Looking back on jazz in Hong Kong in 2013, it was an outstanding year for performances by international artists, getting off to a strong start with the Hong Kong Arts Festival bringing over the remarkable young bassist-singer Esperanza Spalding.
At next year's festival, jazz and world music are well integrated in the bill, with performers straddling both areas. Singers Gregory Porter and Madeleine Peyroux, pianist Roberto Fonseca, and guitarist John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension will all be good to hear in person.
In October, the Hong Kong Jazz Association's Sixth Hong Kong International Jazz Festival presented a cosmopolitan mix of jazz and world-music acts, including Swiss-born singer-guitarist Eliane Amherd, Croatian vocalist Ines Trickovic, South Korean pianist and composer Jangeun "JB" Bae, the Soren Bebe Trio from Denmark, and Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson with his Liberetto Trio.
Jazz World proprietor Clarence Chang, no longer involved with the jazz association, began his own concert series, which reached a climax in November with a performance by Herbie Hancock.
Other artists featured in the Jazz World Live Series were South Korean ensemble Winterplay, harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Meurkens with his Brazilian Fantasy Band featuring local stars Angelita Li and Eugene Pao, fusion band Tribal Tech featuring guitarist Scott Henderson, the father and son jazz guitar duo of Ulf and Eric Wakenius, acoustic guitarist Kotaro Oshio, and ukulele hero Jake Shimabukuro.
