‘No Black Tie’ is Malaysia’s premier jazz club, located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. It has been the place for trumpeter Michael Simon to present his most recent musical development. The result is now registered in a live recording of the concerts he gave in February of 2015. The contact with South-East Asian Music and the interactions with Malaysian musicians has impacted Michael’s music drastically, and has cause a cultural transcendence between the west and the far east. When Afro-Latin rhythms are fused into Asian melodies, colored by jazz sounds and harmonies, Michael realizes that the music he created, particularly his most recent works, is beyond categorization. In this third solo cd Michael collaborated with outstanding Malaysian musicians as Michael Veerapen and John Ashley Thomas. A special appearance is by Shanghai’s own Jasmine Chen, who in her language brings the essence of China and Shanghai jazz music. The repertoire consists of Chinese and Malaysian pieces, arranged by Michael in a personal and contemporary way, and one original by him that is also the title song of this album.