Hong Kong Jazz Festival 2008
International Festival Adds to Hong Kong's Music Scene
Events open with a free concert in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza on November 16, featuring the Lawrence Ku Trio, the Joao Mascarenhas Brazilian Jazz Trio and the Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra. The following week sees a number of concerts and jamming sessions across Hong Kong, a deluge of cool music in a hitherto jazz-parched city.
An Uphill Struggle
There's no denying that pickings have been thin in recent years for jazz fans in Hong Kong, who remain a musical minority. The demise of the Jazz Club in the Lan Kwai Fong district in 2002 has meant that it has been difficult to attract foreign performers on a regular basis. As local musician Ted Lo told Time Out - Hong Kong, "Jazz culture here is still very, very young compared to other places in the world."
For Clarence Chang, concert promoter and jazz fan, organizing the festival proved to be a long-term business. "I've had this idea for a jazz festival since the early 90s" he told the South China Morning Post in October 2008. Jazz festivals are not uncommon in Asia, as he points out: "Even in Mongolia they have a jazz festival. How come Hong Kong didn't?"
East Meets West
The week-long festival, jointly presented by Chang and his partners in the International Jazz Festival Holdings Ltd and the Hong Kong Jazz Association, will stage concerts by both international and local artists, at venues large and small. Concerts and jamming sessions will take place in the intimate surroundings of the Fringe Club and the Backstage Live Restaurant, while the finale gala concert will be at the Wan Chai's Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
Chang made a conscious decision to attract big names. "For the first year we have to have something more commercial, otherwise we're not going to have a second year." Apart from local heroes Ted Lo and Eugene Pao, the festival's line-up also includes Canadian Juno-award winner Alain Caron, and the Yellowjackets, performing with Mike Stern, formerly of the Miles Davis Group. Bob James and The Angels of Shanghai aim to embody this mix of east and west, incorporating traditional Chinese instruments in their sound.
The organizers plan to use some of the proceeds from the festival to start a jazz foundation, inspiring young musicians by enabling them to hear great music live. As Ted Lo says, somewhat wistfully, "It would be great if Hong Kong could have a real jazz club. That's what Hong Kong really needs."
In the meantime, Hong Kong's cool cats have a week to soak up a swinging jazz scene.
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