Articles by Jiaowei Hu
Fred Hersch: Alive... And Kicking
by Jiaowei Hu
Few musicians have shaped jazz with such elegant, instinctive, and intimate variations as Fred Hersch. Constantly. Over four decades, life's ups and downs have not stopped him from coming back, time and again, to performing live. No word other than “alive" can be more suitable for the pianist, and it is no coincidence that he chose it to title his album Alive at the Village Vanguard (Palmetto Records, 2023), where he creates special chemistry with vocalist Esperanza Spalding. This live ...
Continue ReadingVoision Xi: Lost For Words, Found In Sounds
by Jiaowei Hu
Voision Xi has been taking steps from behind the scenes to centre stage. Starting out as a program coordinator at China's multi-faceted jazz business company JZ Music, she has swiftly risen to be one of the most active jazz vocalists in the country. Warmth and the simplest joy can be found in her singing, with no trace of sentimentality. Born at the end of the 1980s, Voision Xi grew up witnessing China's opening-up, economic reform and rapid growth, ...
Continue ReadingJun Xiao: Atypical Airship
by Jiaowei Hu
Jazz in China may be little known, but Shanghai-based composer and guitarist Jun Xiao is no doubt among the earliest to shape the landscape. His sophomore effort Atypical Airship (Blue Note/Universal Music China, 2022) visualizes the personal astro-Arcadia, blurs genre lines and especially blends jazz dynamics with rock form, breaks limitations of his musical identity, and showcases a well-selected group of China's first-line jazz musicians. Moreover, being the first ever Chinese national to release a Blue Note album, he continues ...
Continue ReadingHalf Reopen To Food Delivery: Jazz Headwinds In China
by Jiaowei Hu
The festive electronic music pours out of the Vietnamese restaurant across the square, welcoming back its customers, already at two-thirds volume compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. Su Yan frowned: “It looks like hiring a DJ does help the business. But what can we jazz clubs do with DJs?" As the Director of Publicity at JZ Club (a major jazz venue brand in China, based in Shanghai), Yan together with his company, has been in the most hard-hit ...
Continue ReadingCan Jazz Survive COVID-19? China Has Tested the Waters
by Jiaowei Hu
In the coming weeks, Frank Sinatra's line “I wanna wake up in a city that doesn't sleep" from “New York, New York" may not strike a chord. On March 17, the epicenter of jazz ground to a halt. By the decree of governmental enforcement, all jazz venues in New York City announced closures in rapid succession. Being the last to surrender, Blue Note New York's closure has not only marked a complete suspension of the Mecca of Jazz, ...
Continue ReadingYuhan Su: Sun-Chaser On Vibraphone
by Jiaowei Hu
Five thousand years ago, the giant Kuafu set out from the East in an impossible pursuit of the Sun. In his endless chase, says the Chinese classic Shan Hai Jing, he swallowed up all the waters of the Yellow and Wei Rivers, yet even these were insufficient to quench Kuafu's thirst. Ultimately, legend has it, Kuafu perished in his pursuit, yet the giant often referred to as “the Chinese Prometheus" remains mythologized for his fortitude, spirit and resolve.
Continue ReadingAaron Parks: Finding the Way to Little Big
by Jiaowei Hu
"Always beginning. Often perplexed. Drawn to beauty and to the absurd. I play piano, write songs, and take pictures of doors with my phone. A bit odd." So is the pianist's own account on his website, written in a few scribbled sentences. About a decade ago, Aaron Parks created much of a stir through his debut album Invisible Cinema (Blue Note Records, 2008). In the cover image, the then new star was standing right before a closing door. Ten years ...
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