Success is truly loving what you do." – Jason Mraz

IT

The 32-year-old singer of Czech descent is well-known for his earlier hit Wordplay. Calling himself Mr A-Z, the artiste displayed none of the arrogance or pride of someone with millions of album sales to his credit.

Mraz’s versatility shone through in his renditions of songs, switching seamlessly from pop, jazz, ballads, reggae to even a Latin serenade with ease. Most of the songs came from his third and latest album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things, and a few of his earlier hits such as Geek in the Pink, The Remedy (I Won’t Worry) and Life is Wonderful.

He was ably backed by his Superband, consisting of two drummers, bass players, a horn section, and even a pianist. His interaction with the band members was superb. What made it more interesting was the little jig they did on stage together.

But on the whole, it was the combination of the musical instruments they played that made his songs all the more appealing to the audience.

In an earlier press conference, Mraz said: "My success is not defined by the Grammy or by having a concert. My career took off 10 years ago when I was playing regular gigs at a coffeeshop every day. Success is truly loving what you do."

Mraz clearly showed he had a lot of stage control, bringing his fans to a new high every time he broke into a new song and occasionally showing the quirky side of him when he broke into impromptu gibberish, taunting the audience and laughing with them.

When he asked them: "Do you feel elevated? Do you feel that your life is celebrated?", it prompted many cheers before he continued with his song Live High.

Realising that his Malaysian fans have been looking forward to his concert, Mraz gave them his all, including asking them to sing along in I’m Yours before leaving the stage.

When he returned for the encore, he was dressed in a ‘I Love KL’ T-shirt and launched into a duet of his other hit, Lucky, with his only guest artiste that night, local Chinese singer Penny Tai.

However, that much-anticipated duet with Tai was a letdown of sort.

Tai’s songs are always good, especially when she penned them herself, not to mention she’s also an excellent guitarist. I somehow pictured both of them holding guitars and singing a lot more songs than just Lucky. And expected their stage collaboration to be longer.

However, she came in moments after the first chorus was played, and then went off after saying "thank you". There was an obvious lack of chemistry between them. No stage interaction, no jamming sessions. Nothing. It left me baffled, wondering the purpose of the duet.

Overall, 90 minutes were not enough to savour all of Jason Mraz. Even after the concert ended, many in the audience waited for more.

But before leaving the stage for the last time, he promised his fans this: "It might be my first stop, but it will definitely not be my last."

The Jason Mraz Live in Malaysia 2009 concert was organised by Marctensia.