Five Favourites
Chinese-Canadian rapper LEO37

Who is your favourite rapper of all time?
I never liked this question, but if I must, I’d have to say J Dilla. Although more commonly mentioned in ‘greatest producers of all time’ debates, Dilla, somehow mashed all his classical training as a musician and his rawness as a Detroit native
into one heavily stylized, foul-mouthed emcee that both underground and mainstream cats respected.

Who is your favourite Canadian musician?
A jazz combo out of Toronto by the name of the Worst Pop Band Ever (aka WPBE).‑Every player in the group is obscenely gifted and somewhat twisted.‑Good combination.

Who is your favourite Chinese musician?
A tough one, but as far as native speakers go, I’d have to say Faye Wong. In a market almost entirely based on crowd pleasing, she is still willing to take some chances.

What is your favourite song at the moment?
15 Steps by Radiohead. I’d say the whole In Rainbows album, but you asked for one song.

What is your favourite film of all time?
Millennium Mambo by Hou Hsiao-Hsien.‑To me, no filmmaker has more patience, style and respect for his audience than him.‑

Born in Saskatchewan to Chinese parents, LEO37 (nee Leo Shia) was nonetheless raised on a diet of Kingston Trio and Miles Davis records. Equally comfortable these days in the role of solo performer, turntablist or music album producer, he will be part of the Underground 54 line-up on Saturday, March 8, that also includes expat rock group Skin Deep, sex rockers The David Bowie Knives, the metalcore Hazden and the heavy and loud Zoundz. Showtime is 8-11:30pm at Club Cixi. Entry is restricted to over 18s only and costs $100 at the door. For enquiries, contact Chris B, 9486 4648.

Duran Duran Live in April!
Thirty years ago, in Birmingham, England, John Taylor and Nick Rhodes formed the band which will perform in locally at the Pop TV Arena on Saturday, April 12. Complete with Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor, super-popular group Duran Duran will take the concert audience on a musical journey in support of their latest album (Red Carpet Massacre) as well as revisit enduring favourites like Hungry Like the Wolf and Save a Prayer. Showtime is 8pm. Tickets are priced at $780, $580 and $380 and are available from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Immortal Santana
Grammy award-winning guitarist Carlos Santana brings his Live Your Life 2008 tour to the Fragrant Harbour on Friday, March 7 - dubbed a musical immortal by Rolling Stone magazine, his musical career encompasses 40 years’ on-stage experience and 90+ million albums sold. The show opens at 8pm at the AsiaWorld-Arena. Tickets are $890 to $390 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Queenly Quartet
Chances are that none of them will be belting out We Are the Champions or any other song from the Queen repertoire but the four female singers who will headline one concert each in the 4 Queens Live series at the HITEC Star Hall will still be going all out to show they’re worthy of the royal designation.

Mavis Fan, the Taiwanese singer-actress who also is a dab hand at the flute and piano, will get things rolling on Thursday, February 29. Tickets for her concert are priced at $450 and $290. Next up is Hong Kong’s very own singer-songwriter-actress, Candy Lo. The charismatic Cantopop-rock warbler’s Eye on Candy Live show takes place on Saturday, March 1. Tickets are $420 and $290.

Another singer-actress – although her dramatic talents have, up to now, gained more recognition than her musical ability – will hold centre stage on Sunday, March 2. Tickets for the Josie Ho Glam Trash Live concert are auspiciously priced at $388 and $288. Then, on Tuesday, March 4, Singaporean songstress Tanya Chua – who began singing in English but has found greater success as a Mandopop crooner– will bring the series to a close with the Tanya Goodbye & Hello Live concert. Tickets for this final show in the series are $420 and $290.

Showtime for all four concerts is 8:15pm. For tickets, call HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Spring Fling
Ready for spring? The folks at Grappa’s Cellar (Jardine House, 1 Connaught Place, Central; 2521 2322) sure seem to be; they have announced a more than solid line up for their Spring Music Festival. On the first day – Friday, March 7 – blind guitarist Chille Butalid, a Brazilian Trio, the Tony Carpio & Family Group, and Burt Amparado’s Latin Big Band are scheduled to set the festive tone, while the programme for Saturday, March 8, includes an all-star jam with performances by the Dimitrois Lenis Steel Drum Group, Jesril and Friends, special guest Mr DD, and the Bill Heid Organ Trio. The music will start at 8:30pm on both evenings. Tickets for a single evening cost $288 while two evening passes are $388.

Centre-stage at Backstage Live
March is set to be a busy month at the Backstage Live Restaurant (1/F, 52-54 Wellington Street, Central; 2167 8985). The schedule for the early part of the month is particularly packed, with live acts at the ‘conceptual artistic musical restaurant’ on more than one weekday evening as well as on the weekends.

On Saturday, March 1, youthful pop quintet LastFirstKiss – vocalist Thara, Marvin on drums, keyboardist Scottie, guitarist Michael and bassist Jimmy – will perform a selection of music from the 1970s through to the ’90s. The show will commence at 10:30pm, entry is $180 and includes two standard drinks. Then on Wednesday, March 5, Italian musical student Bianca Stegmena will kick off four consecutive musical evenings at the venue with selections of some of her favourite pop and country songs in both English and her mother tongue. Showtime is 10pm, admission $130 and that includes one standard drink.

Jazz is the genre of choice the following evening, when the Joseph Chiu Jazz Quartet will play a few of guitar meister Chiu’s compositions in amongst various modern jazz standards. The music starts on Thursday, March 6, at 9:30pm. Entry is $180 and includes two standard drinks. And there’s still more jazz – this time together with the blues – the next night when Grammy nominee Bill Heid and harmonica fiend Henry Chung lead a fellowship of musicians for an evening of musical soul-warming. Showtime on Friday, March 7, is at 10:30pm. The cover charge of $200 includes two standard drinks.

March 8, the second Saturday of the month, will see Sino-Japanese group Helter Skelter taking centre stage. Expect lots of blues-based rock and pop from Vincent Lam (guitar and vocals), Adrian Fu (keyboard and guitar), Hiroshi (guitar), Koya (bass) and Shum (percussion) as they get things going from 10:30pm. Entry is $180 and includes two standard drinks. And even before another Saturday has passed, up and coming pop writer, vocalist and guitarist Kenneth Wu will share his musical passion with three friends and whoever decides to be in the audience on Wednesday, March 12, at 10pm. Entry is $130 and includes a standard drink.

Enjoy Incubus

Magnetic Grain
The live music continues into March at Kubrick (Shop H2, Prosperous Garden, 3 Public Square St, Yau Ma Tei; 2384 8929). The Friday, March 7, event will showcase the talents of Ricemagnet, the alternative folk/rock music purveyors whose output bears the influence of the Red Hot Chili Peppers along with Wu Bai & China Blue. Formed in Canada in 1999, the two-man band of Yi Ching Chung (guitar and lead vocals) and David Ma (guitar, bass and vocals) are currently based in both Hong Kong and Taipei. Showtime is 10pm. Entry costs $100 at the door.

Solo Wynner
A multi-talented entertainer who has made his mark in Taiwanese and Hong Kong cinema (with starring roles in early Hou Hsiao-Hsien films, other movies like romantic-comedy classic Shanghai Blues and his sole directorial effort, the outrageously titled 100 Ways to Murder Your Wife), Kenny Bee initially started in show business back in the 1970s as a charter member of popular Cantopop group, The Wynners. Still going strong, as a solo performer comfortable singing in Cantonese, English and Mandarin as well as part of the never formally disbanded Wynners, the husky-voiced crooner will hold court at the HK Coliseum for two evenings this month. The Kenny Bee Premier Live 08 Concert will take place on March 7 and 8. Showtime is 8:15pm. Tickets are $480 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Spring Rites
Two completely different concerts within six days sounds like quite a challenge but that’s what on the cards for the HK Philharmonic Orchestra in the first week of March. On Saturday, March 1, the orchestra kicks off with The Rite of Spring (named after Stravinsky’s famous work), a collaborative project with the HKAPA that sees music students from the Academy performing side-by-side with the HKPO’s professionals. Under the baton of Edo de Waart, this concert will offer a programme comprising Stravinsky’s notoriously challenging score along with Mozart’s Symphony No 40 in G minor, K550 and the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings in E-flat major, Op 20. Showtime is at 8pm at the HK Cultural Centre’s Concert Hall. Tickets are $250 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Then, on Thursday, March 6, the HKPO will perform on the other side of Victoria Harbour, at the HK City Hall’s Concert Hall, with a Chinese baritone who was the gold medal winner at the 1994 International Tchaikovsky Competition. The programme for the Yuan Chenye with the HK Philharmonic Orchestra concert that is part of the 2008 HK Arts Festival includes songs and arias by Tchaikovsky along with Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Ravel and Ye Xiaogang among others. Li Cinxao conducts. This performance commences at 8pm. Tickets are $320 to $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Bach’s Passion
Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion was composed in 1727 and first performed at a Good Friday service that same year. A work that sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Bible’s Gospel of St Matthew to music, it is so extraordinary that even an atheist like scientist-writer Richard Dawkins lists it as one of his desert island discs. To understand why, take in the HK Chamber Choir performing the famous Mendelssohn 1841 version of this work at a concert in the Sha Tin Town Hall’s Auditorium on Sunday, March 9. Michael Ryan will conduct from 7:30pm. Tickets are $120 to $60 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

From Girls to Men
The folks at Kassia are marking the beginning of spring with two shows in early March. First under the spotlight will be the all-female Kassia Youth Choir conducted by Matthew Hale. With songs like You Don’t Own Me in its Wednesday, March 5, programme, the teenage branch of Katterwall will be out to prove they are the Divas in Training this concert bills them to be. The diva-themed performance at the Fringe Club’s Fringe Studio is set to begin at 8pm. Tickets are $160 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Then on March 12 and 13, the Kassia Men’s Chorus under conductor Bethan Greaves will take centre stage at Amici’s (1/F 83 Lockhart Road, Wanchai) with a ’60’s song line-up geared towards getting one and all Feelin’ Groovy. With a programme that includes Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind, James Taylor’s Fire and Rain, and John Denver’s Annie’s Song, you just know it’s all going to be so cool, man! This is another live music event that starts at 8pm, with tickets at $220, including snacks, from Katterwall, 2575 3931.