. Blige)

SNOOP DOGG
Ego Trippin
(Universal Music)

SNOOP is probably the one rapper who’s managed to transcend not only the genre itself, but music on the whole.

The Doggfather has managed to parlay the popularity garnered from his days as a mainstay of the gangsta rap scene into a portfolio Paris Hilton would envy.

This includes his own MTV show, numerous movie appearances, and even a role as the main baddie in the Play Station 2 game Def Jam: Fight For NYC.

Sadly, it looks like his extra-curricular activities have taken a noticeable toll on his musical output.

His ninth solo LP is nowhere close to the fiery brilliance of his 1993 debut, Doggystyle, its follow-up effort, The Doggfather, or even the more recent Tha Blue Carpet Treatment.

While Snoop’s trademark lazy delivery is still very much intact, as is his effortless sense of cool, the overall feel one gets from the album is one that is surprisingly drab, lethargic and uninterested.

Rating: HH

Selected tracks: Neva Have 2 Worry

JACK JOHNSON
Sleep Through The Static
(Universal Music)

THIS is a guy us Average Joes just love to hate. Here’s a man who was born in Hawaii, turned his back on a champion surfing career and has become a rock star by performing simple and soulful acoustic numbers.

I mean, when a guy can impress girls and make tonnes of dough just by sitting on a stool and strumming a guitar - well, that’s when most of us normal blokes start getting really jealous.

The problem is that he’s six albums on and still not quite managed to shake off that easy-going, beach-bum-with-a-guitar feel to his music. And frankly, it’s starting to get old.

Halfway through this album, I found myself yearning instead for the ominous bass of Black Sabbath, the indecent yowls of Sid Vicious or even the pouty pretensions of Paris Hilton.

While it’s nice to be gently lulled for a while by Johnson’s softly swaying notes, there’s a very fine line between quiet tranquillity and plain boredom - and this album often finds itself sprawling into the latter.

Rating: HH ´

Selected tracks: Angel, Enemy

ASHANTI
The Declaration
(Universal Music)

IT looks like Ashanti is one of those who subscribes to the adage of stopping and smelling the roses instead of the one who exhorts making hay while the sun shines.

After all, four years is a long hiatus by any standard, especially considering that the artiste herself is still a relatively youthful 28.

While her latest album is a smooth and well-produced catalogue of R&B tunes, it is neither overwhelming nor particularly memorable.

In fact, it’s one of those albums which are all but impossible to either praise or condemn (which means it’s pretty darn difficult to review too!) since there’s nothing really wrong with it on the whole.

Still, there’s something - call it the X-factor - missing-lah.

Rating: HH

Selected tracks: Good GoodGet Like Me

New Straits Times