‘Musically dangerous’ Hong Kong freestyle jazz band the Fountain Collective talk about their unconventional style
- The freestyle jazz collective, who met after renting a rehearsal studio, played at Hong Kong’s Freestyle Jazz Fest in 2021, where they met rap vocalist GM
- They practise in a conventional manner, but when they hit the stage, they have no set list and each performance is unique and spontaneous
Jazz ensemble the Fountain Collective pushes the boundaries of the genre with improvisation that challenges its players’ abilities. Hence its motto: “to bring the danger back to jazz”.
The training of its nine members – Bowen Li, Michael Chan, Arnold Lai, Nelson Fung, Brian Cheung, Timothy Wan, Lawrence Lau, Dean Li and Kevin Chau, better known as Gold Mountain or GM – might be traditional; collectively, however, their playing is anything but.
“When it comes to our respective, individual musical practices, most of us come from very traditional jazz backgrounds. We practise conventionally, but when it comes to the band, it’s like all the screws are off,” says pianist Bowen Li.
They don’t work off sheet music and each performance is unique and completely spontaneous, hence the “danger”.
“When we played together, it felt musically dangerous. Finally, you forgo all the rules and just concentrate on the pure process,” rapper and vocalist GM says.
