A couple of major music events in Taiwan are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, which means there are some special programs and artists to look forward to from now through autumn.
The National Concert Hall’s summer jazz series, which kicked off last Sunday with a show by virtuoso saxophonist Joe Lovano, is celebrating its tenth year with a collaborative performance between local musicians and established American artists.
The NTCH Summer Jazz Project marks the first time that Taiwanese musicians get to play in the hallowed Concert Hall as part of its jazz series. The guest artists include saxophonist Antonio Hart, best known for his work with trumpeter Roy Hargrove, and trumpeter/trombonist/composer Michael Mossman, who has worked with a long list of jazz greats including Paquito D’Rivera, McCoy Tyner and Dizzy Gillespie.
Photo courtesy of the artists
Trumpeter Stacey Wei (魏廣告), the organizer and a participant in the project, told the Taipei Times the concert is affirmation that Taiwanese jazz musicians “can play well.” Wei says another idea behind the collaboration is to learn from experienced musicians. He studied with Hart and Mossman at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and together they have spent the past two weeks teaching at a jazz summer camp at the Concert Hall, where the students are mostly college-aged musicians.
Tomorrow’s program includes Latin jazz and straight-ahead bop, with the project’s 15 musicians sharing the stage in various incarnations, from duos, quartets and quintets to a big band format.
Other local participants include saxophonist Tony Tung (董舜文) and veteran drummer Rich Huang (黃瑞豐), who will perform a duet with Albert “Tootie” Heath, a veteran bop drummer whose resume includes work with John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery.
Photo by Carol Friedman
A milestone for these lucky Taiwanese musicians aside, here’s another way to look at the anniversary: the National Concert Hall only started taking jazz seriously ten years ago. It’s good that the powers that be at the venue have come to their senses and finally acknowledged that jazz is worthy of performance on the same stages as “classical” music – but hopefully there will be more. Things appear to be moving in the right direction, as the venue hosted a show by Herbie Hancock earlier this year. But given that such shows often sell out quickly, one hopes the Concert Hall will put more thought into programming high-caliber jazz performances throughout the entire year.
The series continues on Wednesday with the Mingus Big Band, a must-see if you’re a fan of the late, great bassist and composer Charlie Mingus. The 14-piece New York group, directed by Mingus’ wife Sue Mingus, is one of the better modern big band ensembles around. Diva vocalist Patti Austin wraps up the series on Sept. 8.
■ Tomorrow, Wednesday and Sept. 8, 7:30pm at the National Concert Hall. For more information visit event.ntch.edu.tw/2012/2012SummerJazz/index.html
Another event celebrating its tenth run is the Migration Music Festival, which brings international folk musicians to Taiwan. To celebrate its longevity, organizers are bringing some memorable performers from past editions, as well as new musicians. This year’s festival features groups from as far as Palestine, India and Israel, and takes place on Oct. 5, 6 and 7 at Zhongshan Hall (中山堂) in Taipei.
Perhaps the most exciting artist returning this year is Habib Koite, a guitarist and singer from Mali who was a big hit at Migration when he came in 2009. His music is a mix of Mali traditions that includes the singing oratory of the “griots” (West African storyteller-poets) and hints of desert blues – think hypnotic grooves a la Ali Farka Toure played by a guitarist with a folk troubadour’s demeanor. Koite heads Bamada, an all-star ensemble of West African musicians, but he’s also a riveting solo performer, and has a magnetic stage presence.
Also returning is Takashi Hirayasu, an Okinawan musician who was part of the pioneering folk-rock group Champloose. The group, one of the first to mix traditional Okinawan folk music with rock, is well-known in Japan and recorded with Ry Cooder in 1980. Also a skilled and charming performer, Hirayasu plays the Sanhsin, a three-stringed snakeskin banjo that is the iconic instrument in Okinawan music (and is similar to the Chinese instrument of the same name, sanxuan (三弦), literally “three strings”).
Hirayasu, who looks like an aging hippie with his ponytail and beard, is something of a legend in Japan (a musician-friend from Tokyo once described him as Japan’s Bob Marley). His most recent work was a set of recordings with the virtuoso American guitarist Bob Brozman, and in Taiwan, he has performed and recorded with local folk hero Lin Sheng-xiang (林生祥). Migration organizers have planned a concert with Hirayasu and Koite playing together, which makes for a show that folk and world music fans won’t want to miss.
■ Migration Music Festival, Oct. 5, 6 and 7. For more details, visit www.treesmusic.com.
Although it may seem like bittersweet consolation for Taichung-ers, who have pretty much lost their live music scene after a government crackdown on illegal buildings following a devastating pub fire last year, the city government continues to sponsor several free large-scale music festivals.
The Taichung Jazz Festival, also in its 10th year, takes place from Oct. 20 to Oct 28. Pianist Ellis Marsalis and his quartet and his son drummer Jason Marsalis (the younger brother of Wynton) will be among the headliners.
■ For more information, visit the Taichung Jazz Festival Web site: www.taichungjazzfestival.com.tw
If you didn’t get your fill of indie rock and metal at last weekend’s Beastie Rock, there’s always this weekend’s Taichung Rock Festival (搖滾台中樂團節). Organized by Nuno Chen (陳信宏), a long-haired champion of local rock and metal who is a musician himself, the festival takes place outdoors at Wensin Park (文心森林公園) tomorrow and Sunday.
The 80-plus band line-up is full of the usual suspects, with pop-punks FireEx (滅火器) and Mary See the Future (先知瑪莉) playing on Saturday and college rock favorites like Echo (回聲樂團) and Tizzy Bac scheduled for Sunday. A handful of Japanese performers are also part of the lineup.
■ Tomorrow and Sunday, from 1pm to 10pm at Taichung City Fulfillment Amphitheatre (台中市文心圓滿戶外劇場), 289, Wunsin Rd Sec 1, Taichung City (台中市南屯區文心路一段289號). For full schedule and details, visit www.rockintaichung.com
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