Dash of jazz

“MY friends think I’m mad”, she announces, almost proudly. “They never got this jazz thing at all. They may know some of the tunes from Michael Buble, but they won’t know the history.”

A small frown crosses her face, as she adds: “It’s not really their music”.

Dasha Logan represents the younger generation of Penang jazz musicians. Her confidence in what she is doing comes across clearly.

She is happy to be a “freak”, happy to mix with musicians usually much older than herself, happy to be usually the “youngest on the set”.

Only 21, she is already a regular singer at two of Penang’s trendier venues, Bagan and Eclectic, and can be consistently seen as a guest artiste at a variety of events, including at jazz jams at G Spot and at the Little Penang Street Market.

Being the daughter of Alleycat’s Loganathan, Dasha was obviously immersed in a musical environment from the moment she was born.

Not so obvious is her choice of jazz, so how did that happen?

“My earliest memories are Christmas carols”, she recalls, “Frank Sinatra and others singing those jazzed up versions”.

Soon she was singing at school, in church and anywhere else she could find. “But I wasn’t taking any formal lessons”, she admits. “My dad told me that until I learned the piano, vocal training was out.” She still has the piano to learn.

She was singing in competitions, though mainly pop stuff. Two nights stand out for her. One, when she was just 14, was at the Park Royal Hotel: Jacyln Victor sang on the same bill. And two, later that year, Dasha went to Butterworth to sing in front of a crowd of hundreds: “It freaked me, I couldn’t cope, and gave up singing for two years.”

She got back into it only because her mother took her to a Hits FM competition in Gurney Plaza, and surreptiously entered her name. Of course she won.

The restaurant 68 Kelawei was looking for a singer, and the manageress recalled hearing Dasha at the Park Royal those few years ago. Dasha was invited for an audition, got the job, and it was at 68 that she was encouraged to “give jazz a shot”.

“I’ve been helped by so many people”, says Dasha. “All the bands I have played with and listened to have been really amazing. And even my hairdresser was telling me what to listen to!”

Her stint at 68 not only taught her the rudiments of jazz, but also how to read an audience and the skills of stage performance. “By this time, I wanted more”, says Dasha.

Has that included formal training? “You know, one of my band members told me, ‘If you don’t do voice training, you will have lost your voice by 35’. I thought that was good advice, so I have just started.”

And the future? What drives Dasha’s ambitions? “I always wanted to sing for Disney,” she confesses, with a disarming smile that lights up her whole face.

“But for the moment, I will just combine my singing with my studies, wherever they may take me.”

At the moment she is pursuing a Diploma in Mass Communication.

For now, she continues to wow audiences with her singing and her irresistible, bubbly personality.

She attended last year’s Penang Island Jazz festival, and remembers thinking how nice it would be to sing at this year’s. Sure enough, she is part of the fringe.

“It’s so awesome”, says Dasha, excitedly. “I can’t wait”. So that is one dream come true. It is probable that there will be many more.

• Catch Dasha Logan singing at the Fringe at the Fifth Penang Island Jazz Festival. She will be at the G Hotel Lobby on Dec 5 (3pm) and at The Fringe Corner at the Bayview Beach Resort Lobby on Dec 6 (3.45pm). The Fifth Penang Island Jazz festival, presented by Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, runs from Dec 4-7. Visit www.penangjazz.com for details.