Upon stepping in the Esplanade Recital studio, it was pretty much a full house last night, a concert attended by friends and fans alike. I came as a supporter of local a cappella with my friend in delightful expectation of what repertoire jazz-infused a cappella group Key Elements [KE] could come up with. As expected , KE opened with their signature jazz-tinged arranged of I'm Beginning To See The Light . However, the audience truly warmed up to KE when they mentioned their stint and the song which they could not reach pass the 1st stanza at the Hokkien Huay Kuan with a cutesy choreography. In fact, I was rather impressed with the simplistic jazz take of a familiar Hokkien classic 一人一半 Jit Lang Jit Pua as sang by Jason Ong, the songwriter-arranger of the group. Yes, that song had the audience hooting in laughter. Not only that, the audience were amusingly prompted by the KE "girls" [ Susanna and Hui Lian] to be screaming fans when the "boys" of KE [ Vaughn, Ki...

Late Nite @ Esplanade: Firsts with Key Elements 29 May 2009 Fri, 9.30pm Esplanade Recital Studio Aptly entitled Firsts , the concert represents many firsts for this captivating sextet, as each song that they’ll be offering represents a milestone in the ensemble’s musical journey. I’m Beginning to See the Light is Key Elements’ first attempt at creating a jazz combo sound, complete with 12-bar scat solos for each member, and 《 一人一半 》 and 《 拢是为了你 》 are the first two Hokkien songs they performed as part of the Hokkien Huay Kuan’s November 2008 event. After two sold-out concerts at home, notable international performances in Genting Highlands, Jakarta, Taiwan and Seoul, and two recordings under its belt, Key Elements will dazzle audiences with its inimitable arrangements and tight vocal harmonies. Only few tickets left, secure your seat now at SISTIC!