Ray Rees-Olivere jazz musician extrodinaire and a well travelled one at that. Performed at slick Jazz clubs and recorded countless radio and television shows under the stage name of Lance Raymond. This is his story.
Prior to 110 Squadron RAF arriving in Singapore, the sqdn. was based at Butterworth, Malaya and most of us on the sqdn. with married families were living in Penang (1962/63).
During my first few months in Penang I made friends with the manager of the Eastern and Oriental Hotel (E&O) in George Town, Penang. When we discussed music and I informed him that I was a Big Band/Jazz vocalist (stage name Lance Raymond), he invited me to talk to a couple of the local bands that worked at the E&O. I ended up singing with two of the bands in the E&O at the weekends.
Also posted in Penang at that time were the Royal Green Jackets. Some of the Regiments bandsmen used to visit the E&O where I got to know a few of the lads that played Trad and Modern Jazz. With the help of the manager of the E&O Hotel, we set up a Sunday Jazz Club and alternated with Trad and Modern Jazz.
Ernesto Daroya was the leader of the jazz band at the Golden Venus. He was also married into the Soliano family. I had been told to contact him, when I arrived in Singapore and introduce myself as one of the friends of the Soliano Brothers in KL.
A member of one of the local bands that I worked with (Gino, vibes player) did the arrangements for a 17-piece Big Band. The music was for the Soliano Brothers big band that played at the KL Cricket Club (KLCC) and used to broadcast in KL. I was invited to sing at the KLCC and record/broadcast in KL with the Soliano Brothers.
This association with the Soliano family gave me a lead into the music scene in Singapore as several of the Soliano family members were playing and recording/broadcasting on Radio Malaysia and TV Singapura. They were also ‘Session Musicians’ and played in most of the large hotels in Singapore, including the Raffles.
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Radio Malaysia and TV Singapura:
The next picture is when I was invited to record for a Radio Malaysia show at the Victoria Theatre in Singapore. I do not recall what the show was, but Van Houten was one of the Sponsors.
The question that I was always asked: "did you get paid for all Shows, Radio and TV broadcasts?" The answer is yes and I even got paid for ‘repeats’ long after I returned to the UK. YES the CO. did know, as he had to sign the forms to enable me to get 50% discount for the civil flights back from Borneo to do the Radio/TV Shows.
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My Return to Singapore (after 40 years, Sept/Oct 2005):
On my return to Singapore I made contact with some of the musicians that were still around and playing in the Hotels. Sadly, some of the boys had passed away and some had moved on to KL. However, I did make contact with one of the members of the Big Band that I worked with, Louis Soliano (drummer). He currently has his trio playing at the Ritz-Carlton and I was invited to join the trio to play Congas and get in a couple of Latin Jazz vocals, during the evening.
The last set of pics was taken in the ‘Southbridge Jazz Club’. The boys had told me, from the Ritz-Carlton, to go to the ‘Jam Sessions’ at the jazz club and enjoy an evening with other musicians. Musicians being what they are, we all took turns to perform and join in the great musical evening at the club.
The trio at the club were fantastic and I only discussed my numbers with them for 2 minutes and you would have thought that we had been playing together for years. They were a great bunch of lads and very good musicians. There were a group of friends with me (relations of Louis Soliano) and I think they enjoyed the Jazz that evening too.
If any of you out there go to Singapore, check out the Southbridge Jazz Club. There are good jazz clubs all down the same street and very good eating also. The Southbridge has the Jam Sessions every Sunday evening. All musicians are very welcome to join in for a good Jazz evening. DO NOT miss it, while you are there.
Raymond is a member of PepperWater. Visit his profile and write something on his wall.
