October has unofficially become jazz month in the PRD. Both Guangzhou and Shenzhen have their own flashy festivals, brimming with international and domestic talent.
Back in 2013, Xinghai Concert Hall decided to expand its horizons beyond its classical music remit and hold a jazz week. The result was met with questions about the scale, the pull of the lineup and other minor queries such as why on earth it had even been suggested.
Undeterred, the Guangzhou institution persisted and expanded; the sequel was a nine-day festival graced by Grammy and Tony Award-wining jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater as well as bass player Victor Wooten, among many other musicians. The crowd of naysayers disappeared.
“In retrospect, we didn’t have the appetite for a music festival in the first place. It just grew like a magic,” says Xinghai’s vice president Liu Ying.
This month, the third edition of Xinghai’s jazz festival will fill Ersha Island with smooth rhythms and swinging melodies once more, complemented by workshops and exhibitions in between the concerts.
WDR Big Band Köln, one of the world’s best bands of its kind, will kick off the festival on the evening of October 21, followed the next day by five-time Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Randy Brecker.
Boundlessness, a stance that the festival has always tried to embody, is once again evidenced in a section that features Polish jazz talents. While most Chinese audiences by no means associate jazz with Poland, the Eastern European nation is considered a lighthouse for the genre, and inviting the creme de la creme of that nation’s musicians should be a fascinating demonstration of contemporary jazz mores.
Local talent is one of the festival’s focal points, since one of its tenets is to nurture the Guangdong capital’s jazz scene. Made in Guangzhou, a special section where four Guangzhou-based bands and musicians, including Xinghai’s very own big band, is set to pep up the nights with original pieces – some composed specifically for the occasion.
To draw the occasion to a perfect close, ‘queen of bossa nova’ Lisa Ono will fly you to the moon with her popular bossa nova adaptations of songs like ‘La Vie en Rose,' ‘Take Five’, ‘C’est si bon’ and many others.
It goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway: go to the Guangzhou Jazz Festival. Otherwise, we’ll inspire you the same way the legendary Charlie Parker was inspired: by throwing a cymbal at your head.
The Guangzhou Jazz Festival is taking place Oct 21-29 at Xinghai Concert Hall. For specific concerts, please visit www.concerthall.com.cn or flip to our events section.
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