Following the tradition of summer jazz festivals in many cities around the world, Taipei's Tamsui Jazz Festival is now well into its third year with organizers this year wheeling out a program that not only seeks to entertain but also offers an opportunity for local and international jazz musicians to show off their chops and exchange musical ideas in a 90-minute long jam session.
Organized by the Taipei County Government, the Taipei Philharmonic Radio, and BenQ, this year's festival differs from those in the past in that it not only invites trios and quartets to perform their usual numbers, but features musicians collaborating in a big band setting.
"Our programs in the last two years sought to attract audiences with a more commercial repertoire and a large amount of hot Latin numbers, but this year we want to present a more authentic and mainstream kind of jazz, like the big band swing of Duke Ellington," says Edith Kuo (郭大微), vice president of the marketing department at the Philharmonic Radio (台北愛樂).
The organizers invited 17 musicians active on the local jazz scene, including members from Metamorphosis (變形蟲), New Decision (爵心爵士樂團), Dizzy Big Band (底細爵士樂團) and Chipin-Kaiya Duo Project (啟彬凱雅二重奏) to perform onstage together for the first time.
"We've played with almost everyone here at different venues, but never altogether in a big band. I'm enjoying myself and I'm very much looking forward to the festival this Saturday. I've been in Taiwan three years and I think the jazz scene is getting better year after year," says Joshua Aguiar, a trumpeter who has played regularly at Blue Note and Brown Sugar, at the big band rehearsal.
The program also features vocalist Zorina London from the US, whose intoxicating voice and electrifying stage presence certainly enriched the instrumental arrangements of this year's big band director Miles Chou (邱建二).
In addition to the big band performance by local musicians, the Ivan G. Solberg Quintet has been invited to join the show. The five members of the group happen to be from different countries -- Norway, Sweden, Australia, the Philippines and India -- and they have titled their program "Different Places, Different Voices," in line with this year's aim of promoting cultural interaction through music. The group will present original compositions such as Mantra of Relativity and Taipei by Night, blending a variety of styles from funk-rock to fusion jazz.
The festival begins at 3pm tomorrow at the Fishermen's Wharf at Tamsui, with activities such as posing with pictures of jazz giants Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Billie Holiday, or selecting your favorite jazz quotations with an opportunity to win BenQ's S830C cell phone and other special prizes provided by the organizers. Performances begin at 6:30pm and continue late into the evening. So join the bands tomorrow to indulge in the infectious swing of jazz by the Tamsui waterfront. Admission is free.
Catch Dee Dee Bridgewater Live
Taipei summer jazz does not end with merely a one-day outdoor festival. For jazz aficionados who prefer dressing up for the concert hall, you'll definitely not want to miss Dee Dee Bridgewater's "Getting 'Weill'd" at the National Concert Hall next Tuesday. Organized by the National CKS Cultural Center, Dee Dee Bridgewater will be the first in a series of jazz concerts at the National Concert Hall this summer, with three other concerts coming up all within this month: Coco York and the Mike del Ferro Trio, Belgium harmonica legend Toots Thielemans with the Mike del Ferro Trio, and the husband-and-wife guitar and vocal duo Tuck and Patti.
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