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COMPASS MAGAZINE, October 2003.

COVER STORY:

The Taichung Jazz Festival: Great music comes to Taichung from around the world By Douglas Habecker

          If you’ve had this craving for live jazz music, or simply want to get better acquainted with this quintessentially-American musical form, you should be glad you’re in central Taiwan. Taichung will become the undisputed jazz capital of Taiwan for the month of October, thanks to the unprecedented Taichung Jazz Festival, the largest jazz event ever held on the island. This city government-sponsored festival will see an explosion of jazz concerts, workshops and other events, held by some of the best international and local musicians at a wide range of venues around town.

          The Jazz Festival concludes what has been an extraordinary season of cultural activity for Taichung city, all organized by the city government and Cultural Affairs Bureau in an effort to boost cultural and artistic interest and activities, give Taichung its own appealing identity, and help the city regain its faded reputation as Taiwan’s “culture city”. Towards these ends, this is being promoted heavily as a national event, with residents from Taipei and elsewhere expected to descend on Taichung for 22 days of great jazz. For the opening October 4 event, special “Blues Trains” will ferry Taipei and Kaohsiung visitors to Taichung on that morning.

          Visiting international and local artists will include names like Jon Faddis, the Bill Mays Piano Trio, Lou Rainone Jazz Band, Helio Alves Jazz Band, the Metamorphosis Jazz Band, Dizzy Jazz Big Band, J.E.G. Jazz Band, the New Decision, Universal Project Ensemble (UPE), Delta On Main Street (DOMS), Duduka da Fonseca, and Jivestakes. In keeping with a great tradition of jazz events around the world, performances will take place in a wonderful variety of places, including public parks, shopping malls and streets, bookstores, pubs, restaurants and--believe it or not—Feng Chia night market. Just as good, these events are mostly free and open to the public.

          These events will be bookended by the festival’s two largest events--seven-hour outdoor concerts at Feng Le Sculpture Park on Saturday, October 4 and at Taichung Chungshan Park (also celebrating its 100th anniversary) on Saturday, October 25. October 4 will see a parade from 3 to 4 p.m. in front of the Taichung Culture Center (Yingtsai and Wuchuan West roads), followed by the 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. opening and main concert, featuring Jon Faddis, Bill Mays Piano Trio, UPE, Jivestake and other performers. There will aos be contests and food booths run by restaurants like Finga’s, Fatty’s, and Zackery's Cafe, plus sales of cold beer and other drinks. The October 25 closing concert, from 3:30 to 9:30 p.m., will have the Helio Alves Jazz Band’s Brazilian jazz, samba and bossa nova music, the Dizzy Jazz Big Band, the Taichung Grandpa Jazz Band, contests, food, drinks and other attractions.

          In addition, there will be related contests, jazz book and music sales at Eslite bookstores, and special jazz radio programming on event co-organizer FM 97.7 Classical Radio. For more on who, what, where and other details about The Jazz Festival, check out the following profiles and event schedule. The official event website can be found at www.tccgc.gov.tw/report/2003-jazz/

DELTA ON MAIN STREET (DOMS)           In addition to performing fusion jazz, funk, classical, Latin, R&B, rock and other musical forms, the members of DOMS are also serious about creating their own music. The group performs very widely in Taiwan and, in 2003, was chosen by Yamaha KHS as the representative band for its instruments.

DIZZY JAZZ BIG BAND           This Taiwanese band has won itself a dedicated fan base, thanks to the sheer number of concerts it has performed in its efforts to broaden a love for jazz around the island. Performance venues have included the National Concert Hall, college campuses, and art festivals.

DUDUKA DA FONSECA
          This Brazilian drummer began playing when he was 12 and, three years later, was already performing with top musicians in his country. After moving to New York, he established a number of Brazilian jazz bands, such as the widely-performing New York Samba Band. He is also a faculty member at the Drummer’s Collective.

JON FADDIS           New York-based Faddis became known at a relatively early age for his ability to equal and even surpass the trumpet sounds of jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie, a friend and mentor. In addition to his renditions of Roy Eldridge and Louis Armstrong, Faddis has developed his own style, winning numerous awards and critical acclaim along the way. In addition to a wide range of performances and collaborations with other renowned jazz artists—from Sarah Vaughan to Count Basie’s big band—he also became Carnegie Hall Jazz Band musical director.

HELIO ALVES JAZZ BAND           Brazilain Latin and samba are performed by this award-winning band, which consists of female singer Maucha Adnet, jazz pianist Helio Alves, jazz drummer Duduka da Fonseca, and bass player Nilson Matta. In addition to performing at many international jazz festivals, it has won several Grammies for its efforts and is currently a popular New York act. Its three instrumental musicians recently recorded a highly-acclaimed jazz album with renowned cellist Yoyo Ma.

J.E.G. JAZZ BAND           Creativity and a willingness to experiment are hallmarks of J.E.G., which combines bebop, Latin, fusion and other forms in its brand of modern jazz. Strong influences include the musical stylings of Chick Corea, jazz guitarist Pat Metheney, Jason Schofield, and Randy and Michael Brecker.

JIVESTAKES
          Locally-based Jivestakes is considered one of the island’s top jazz piano trios, playing mainstream classic jazz. Led by Japanese pianist Uno, this group regularly cooperates with male singer Gu Hao, performs widelyl and has recorded albums.

LOU RAINONE JAZZ BAND
          This group was established by New York jazz pianist Lou Rainone, who has been performing and composing for over 20 years. An international mix of band members includes Canadian saxophonist Grant Stewart, American trombone player Jon Swana, American guitarist Joe Cohn, Japanese drummer Seiji Ochiai, and bassist Lin Wei-sheng, one of the few active Taiwanese jazz musicians in New York.

BILL MAYS PIANO TRIO           Decades of musical experience and growth have taken jazz pianist Bill Mays to his current position as a popular recording artist, composer, arranger and performer. From Los Angeles to his current home in New York, he has worked with a broad spectrum of well-known jazz names, such as Art Pepper, Buddy Collette, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, Paul Winter and Mel Lewis, performing everywhere from Carnegie Hall and the Guggenheim Museum to Birdland. Mays and his trio—drummer Yoron Israel and bassist Lin Wei-shen--perform and tour widely and albums include “Going Home” and “Summer Sketches”.

METAMORPHOSIS JAZZ BAND
          This locally-based band consists of musicians who have received jazz educations in the United States as well as top players from other bands. It performs a wide variety of jazz styles, including swing, Dixieland, bebop, cool fusion and Latin jazz, plus classic renditions of Taiwanese composers and re-compositions of folk songs.

THE NEW DECISION
          Improvisation is a specialty of the local group’s performances, whose top-rated musicians enjoy playing smooth jazz, Latin , fusion, and the band’s own stylistic creations.

UNIVERSAL PROJECT ENSEMBLE (UPE)
          UPE is one of the few large jazz ensembles in Taiwan, playing a variety of styles, from ‘30s big band music to 70’s jazz-rock. An eclectic variety of musical influences include rock, R&B, soul, hip-hop, folk and world music. Led by well-known trumpet player Chiu Chien-erh, the group is composed of top professional local musicians.