HK and All That Jazz
Posted by SpikeDec 18
Good article in Asia Sentinel today on the current state of jazz in Hong Kong.
In today’s jazz community in Hong Kong, there are a few dozen — 30-40 by LeClaire’s estimate — serious musicians who regularly gig around the city. Aside from the local Hongkongers, the musicians are mainly here from the US, the UK, and Australia, having landed here because of family, spouses, or simply to pursue musical opportunities not open to them in their home countries. Their gigs are often ad hoc and spread across a number of small venues with little in the way of promotion. Crowds are patchy, and no one venue can claim to regularly attract large numbers to jazz shows.
Peel Fresco’s Baker says there are Hongkongers who will come to see jazz, but it’s hard to know how many, and even harder to get the word out that there is live jazz music in this city. “There’s people discovering [Peel Fresco] all the time,” he says. “But do they know where to look to find the information? That’s one thing. Do they expect to find it? That’s another thing. We get comments all the time: ‘We didn’t even know this place existed’.”
Hi, I’m Spike. Born and bred in The Bronx but I've been calling Hong Kong home since 1995. I'm a corporate IT professional, music and film critic and aspiring photo-journalist. I've been writing Hongkie Town since 2004 and have been writing the "Spike" column in BC Magazine since 2006. You can follow me on Twitter 
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Comment by Fernando on December 18, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Interesting piece. What I think was missing is how criminally bad the publicity is around jazz in Hong Kong. A lot people didn’t even know the HK Jazz festival was on a few months back. There’s a lot of good intentions, but, from the outside, very little co-ordination.
Getting reliable gig information is really hard. The updates in the press are frequently wrong.
The other issue is the lack of a serious venue. The smaller clubs are cool in their way, but cities with a serious jazz scene have larger, dinner-oriented venues that anchor the scene. Let’s be honest here, the jazz crowd is typically older and wealthier and that will flavour what they see as desirable in a venue.
That said, there is a question of material as well. There are some great players here. But, when you look at the material played, there seems to a lack of the kind of experimental stuff (fusing jazz with loops, turntables, techno, etc) that keeps scenes in other places fresh and more appealing to younger crowds.
All that said, I am quite keen to get myself out and playing live in HK next year. I made a decision not to play live when i moved here, mostly because of the smoke in small venues thing. I’ve rethought that and am keen to find a good, contemporary playing situation. Hopefully that can happen.
Comment by Spike on December 18, 2009 at 10:34 pm
I’m completely pessimistic about this. There’s one or two local names who seem to get by, like Eugene Pao. International stars rarely stop here. There’s no education; most people here think “jazz” and think “Kenny G” or otherwise something too cerebral or difficult to listen to. I don’t see how this can do anything but continue to stagnate.
Comment by THE KMB on December 19, 2009 at 1:20 am
Do HK people really know what JAZZ is ? Are they really interested in this ? Is this some kind of SHOPPING ? Me personally not very much like Jazz or similar forms of music – I am more into experimental, electronic sounds – but dont worry same problem here with this kind of music – no platform – no interest – it is POOR – Welcome to Asias World City !
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