08.05.2023

The Frankie Sixes Celebrates Original Malaysian Swing Jazz Through its Latest EP Launch

First single “tepuk amai-amai” now available on streaming platforms alongside lindy hop swing dance music video featuring 100 dancers across 12 countries.

By Culture Editor

Local swing jazz band The Frankie Sixes is launching their debut extended play (EP) featuring original swing jazz tunes via a four-day launch event. In conjunction with the launch, the band recently released Tepuk Amai-Amai, the first single from their self-titled EP on all major streaming platforms including Spotify. The song is accompanied by a collaborative music video featuring Lindy Hop swing dancers located in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Finland and the UK.

“We are proud to contribute five original swing jazz tunes to the Malaysian songbook and hope they can be accepted eventually as standards not just here but in the region and beyond. As an artform rooted in expression, we found it a no-brainer to use swing jazz as a vehicle to introduce a bit of Malaysian storytelling to listeners all over the world, especially since our own music industry was heavily influenced by music of that era via local music luminaries such as P Ramlee and Jimmy Boyle,” explains Reza Salleh, established independent singer-songwriter, vocalist and band leader of The Frankie Sixes.

Band leader Reza Salleh

Co-written with bandmate and pianist Hin Ee Jeng, the EP also features Che Wan on double bass, KJ on drums and Eddy Lim on saxophone and Isaac Marvin on trumpet, recorded and engineered by Rozhan Razman from R.M.P Studios.

The music video produced by Reza features 105 dancers of Lindy Hop, a form of swing dance originating from the US in the 1930s and 40s, all shot by the dancers themselves and edited by Singaporean Lindy Hop dancer Andrew Lin.

“We had a lot fun figuring out what to shoot as a community for this video. I asked Reza to share the meaning of the lyrics with us and since a lot of it was about nostalgia, we thought why not shoot at locations such as local parks and public housing areas, elements common to us growing up in Hong Kong," shared Claris Yip, one of the scene leaders for Swing Pocket, a Lindy Hop community based in Hong Kong.

The video is now available on The Frankie Sixes YouTube channel at YouTube.com/watch?v=-uoUH-Semn4.

The Frankie Sixes’ full EP launch will take place at Damansara Performing Arts Centre on 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st May 2023. The 20th in particular will feature an open dance floor in conjunction with World Lindy Hop Day and the 21st will be dedicated to Lindy Hop workshops. On top of the band’s swing jazz tunes, guest features, swing dancing and dance workshops, The Frankie Sixes will also be playing classic American jazz standards by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole among others.

Tickets available at www.dpac.com.my.

The EP will be available on thefrankiesixes.bandcamp.com on the 18th May and single “Tepuk Amai-Amai” can be heard on major streaming sites via https://bfan.link/tepuk-amaiamai

Keeping the Swing Jazz Scene Alive Both in Music and Dance

The birth of The Frankie Sixes was partly inspired by Reza’s interest in the swing dance scene in Kuala Lumpur whereby a community of Lindy Hop dancers would meet every Friday. The weekly social dancing typically held at a dance studio, is accompanied by a swing Jazz music playlist that runs throughout the night.

Following the band’s debut in 2017, The Frankie Sixes have played live specifically for the swing dance community on multiple occasions, adding further to the dancers’ overall experience. “For swing dancers in Malaysia, dancing to live music was such a rare treat in the early years - one would have to travel to a different country to experience that! Moving to recorded music is fun, but nothing comes close to dancing to live music. The energy you feed off the band, the back and forth between the dancers and the musicians - they inspire you and move you in ways recorded music just can’t, and take the social dancing experience to a whole new level,” added Tan Pei Ru, an avid Lindy Hopper based in Kuala Lumpur.

As a member of the community, Reza explained that the band’s name referred to a dance move invented by Frankie Manning, one of the founding fathers of the Lindy Hop in the 1930s in the United States of America.

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The Frankie Sixes Celebrates Original Malaysian Swing Jazz Through its Latest EP Launch

First single “tepuk amai-amai” now available on streaming platforms alongside lindy hop swing dance music video featuring 100 dancers across 12 countries.

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