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“I’m gonna wait till the midnight hour
That’s when my love comes tumbling down
I’m gonna wait till the midnight hour
When there’s no one else around
I’m gonna take you girl and hold you
And do all the things I told you
In the midnight hour”

Wilson Pickett

The midnight hour is when the stars come out, so Wilson Pickett told us and looking at Nicky Almasy’s (soon to be hosted at dbstudios) “In the Midnight Hour” collection of Shanghai’s musical alumni he was not far wrong; ranging from funk heavyweight Carlton J Smith to the completely funked up Alec Haavik (http://www.alechaavik.com), passing through the dulcet tones of Coco Zhao to the gyspy meanderings of Lulo Reinhardt, with a smattering of saxophone muse Willow Neilson right up to the Hendrix-meister himself Jimy Graham, there is something for every auditory and for that matter visual palate.

The pictures are intimate yet abstract at one and the same time. Startingly personal whilst also resorting to large swathes of primary colours as he tries to capture the evanescent personalities and sounds of the musicians we know and love that provide the nocturnal soundtrack to this ever changing metropolis; most apparently they could only have been taken by someone who has strong musical sensibilities themselves & it is no surprise that Almasy also heads up pop rock outfit Monroe Stahr alongside working as a That’s Shanghai journalist.

dbstudios is delighted to host this exhibition which will open on the 24th March – date to be decided… prints framed and unframed will be on sale including a limited edition of signed prints so don’t be shy come on over and feel free to contact Nicky directly on + 86 13162883931 for sales and further details.

Opening Hours:

Monday – Friday: 11:30 – 15:00

Saturday /Sunday: 11:00 – 17:00

Though not quite looking down on creation I (along with ace Jersey bassist Luke Kessel & NYC “drummer-on-drugs” (strictly metaphorically speaking!!!) Joe Mahone) was not far from it, as we provided the musical backdrop for International Soul Brother Carlton J Smith at the world’s highest bar the Park Hyatt’s 92nd floor-no-less Music Room from 21st October 2009 – 23rd February 2010… packing the house with a heady mix of jaw dropping funk classics and always emotionally charged CJS originals… the crowds at times had to be seen to be believed and that would even include (as the band’s keyboardist) folks strutting their stuff on the back of my Yamaha boudoir grand.

And boy we saw it all… broken down elevators… flying bar stools… proposals of marriage… even had a guitarist walk off stage with his knickers in a twist mid-Summertime (now that was a first… and you can be sure he didn’t get to walk back on again) but hell we had fun… learned some new tunes on the way… but perhaps most of all we all took one step forward in that heady journey we think of as life and to quote our ever-the-man band leader:

“get down…”

cos when you’ve been on  top of the world what else is there you can do… unless maybe it’s time to start reaching for those stars… you just never know what might happen!!!