SUBMITTED BY ARTSPRING
On Friday, Feb. 3, Jasmine Jazz takes to the ArtSpring stage, offering audiences the unexpected and exquisite interplay between traditional Chinese and jazz instruments.
Featuring three musicians from the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble — Jirong Huang (playing erhu), Sarah Yusha Tan (guzheng) and Zhongxi Wu (suona) — with some of Vancouver’s finest jazz artists, including Bill Coon on guitar and James Danderfer on clarinet/sax, the group is led by Juno-nominated bassist and composer Jodi Proznick.
“Jasmine Jazz is about musical conversations,” explained Proznick. “An east meets west experience full of beauty, harmony, mutual respect and interplay.”
The repertoire mixes songs pulled from jazz repertoire, traditional Chinese folk music and original compositions. Chinese classics like Jasmine Flower and Shanghai Night, as well as the contemporary Taiwanese song Moon Represents My Heart, are interwoven with a selection of jazz standards such as McCoy Tyner’s Contemplation, Billy Strayhorn’s A Flower is a Lovesome Thing, Bill Evans’ Turn Out the Stars and Freddie Hubbard’s Little Sunflower.
Formed in 1989, the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble is the first professional Chinese music organization established in Canada. The ensemble consists of accomplished instrumentalists who combine technical mastery with a passionate approach to music. Based in Vancouver, they continue to inspire contemporary compositions and interdisciplinary projects for Chinese instruments in Canada.
Proznik has been a featured performer with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Elektra Women’s Choir and the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs. She accompanied Michael Bublé in the closing ceremonies and soundtrack of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. She is currently head of the jazz department at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music.
This concert also celebrates the release of Jasmine Jazz, the first album by this excellent sextet, recorded in July 2021 at the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver.
Next Friday’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available through ArtSpring.