Fountain de Chopin's "Thank You" Festival in Hong Kong

Fountain de Chopin's Third-Birthday "Thank You" Festival
Fountain de Chopin
San Po Kong, Hong Kong
January 1, 2026

Hong Kong is enjoying a surprising, and surprisingly youth-centric, jazz renaissance. A decade ago, you might have struggled to count notable local players on two hands, today there are more feisty Berklee graduates in the self-governed Chinese city than scene observers can keep track of. There's also an audience for it, too—a remarkably young and hungry one, thanks in large part to the efforts of Fountain de Chopin. Named for a Cantonese slang phrase about flipping during diving (in the deep end?), the collective host the city's only formal jazz course for upcoming musicians, while its approachable, non-stuffy lectures, blogs and social media posts have done much to spread the gospel among Gen Z.

This youthful wave was in merry evidence at Fountain's third-anniversary all-dayer. Perhaps it takes a certain youthful verse, or freedom, to spend New Year's Day watching decades-old musician a gritty industrial building—home of the group's live venue and school—but for a millennial writer long used to being the youngest person in the room at jazz gigs, it felt electric to find myself among the eldest.

One imagines Teriver Cheung felt the same—once regarded as a young upstart himself, the 40-year-old is now hailed by Fountain's press blurb as an "imitation object of this generation of Hong Kong musicians." It felt like a torch-handing moment to watch the guitarist trade licks with 23-year-old saxophonist Jonas Cho, at the close of a smoldering, post-bop deconstruction of John Coltrane's modal workout, "Impressions." Backed by the effortless tumult of drummer Samuel Chan and the city's hardest-working bassist, Fountain co—founder Nelson Fung, one of four appearances that day. Cheung's makeshift quartet was the day's dizzying highlight, closing with a fiery, insistent take on Joe Henderson's "A Shade of Jade."

Earlier in the day, fellow scene veteran Justin Siu swapped his upright bass to cello for a fascinating duet with upcoming pianist/vocalist Kelly Yau, whose background in poppier fare found its natural meeting point on three resplendent numbers by crossover queen Esperanza Spalding. Siu proved a fluent jazzy foil, offsetting Yau's sweet melodicism with a mix of plucked chords, melodic lines and bowed solos that hinted at the frontline career he might have pursued on another instrument. The set ended with an almost-grungy, slow-building "Fly Me to the Moon" which deserves recording, and quickly.

Many of the most thrilling exchanges took place away from the main "{Jim Hall}}" in Rm Davis, one of a half-dozen practice rooms named for you-know-who (Bird, Armstrong and 'Trane all get the same honor). Here, the Matthew Chan Trio playfully pulverized swinging standards, drummer Jerry's eagle-eyes attuned to the pianist/leader's every sudden stylistic switch. More reverent to days past, drummer Jeffrey Wong led a quintet through a swinging set of hard-bop standards, anchored by a stellar reading of Chick Corea's "Windows." The lovely ballad "My Foolish Heart" was sweetly introduced by guitarist Eric Chong's beautiful unaccompanied improv, who almost didn't make it in time, after missing the opening Thelonious Monk number while still on the main stage performing as part of Addison Yip's knowingly nostalgic tribute to Fats Navarro.

If there's one criticism we've overheard of Hong Kong's new jazz generation it's that, unlike many of their counterparts in Europe and the USA, its players are yet to develop a local identity, remaining too enthralled to the primarily American, mid-20th-century masters. One reason it was especially impressive to see Fung debut a new project employing modular synths and electric gadgetry to conjure soft soundscapes and slow-moving, post-rock-y chords beneath his bottom-end exertions. Billed as "The Water," his collaborators were both seated crossed-legged: guitarist William Chan's shimmering arpeggios and haunting harmonics in the post-Bill Frisell mold, while Cho fed his sax through ethereal effects evidently inspired by Sam Gendel.

The day's greatest outlier was also its sole international booking, mainland Chinese singer—songwriter Voision Xi, whose heartfelt indie-folk compositions were gracefully reinvented by the Fountain de Chopin gang themselves, adding variable shades from delicate swing to Robert Glasper-esque post-Dilla groove. While admitting she's no jazz cat, Xi conceded to her surroundings with an able vocal take on Coltrane's heartbreaking ballad, "Naima."

While a mixed bag, this set perhaps pointed the true way forward—as their reputation has spread, Fountain are getting increasing crossover opportunities, most lately backing Cantopop star Lai Ying at the city's big pop festival, Clockenflap, and performing a controversial set with local MCs at the 2025 Freespace Jazz Festival. Meanwhile, mainstay Bowen Li has talked about reimaging Cantopop hits, surely in the acoustic trio vein of Brad Mehldau and early Glasper, given his pedigree. It's these crossovers and collaborations that will breed the truly local scene the detractors demand.

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