Date Night Friday: Anne Weerapass

Anne Weerapass brings her pop-singing perfected vocal into the foray of jazz. She possesses that jazzy quality we prize from the eras of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, with a stimulating sensitivity that is firmly cultivated in the present era. Utterly inspiring and momentarily playful, her Latin inspired jazz standards will put one’s mind at ease which makes for a relaxing night and even gets your feet tapping.

Weerapass performs regularly at various jazz venues in Singapore and Southeast Asia. She presents songs that illustrate the ebbs and flows of love that also showcases her dynamic and versatile vocals, covering genres of jazz, blues, pop and evergreens.

Joshua Wan has been a familiar face in Singapore’s music scene for the last 35 years as pianist, arranger, producer and educator.

Dr Tony Makarome teaches at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore (NUS). He studied at Berklee College of Music (composition) and received his doctorate from University of South Carolina (orchestral conducting). He was assistant conductor of the Columbia Lyric Opera (South Carolina), and music director of NUS Wind Symphony. His teachers include George Monseur, Attilio Poto, Robert Spano, Miroslav Vitous, Herb Pomeroy, K.R. Shyama, T.R. Sundaresan, R.Karthikeyan. He is currently a mridangam student of Guru Chettiharaveetil Haridas Sreekanth (Singapore Indian Fine Art Society). In 2019, Singapore Symphony Orchestra premiered his Indian music piece Jewel of Srivijaya. Other notable compositions include Rain Konnakkol which premiered in Baltimore in 2018, What Pattern? (2016) in New York City, Scifi Lounge (2006) in Bangkok and Name with No Street in Shanghai. His opera, Faybulous played / premiered? at Pawley’s Island Music Festival and his arrangements of Seven Steps to Heaven and Asiana were performed by Singapore Chinese Orchestra and China Broadcasting Folk Orchestra (Beijing). As bassist, he has performed with Louis Bellson, Quartet West (Ernie Watts, Alan Broadbent) amongst others. He is bassist and composer in the jazz-rock band, Varsha and has also performed as a mridangist in Chennai and Carnegie Hall. He is a leading pedagogue of solfége and jazz and has also published a popular article on konnakkol in music teaching in the Malaysian Music Journal. In 2019, he completed his diploma at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society in Carnatic music studies (mridangam) and received the Vadya Visharad Award as top graduate of mridangam.

Drummer, Aaron James Lee, an aspiring musician and artist has had the opportunity to grow up amongst national treasures here in the local scene. Musicians such as Don Gomes, Christy Smith, Joshua Wan, Andrew Lim, Tan Wei Xiang, Wen Ming Soh, Chok Kerong and Jeremy Monteiro have paved the way for musicians such as Lee, who has been blessed with the opportunity to work with each of them, to thrive as an artist here in Singapore. Lee has worked with some international acts who have come through Singapore—James Moody, Alex Sipiagin, Tony Lakatos to name a few and as a former band member of The Steve McQueens, has also been brought on the road to Japan, London etc.