China Daily Global Edition (USA)
OUT OF THE BLUE Inspired by legendary recordings of the past, producer Chia Minshu has captured five live and fresh performances
With the opening of Blue Note Beijing in September 2016, music lovers have had a new venue in the Chinese capital where they can enjoy live music.
Among those enjoying the shows has been veteran Taiwan music producer and promoter Jeff Chia Minshu, and while appreciating some of the biggest names in jazz, he came up with the idea of recording live performances by Chinese musicians at the venue.
From August to December 2017, five musicians, including pop singer-songwriter Li Quan, Beijingbased music group Radio Mars, and Hong Kong singer-songwriter Yoyo Sham, have performed at Blue Note Beijing. Their shows have been recorded and released as five albums under the title Live at Blue Note Beijing, which have been released online via major music live streaming services, such as NetEase Cloud Music and QQ Music.
“Live music has an absolute charm both for the performers and the audiences. The five albums capture the musicians’ live performances, which are unique and exciting,” says Chia, the co-founder of Street Voice, an internet platform catering to the independent music scene, which was launched by Chia and Landy Chang, another veteran producer, in Taiwan in 2006.
Chia and Chang were the organizers of the phenomenal 1994 Chinese Rock Power concert at the Hong Kong Arena, which stunned the audience and created momentum for the wave of rock that washed over the country.
They are also founders of the popular music festival, Simple Life Festival, which started in Taiwan in 2006 Yoyo Sham and expanded to Shanghai in 2014.
Chia says that he took his inspiration from the many great musicians have performed and recorded albums at the Blue Note club in New York City, such as Live At The Blue Note by Grammy Award-winning pianist Michel Camilo, which was recorded in March 2003, and the 1990 album Live at the Blue Note, by Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, to name just a couple.
“What made the Beijing project special was the musicians selected their songs and made new arrangements of them. Some songs were written years ago and were less wellknown compared to their hits,” Chia adds.
The first musician to perform at Blue Note Beijing with the project Live at Blue Note Beijing was Hong Kong singer-songwriter Yoyo Sham, who performed on August 31 with a show named Late Night Tales.
“Recording a live album is an unique experience, where even the flaws can be beautiful,” says Sham, who as well as her on work is also known for her work as backing vocalist for many notable Chinese singers including Eason Chan and Sandy Lam.
Her show at Blue Note Beijing was Sham’s first public performance in the capital, which she regards as her “most important performance in 2017”.
“Some of the songs I performed were written during the years I’ve lived in Beijing, which made the night more meaningful to me,” She adds. “I took the opportunity to reunite with old friends in Beijing and met new ones, it was a warm and special occasion.”
Beijing-based music group Radio Mars performed at Blue Note Beijing on November 30, 2017. The duo, consisting of guitarist Zeng Yu and lead vocalist Huang Shaofeng, is also known for writing songs for Chinese pop stars such as Ye Pei and Lao Lang.
Huang recalls that when he performed their song, Last Night Of The Summer, onstage, lots of memories came back to him.
“It’s one of my favorite Radio Mars songs. I remember the first time Zeng Yu played the song he wrote for me, I instantly fell in love with the song,” Huang says.
Besides pop musicians, the project also recorded shows by Los Angeles based musician Lu Yi (also known by his stage name Lu1), who combines jazz and hip-hop beats with Chinese lyrics, and Beijingbased rocker Da Fei.
Lu recalls that when he was a college student, he watched a live performance on MTV by Japanese rapper, Takashi Hatakeyama, who is better known by his stage name Kreva.
“Although those songs were very familiar to me, the live performances still felt fresh as they had been rearranged with string instruments,” says Lu. “Live albums are valuable because they capture particular moments by performers.”
Some of the songs I performed were written during the years I’ve lived in Beijing, which made the night more meaningful to me.” Hong Kong singer-songwriter
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And French pianist Kim Barbie will have her concert on May 3 for children, with programs including Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 8 in C minor, Op. 13 and Mozart’s Piano Sonata No 16 in C major.