KUALA LUMPUR: With a music career of four decades, Datuk Zainalabidin Mohamad's songs have always been about social issues.
Having achieved success as a solo singer as well as the lead singer of rock band Headwind, Zainalabidin now shares his experiences with the younger generation of musicians.
The 64-year-old entertainer shared his vast knowledge of musicianship in an edutainment concert, Sound Spirit Zainalabidin: The Legacy of Sound at Pentas 1, the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC), Jalan Ipoh at 8pm last night.
The special event was an evening of inspirational stories and soulful music, and Zainalabidin paid for more than 500 tickets that were given to deserving students.
"The idea for this event comes from me. I feel that this is one way for me to give back to my fans who have supported me and kept my career going," he said.
Zainalabidin also said there were many gifted students who came from low-income families and he wanted them to attend his show.
"Many of these talented individuals are from the B40 community and not all of them can afford to buy the tickets to this concert.
"So I'm happy to help them out somewhat," he said.
Supported by MyCreative Ventures, the show featured Zainalabidin sharing his wealth of experience alongside distinguished music experts, including Michael Veerapen, Sunil Kumar and Steve Thornton.
The show also had guest performers Pija Yasin, Zainalabidin's protege and the winner of TV3's reality programme Mentor Season One in 2005 and One Juicy (Ridzwan Yasin) of 8TV dance reality show Showdown who is one of Asia's best B-Boy dancers.
Sound Spirit was organised by AfroZapin Network in collaboration with five local universities, namely Universiti Teknologi Mara, Universiti Malaya, UCSI University, Aswara and Limkokwing University.
"This event is all about music and the creative industry. Think of it as a sort of a Ted Talk," said Zainalabidin.
The former Headwind lead singer entertained some 600 fans with eight songs.
Zainalabidin's two-hour show which was relaxed and informal saw him sing his popular hits Damai, Bongkar, Sabar, Manis, Khayalan, Hijau and Ikhlas Tapi Jauh as well as his latest single Tiba Masa.
Tiba Masa made its debut at Konsert Tiba Masa Datuk Zainalabidin at Istana Budaya in Jalan Tun Razak last year.
