Music can bring strangers together, so goes the cliche. But things can get interesting when the music is jazz and the people coming together are musicians trained to improvise, at least in the mind of violinist Hsieh Chi-pin (謝啟彬).
This is the idea behind his concert program at the Taipei International Jazz Festival, which began earlier this month and ends this weekend with free concerts tonight and tomorrow at the 228 Peace Park (228和平公園).
Hsieh, a jazz musician and educator who
co-founded the festival in 2004 with his wife, pianist Chang Kai-ya (張凱雅), has organized two shows that feature around a dozen accomplished jazz artists from North America, Europe, Africa and Taiwan performing together on stage.
Many of the visiting musicians, who include veteran saxophonist John Ruocco, French drummer Roger Biwandu and South African vocalist Tutu Puoane, only met for the first time at the beginning of this week.
And there hasn’t been much rehearsal
time as they’ve been busy teaching at the Taipei International Summer Jazz Academy, the annual weeklong camp associated with the festival.
But the challenge of playing on stage with a bassist and drummer you’ve just met is the ultimate test of skill for a jazz musician and will make for a “fresh encounter,” said Hsieh in an interview earlier this week.
“That’s what jazz means,”
he said. “You just improvise, play together and do your best, try your best to create the
best music.”
The format of tonight and tomorrow’s concerts is nothing new to the festival, now in its seventh edition. But the difference from year to year lies in the new faces that bring their unique talents and skills to the mix.
David Smith, a Canadian-born, New York-based trumpeter teaching and performing in Taiwan for the first time, says he appreciates the idea of being put into a situation where “people are from different parts of the world where they’re more likely to have a different take on things that I’m accustomed to.”
“That makes it exciting,” he said.
Indeed, the diversity of cultures and backgrounds among this weekend’s performers gives credence to the notion that jazz is thriving as an international art form.
Biwandu (myspace.com/rogerbiwandu) is a French national whose family emigrated from Zaire. Hsieh says he brings the “energy” of African percussion into his work in modern jazz, fusion and pop.
Puoane (myspace.com/tutupuoanemusic), a 31-year-old vocalist, is considered a rising star both in her native South Africa and Belgium, her current home.
Italian saxophonist Rosario Giuliani (myspace.com/rosariogiuliani) has won a handful of awards in Europe and, according to
Hsieh, possesses an impressive be-bop vocabulary that he handles with equally impressive speed.
Smith (myspace.com/davesmithtrumpet), the trumpeter, says one of his main influences comes from his training as a classical musician. He is drawn to “strong harmonies” that create “drama” and a “sense of motion.”
Attendees of past festivals will recognize some returning musicians: John Ruocco (www.jazzmasters.nl/johnruocco), the veteran American saxophonist based in Europe; German hard-bop guitarist Joachim Schoenecker (www.joachimschoenecker.com); Italian drummer Mimi Verderame (myspace.com/mimiverderame); Belgian bassist Bart de Nolf (myspace.com/bartdenolf); and Dutch pianist Peter van Marle, who specializes in Latin jazz and percussion. Hsieh and Chang will also participate in the concert.
Hsieh jokes that this musician’s summit is like a meeting of “Jedi knights.” But he has taken the reference to Star Wars, one of his favorite movies, even further. The theme of this year’s concert has been billed as “The Force of Jazz.”
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