Acid jazz band The Steve McQueens has a musical journey that is the dream of all local bands. Talent-spotted by Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick in 2014, the quintet not only recorded an album produced by the legend but also opened for his UK jazz funk band Incognito in London’s The O2 Arena last May (a first for a Singapore band).

Their place in the spotlight is thanks to one man working in the shadows, Michael Tay, and the Foundation for the Arts and Social Enterprise that he established in 2013. Michael, who was Singapore’s ambassador to Russia from 2003 to 2008, started the foundation as a private sector-led, non-profit platform to develop and promote the arts and socially-oriented projects in Singapore. It achieved charity status in September 2014.

“I wanted to spot and groom outstanding talent that would be the future icons of Singapore to represent us on the global stage,” says Michael, who also runs an investment consultancy. “If we don’t take a purposeful homegrown approach, we won’t be able to achieve that.”

Michael also co-founded the Singapore International Jazz Festival (Sing Jazz, now into its third year, from March 4 to 6), and the Sing Jazz Academy in 2014 to allow local talents to interact and learn from other more established artistes. The Sing Jazz Club at boutique hotel The Sultan was also started that year to give artistes a platform to perform year-round. Together with the foundation, the festival, academy and club form the backbone of an ecosystem that would help establish Singapore as a regional jazz hub, says Michael. 

It was at a Sing Jazz workshop in March 2014 that The Steve McQueens connected with Bluey. He was enthralled by their unique sound and offered to produce their Seamonster album. The foundation raised funds, with help from advisory council member and TC Capital co-founder Ravi Chidambaram, to fly the band to London for the recording. The album was launched under Japanese indie label P-Vine Records.

Keyboardist Joshua Wan says, “We are very fortunate to have the foundation take care of all the administrative things that a band needs to do so that we can focus on the music.” Vocalist Eugenia Yip adds that the time with Bluey was one of the most enriching they had as the maestro freely shared his knowledge and treated them like friends.

Acting as a venture capitalist in the arts space, the Foundation for the Arts and Social Enterprise raises funds from the private sector to support talents, while tapping into the dollar-for-dollar Cultural Matching Fund by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. Michael looks out for donors, who identify their preferred projects in the foundation and work with it to promote and develop the artistes.

“We are like patrons to the musicians by getting a network of people to fund the different projects. The government can’t take risks like the private sector nor judge who is the better artiste. So I take the risk and find the talent, while the government maximises our funding by matching every dollar raised.”

Fuelled by a passion for music, Michael does not take any remuneration from the foundation, preferring to take a lean operational approach by working on his own with a group of like-minded volunteers and supporters. “I pay for my own travel expenses, fly economy and stay in basic accommodation. The most important thing about philanthropy is the spirit and not the giving. We run on a low investment, high-impact approach where each investment can make a significant difference to the arts community.”