This year’s Summer Jazz Party at Taipei’s National Concert Hall got off to a rootsy start several weeks ago, with performances from New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band and American guitarist John Scofield and the Piety Street Band, whose sound draws from blues and gospel.
But tonight the annual jazz festival, now in its sixth year, shifts gears with Japanese fusion band T-Square, whose style some will recognize as a combination of jazz, rock and pop. The four-piece formed as The Square in 1976 and changed its name to T-Square when it started touring the US in the late 1980s. Earlier this year they released their 35th studio album, Discoveries.
Those unfamiliar with the fusion jazz genre might think T-Square’s music sounds like sound tracks for television programs or video games, which isn’t far off the mark. Their jams are tightly orchestrated and full of rock verve and melodrama.
The band has left a few footprints in popular Japanese culture: saxophonist Takeshi Ito appeared in a Suntory whisky commercial in 1984, and more recently the group’s composition Islet Beauty was featured in a McDonald’s commercial for iced coffee. Guitarist and bandleader Masahiro Andoh composed songs for Sony PlayStation games Arc the Lad and Gran Turismo.
T-Square creates its sound with a palette full of pianos, electronic keyboards, electric guitars, saxophones and bass guitar.
But one particular instrument to watch for live is Takeshi Ito’s EWI, or electronic wind instrument. Designed and played like a soprano saxophone, the EWI is basically an electronic synthesizer for horn players. The keys do not move but have sensors that respond to finger movement, which allows for lightning-fast playing.
The Summer Jazz Party concludes on Sept. 25 with the UK-based American singer and Grammy nominee Stacey Kent.
May 18 to May 24 Pastor Yang Hsu’s (楊煦) congregation was shocked upon seeing the land he chose to build his orphanage. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way to access it was to cross a river by foot. The soil was poor due to runoff, and large rocks strewn across the plot prevented much from growing. In addition, there was no running water or electricity. But it was all Yang could afford. He and his Indigenous Atayal wife Lin Feng-ying (林鳳英) had already been caring for 24 orphans in their home, and they were in
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday delivered an address marking the first anniversary of his presidency. In the speech, Lai affirmed Taiwan’s global role in technology, trade and security. He announced economic and national security initiatives, and emphasized democratic values and cross-party cooperation. The following is the full text of his speech: Yesterday, outside of Beida Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽), there was a major traffic accident that, sadly, claimed several lives and resulted in multiple injuries. The Executive Yuan immediately formed a task force, and last night I personally visited the victims in hospital. Central government agencies and the
Australia’s ABC last week published a piece on the recall campaign. The article emphasized the divisions in Taiwanese society and blamed the recall for worsening them. It quotes a supporter of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) as saying “I’m 43 years old, born and raised here, and I’ve never seen the country this divided in my entire life.” Apparently, as an adult, she slept through the post-election violence in 2000 and 2004 by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the veiled coup threats by the military when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) became president, the 2006 Red Shirt protests against him ginned up by
RSS