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Taipei gets all jazzed up

By Yu Sen-lun
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Aug 20, 2004, Page 17

Photo courtesy of CKS Cultural Center

After last year's successful four-concert series, the CKS Cultural Center (中正文化中心) brings back the Summer Jazz Festival (夏日爵士音樂節) with a star-studded lineup of heavyweight jazz performers.

This year audiences will be able to savor the deep, subtle improvisation of saxophonist Joe Lovano and become lost in the mysterious space created by the cymbals and brushes of drumming legend Jack Dejohnette.

So far, most of the tickets for the two concerts have been sold. As of press time, there were less than 10 tickets (for NT$1,200) left for the Lovano concert tonight. The only drawback of the festival so far is that Ahmad Jamal, originally scheduled for the festival, cancelled because of health reasons.

Some people say that Italy's three greatest treasures are racing cars, Italian food, and Joe Lovano. Others have called Lovano the world's greatest tenor. But he does not sing, and he's actually an American, albeit of Italian lineage. Since the 1980s, his tenor saxophone has consistently infused jazz music with a constant flow of vitality.

Lovano has recorded countless albums, won numerous awards , including the 2000 Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, 52nd Street Scenes, and received high praise from the jazz press, including prestigious Downbeat magazine. Born into a family of musicians, he learned the saxophone from his father. When still a baby, he was photographed with his mother -- and a sax.

Lovano's music is described by critics as interlacing the past with the present. Like a philosopher, he searches out new interpretations of the jazz tradition. His improvisational solos are both meticulous and risk-taking, his tone deep and potent.

In recent years Lovano has continued to surprise audiences with his complex, highly personal and intellectual musical style. Appearing on stage with Lovano will be jazz pianist Bill Mays, one of the giants of the West Coast jazz piano sound since the 1970s.

Taiwanese jazz player Lin Wei-sheng (林煒盛) will be playing double bass with Lovano. Lin is one of the few Taiwanese jazz musicians active in New York. He graduated from National Taiwan University with a philosophy degree and didn't begin his music career until his sophomore year, learning bass purely out of love of jazz music. Now with a music degree from State University of New York, Lin attributes his late-booming music career to his grabbing as many performing opportunities as he can.

"New York is a place with music talents hidden on any street corner of the street. So whenever I have a chance to perform, I tell myself I have to make the best of the chance and cannot make any mistakes," Lin said during a Taipei rehearsal.

Another concert in the festival, featuring percussion master Jack Dejohnette, will take place next Saturday. Since the 1960s, the jazz world has been graced by the percussive greatness of this drumming legend, who was a favored collaborator of such legends as Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Stan Getz. He is often credited with providing the rhythmic support that frees lead musicians to fully express themselves, and has achieved an incomparable status in the jazz world.

In 1969, Dejohnette joined the Miles Davis Group for the groundbreaking Bitches Brew. His meticulous technique and rich expressiveness moved the drum kit from the shadows into the limelight.

Leading his Special Edition ensemble, Dejohnette has gone on to receive countless music awards, including 14 from Downbeat magazine alone. His precise, powerful performances are charged with an abundant sense of rhythm and performance flair.

Critics compare Dejohnette's percussion style with other jazz drummers, concluding that his performances are not a gymnastic feat, or a game meant to display his stunning skills. Rather, he expertly uses the cymbals to create space, which other musicians may fill with graceful improvisational melodies. This has given him the reputation as the lead instrumentalist's best friend. Keith Jarrett, for example, has long chosen Dejohnette over any other drummer.

This year, Dejohnette will appear on the same stage with pianist Mike Del Ferro, who gave Taiwan an incomparably surprising, captivating show at last year's event.

For those who miss the two concerts, there is still a lot of jazz to experience during the jazz festival. A jazz exhibition is on from now to next Saturday (Aug 28) at the library of the CKS Cultural Center (next to the ticket booth of National Concert Hall) with more than 200 jazz CDs available for free listening. Every evening there is a film-screening session, showing concerts of great jazz performers. Participants in the exhibition will also have a chance to win the special recording CD of the 2004 Summer Jazz Festival.

Performance Notes of Summer Jazz Festival

What: Joe Lovano and Bill Mays Trio
When: 7:30pm, today
Where: National Concert Hall
Details: Saxophone: Joe Lovano; piano: Bill Mays; bass: Lin Wei-sheng; drums: Lewis Nash
Tickets: NT$400 to NT$2,500, available at CKS ticketing outlets www.artsticket.com.tw

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