| Hangzhou's 2010 New Year's Jazz Concert will be staged on Saturday, featuring well-known names like American singer Frankye Kelly. On January 31 the new Hangzhou Philharmonic gives a charity concert.
The Hangzhou concert stage is filled with promise in the new year, starting this Saturday. Following the performances of French pianist Richard Clayderman and Chinese "piano prince" Li Yundi last month, the Hangzhou 2010 New Year's Jazz Concert will be staged on Saturday at the Hangzhou Grand Theater.
The new Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra continues its first season with a charity concert this weekend at the theater.
The jazz concert will feature American jazz pianist and keyboardist Bill Heid, American jazz singer Frankye Kelly, Chinese-American jazz musician Lawrence Ku and his Red Groove Project Septet, Chinese-American pop singer Shunza from Taiwan and Hangzhou jazz band Lake.
Lake, the only jazz band in Hangzhou, features nationally known performers: female vocalist Shu Mei, keyboardist Ji Qing, drummer Ye Hongming and bass player Chen Mushi.
The band, which has been together for more than 10 years, has opened the show at the annual jazz concert for many years. This year's performance will feature new works reflecting folk music in south China.
American Heid, a soul jazz and hard bop jazz pianist and keyboardist, is best known for his work with musicians such as Koko Taylor, Henry Johnson and Fenton Robinson.
Heid has performed around the world and lived for three years in Japan. Between 1996 and 2003, he recorded five organ group CDs for the Savant label and in early 2007 a piano trio CD for Doodlin' Records. His work can also be heard on European TV and films and in the US on PBS television and NBC's Dateline show.
In the Hangzhou show, Heid will perform songs from his albums "This Is My Rifle" (1996), "Bop Rascal" (1996), "Wet Streets" (1999) and "Da Girl" (2000).
American jazz and blues singer Kelly from the San Francisco Bay Area has said: "I interpret the songs that have the most meaning to me. I have a wide range and I can sound like any horn but I feel that the voice is its own instrument. I love to be one of the instruments in my band, singing from my heart."
She studied jazz "not only to learn the music but to learn myself," she says. Kelly didn't listen too closely to singers because she didn't want to copy anyone but she constantly listened to Miles Davis.
"He would take his time, not rushing into it and playing with a lot of feeling," she says.
Kelly has performed at San Francisco's "Top of the Mark" (Hopkins Hotel) and other top nightspots in the Bay Area. She has performed in Europe, Mexico, Japan and China and sings at many well-known jazz festivals.
Chinese-American jazz musician Ku and his Red Groove Project Septet are making a name for themselves in China and internationally.
Guitarist and composer Ku grew up in Los Angeles, but has lived in China for more than 10 years. Since late 2005, he has been living in Shanghai. He plays regularly at the JZ Club and is the music director at the JZ School.
Ku earlier lived in Beijing, where he performed regularly and taught at the Midi School of Music and the Beijing Contemporary Music Institute.
He studied composition and jazz performance in Boston at the Longy School of Music and the New England Conservatory.
The Lawrence Ku Septet released its first CD "Process" in 2007. It has performed at the Helsinki Jazz Festival, Beijing Ninegates Jazz Festival and the Shanghai International Jazz Festival.
Ku also leads his trio, a funk-groove band called the Red Groove Project that is part of the Far East Quartet. The quartet recently released its debut recording, "Something Real."
Ku has learned from Ben Monder, Charlie Banacos, Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, George Lewis and Carol Kaye.
He is the host of "More Than Jazz," a weekly show about jazz and creative music that airs every Tuesday at 8pm on International Channel Shanghai.
Also at the Hangzhou Grand Theater, the newly founded Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO) will give a New Year's charity concert on January 31.
It will be conducted by renowned Chinese-American conductor Hu Yongyan, who was the music director of the 2009 Beijing International Music Festival.
The orchestra, Hangzhou's first, made its debut last July and received a standing ovation. It's believed to be China's youngest such professional orchestra.
"I am very confident of this orchestra and I believe HPO will be among the top orchestras in China within three years," says Yang Yang, principal conductor.
The HPO is also young in terms of its youthful musicians. Of the 73 players, the average age is 25. They were chosen in five recruitments around the world involving 600 Chinese in 21 countries. Thirty performers are overseas Chinese. One third have a master's or doctoral degree in music.
The new concert season began last September. Its featured work is the original symphonic work "Grand Canal of China," performed in most concerts.
"The orchestra will not be limited to Western classical music but will reflect the tastes of Hangzhou city," says orchestra director Deng Jinshan.
New Year's Jazz Concert
Date: January 16, 7:30pm
Venue: Hangzhou Grand Theater, 66 Zhijiang Rd E., Qianjiang Xincheng District
Tickets: 100-800 yuan
Tel: 0571-880-03888
Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra Charity Concert
Date: January 31, 7:30pm
Venue: Hangzhou Grand Theater, 66 Zhijiang Rd E., Qianjiang Xincheng District
Tickets: Not decided yet
Tel: 0571-8839-8123
Editor: Charlie
Source: Shanghai Daily |
