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Meeting Monica Mancini
 monica mancini - cinema paradiso.. i still remember in december 2002, when i was in NYC, i entered the HMV at (or near?) times square, thinking of buying some nice jazz CDs that you probably cant, or wont in the near future, get in singapore. her CD, was up for sampling at one of the racks. the moment i started listening, i fell in love, out of love, and back in. simply bowled over. her voice is hauntingly beautiful, and like eva cassidy (my no.1 fav), she has the ability to tell stories with her songs, to relate to others, not just singing them. you can sample the album songs here, too bad only half a minute of each song, so you cant really get the whole feel of each songs. and notice that i am not alone, everyone who rated gave her a 5-star. her's was the album that accompanied me for a long long time after i returned to singapore, accompanied me through my ups and downs, and i must admit that i often cried with the songs cos of how down i was then, and how much i feel she can relate to me through her songs... this album, and monica, means a lot to me. when i saw that she would be having a performance in tokyo, i quickly jumped on the chance. yesterday was finally the day of the performance, and although i was slightly disappointed with the acoustics of the hall, i wasnt disappointed with the performance at all... it was great! the trombonist was exceptional - i havent heard a more subtle and smooth handling of passages in my whole life... the pianist was weird, but good (his on stage antics reminded me of ray charles), and of cos monica, looking so beautiful on stage, with an even more beautiful voice. i was pretty disppointed to find out that they didnt have any of her CDs on sale there, only CDs of the pianist, and Gregg Fields - Monica's husband - who was also the drummer and producer of many albums, and a Henry Mancini tribute CD. i was also disppointed that only Shelly (pianist) and Gregg will be signing autographs at the end of the performance. (by the way, monica mancini's claim to fame was that she is the daughter of the late Henry Mancini - composer of many great tunes like Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses, Pink Panther theme, etc.) i was undaunted. i decided to ask Gregg if i could meet up with her for a photo or something. hence i waited for everyone to finish getting their autographs. i walked up to him, nervous, smiled, and gave a little bow (the japanese influence)... I extended my hand to shake theirs too. "Good evening, thanks for the great performance, I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight. You guys were great!" "Why.. thank you!" they responding smiling. I do not have a CD to let them sign, so they were just sitting there listening to what I have to say. "Actually, Mr Field, I am a big fan of your wife, Monica, and I was wondering if I could make a request - hopefully not too big a request..." i jumped quickly onto the topic. "absolutely... no problem, what's that?" he replied. at this moment Shelly must have become disinterested, since it was obvious i wasnt there for him.. lol. "I was wondering if I could meet up with Monica, get a picture taken with her, and tell her how much I appreciate her music?" "sure... absolutely... not a problem at all!" he smiled, getting out of his chair, and beckoned me to follow him to the backstage. during the above conversation, the last person getting the autograph, a japanese gal, turned to me and asked me "何を言っていましたか？" what did i just say? i was nervous to get this right, so i didnt have the coolness to translate what i said to her... so i just told her i didnt know japanese... sorry to you, whoever you are.. ;p so cal and i weaved our way into the back stage area, and finally met up with Mrs Field. Gregg then voluntarily offered to take some photos for me with her...   with Monica Mancini they were really very nice ppl, no airs and all... we talked for perhaps a good 5 mins, although they had to rush to vacate the premise. i told her how much i like her voice, how i encountered her album, and how much it meant to me. they both seemed genuinely touched. haha.. Gregg intro me to her as "your big fan from Singapore". ;p i then fumbled around for something which i can get her to autograph on... was actually thinking of the ticket, didnt buy any album, so cant get her to sign on any haha... i was like mumbling "i didn't prepare anything for an autograph..." while fumbling ard. on seeing this, Gregg promptly said to me "no problem, i think i have a cd here somewhere..." i was like WOW... they were so nice, and to top things off, they even gave me their personal (although used) CD!! if she's really popular, i could even sell this off as collector item for a hefty price even, since it is a promotional cd, not for sale one, autographed some more.... not that i would lah. the CD that they gave me was "Ultimate Mancini", Monica's 3rd album, which was nominated for grammys for best vocal i think, if i'm not wrong. and you can sample it here. before we parted, i requested for a last photo with both of them, and the album of course... and cal was nice to help me take the pic.  me, monica, gregg. 3 very very nice people.. ;p here are some close ups of the CD...  the cover, signed. notice how much she looks like her father...  opened up...  Ultimate Mancini (Promotional) - produced by Gregg Field, her husband  and here's the autograph once again... really made my day, or even my week... hehe... first time experience in 追偶像 also.. haha... anyway they mentioned they may be performing in Singapore next year. well, if they do, be sure I'll def be there! and remember... it never hurts to ask. ;p posted by winz at 1:20 PM 0 comments
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