Cao Zhen

    caozhen0806@126.com

    WHEN the renowned Chinese jazz pianist and composer Luo Ning finished recording his second album “The Encounter of Light and Shadow” a few months ago in Los Angeles, the United States, double-bass player Tom Kennedy said Luo’s music was very difficult, and he was exhausted but happy after recording.

    “I guess he meant the technique was sophisticated and the performance was demanding,” said Luo, who will be tapping out some tunes from the album at a show in Shenzhen Concert Hall on Aug. 9. He will play original jazz fusion compositions with Xing Yifan (double bass), Leandro Severo Fonseca Perez (drum) and Wu Letian (sax).

    On the album, Luo fuses jazz, Latin and funk styles on multi-layered recording featuring other influential musicians: Wallace Roney, Dave Weckl and Lee Ritenour. Both Weckl and Kennedy said Luo’s music was “amazing,” showing his solid mastery of Western classical music, Latin and jazz.

    “Luo has many influences in his compositions. His music is subtle with forceful rhythm, and his involvement in different styles of music over the years has had a definite effect on his works,” said Kennedy.

    At the Shenzhen concert, Luo will also play his unique jazz pieces fused with Xinjiang Uygur folk. The Urumqi-born-and-raised musician pursues distinct approaches to jazz composition by incorporating diverse musical traditions in his works.

    In Luo’s debut album “Unknown Journey” released in 2012, Luo leavens traditional Xinjiang folk songs like “Mudanhan” and “A Lovely Rose” by blending them with jazz arrangements. His original folk jazz compositions like “Beautiful Kashgar,” “Heart of Sailimu Lake” and “The Wind From Field — An Homage to Xinjiang” deliver distinctive Uygur melodies and rich jazz elements. He also effortlessly borrows a few melodies and the clapper sound from the Beijing opera “Farewell My Concubine,” in his jazz piece by the same name.

    “Latin jazz is straight-ahead, while Chinese culture is implicit and mysterious, so I think a mixture of both can bring listeners into more scenarios and express a deeper philosophy,” said Luo.

    He said that when he performed abroad, he found foreign musicians fused their local folk music with jazz, which enriched jazz with more distinctive styles. Foreign audiences have preferred to listen to his Xinjiang folk jazz and Beijing opera jazz because they are unique.

    “Jazz incorporates all types of music, including folk, but remains one of the most open genres to other musical styles, and uses those styles to enhance the entire genre of jazz,” said Luo. “After you master basic jazz skills in harmony, scales and rhythm, you should fuse your indigenous music with jazz and bring it to the world. That’s a musician’s responsibility. I have deep roots in Xinjiang where I grew up listening to Uygur people singing and dancing at many activities, so I have Xinjiang in my bones.”

    Before embarking upon jazz composition, Luo had studied Western classical music and played the piano for 30 years. Mastering the basic classical and jazz music theories and performance techniques is totally essential if one wishes to play or compose jazz well, said Luo.

    Born in a musicians’ family, Luo’s talent was discovered by his father, who taught at Xinjiang Art Institute in Urumqi. At 4 years old, Luo spontaneously played the melody from a popular Chinese movie on the piano without instruction.

    In the early 1990s, Luo smoothly landed a job as a pianist at the art troupe of Chinese Liberation Army’s Xinjiang military area, where he gained more musical experience. In 1996, he resigned and moved to Beijing to further his development.

    “That was a tough decision, because in the 1990s, resigning from a stable job with a privileged organization was rare,” said Luo.

    In Beijing, where a small and tight-knit jazz community was quietly growing, Luo met Chinese saxophonist Lu Tingquan who instructed him to perform jazz in a band. “Actually when I was in Xinjiang, I heard some jazz from imported CDs. I felt the tune was catchy, complicated and difficult, but I had no idea what it was,” Luo recalled.

    In 1990s Beijing, jazz was regularly featured in the capital’s pubs and hotel lounges. Beginners learned jazz by all means. “I tried to imitate the New York jazz during my early development, trying to imitate the swing feature, but the more I learned, the more I realized that jazz is open to all musical possibilities. So I avoided imitating the playing of others, concentrating instead on developing my own style,” said Luo.

    Luo later met Chinese saxophonist Liu Yuan who is hailed as the “godfather of Chinese jazz.” Liu’s jazz-dedicated East Shore Live Jazz Cafe in Beijing’s Houhai brings all the capital’s key jazz hands to the stage. “I’m grateful that Liu Yuan opened some doors for me by inviting me to perform with international musicians. He has mentored many young jazz players,” said Luo.

    Since 1998, Luo has frequently played on national and international stages with influential artists including Kenny Garrett and Jens Winther. In 2013, when Antonio Hart visited East Shore, he played Luo’s original composition “Toy Bear” with him.

    When Luo studied Afro-Cuban jazz in Cuba with composer and pianist Chucho Valdes in 2010, he asked the multi-Grammy-winner why his music was so attractive. “Valdes told me that he has a Cuban heart. Then, I became aware that I should seek my own style of music and bring it to the world.” After listening to Luo’s Xinjiang folk jazz, Valdes said Luo played jazz with Chinese roots, which made him unique.

    For his third album, Luo plans to challenge himself by composing more sophisticated jazz. “People who don’t know much about jazz can’t sense jazz’s melodies and rhythm, so I wrote some simple and catchy tunes for my first two albums, trying to introduce Afro-Cuban jazz and danzon to Chinese music lovers. Next I will show them that jazz is a vast world and my future albums will reveal more of my jazz character and see how far Chinese jazz can be pushed.”

    In recent years, Luo balances his time between playing gigs and giving lectures at domestic colleges. When he passes his composition experience on to budding musicians, he suggests that they use their imagination, get inspired and be inventive.

    “Jazz musicians in China have made great progress in the past 30 years, but it still takes a long time to develop a distinct style for jazz in China. Chinese people are very talented and there’s a solid infrastructure for the continued study and pursuit of jazz, such as jazz courses in conservatories and band collaboration with international artists.

    “With my heart and hands, I’d like to be at the forefront of helping build the Chinese jazz scene. My piece ‘Farewell My Concubine’ is like an experiment. I hope future Chinese musicians will keep the best, while discarding the worst from my experiment,” said Luo.

    Luo’s concert takes place at 8 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Shenzhen Concert Hall. Tickets are 80-280 yuan at the door.