A (musical) piece of work: 6 things you may not know about WVC Malaysian Jazz Ensemble’s Cher Siang Tay.
From screen time with his band on Hollywood’s Crazy Rich Asians to the unlikely start of his love affair with jazz, the bespectacled maestro behind WVC Malaysian Jazz Ensemble is one to watch among the talented personalities who have contributed to Malaysia’s lively jazz scene in recent years.
He’s played his way through every concert hall and jazz venue in Malaysia and beyond, but it doesn’t stop there: a significant portion of Tay’s time and effort goes toward training up aspiring musicians via master classes and seminars.
We caught up with this exceptional instrumentalist ahead of WVC’s show-stopping performance at The Melium Group and Malaysia Tatler’s 30th Anniversary Charity Auction for a chat about his work and the challenges of being a jazz musician today.
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Screen time on Crazy Rich Asians
Talk about great timing: what started as a casual phone call from an acquaintance eventually led to Tay and his WVC bandmates performing alongside Chinese jazz artiste Jasmine Chen for a scene in the hit Hollywood film, Crazy Rich Asians.
‘We were merely a set in that one scene, and I don’t think too much about it,” Tay remarks modestly.
“Still, it’s always amusing when friends whom I haven’t met in years text and say that they saw us in the movie. People have good eyes, don’t they?”
See also: 10 Signs You're A Crazy Rich Asian