Stephanie Yang

    595383341@qq.com

    WITH every hit of a Chinese jazz band’s drum and each instance of passionate interaction among the members of a Polish string quintet, the Shenzhen audience’s love for jazz and the ongoing music festival were rekindled at Shenzhen Children’s Palace on Thursday night.

    The night of international jazz featured a Chinese band headed by saxophonist Li Gaoyang and a Polish string quintet called VOLOSI who performed in the first half and the second half of the jazz night respectively.

    The Chinese jazz band performed Li’s original works, including “The Great Wall,” “Shicha Lake,” “Jazz Yangko” and “Square.” The Beijinger surprised the audience with his newly composed suite dedicated to the Shenzhen Belt & Road International Music Festival and received rapturous applause.

    Distinct from other jazz bands, Li’s innovatively includes the traditional Chinese instruments, pipa and chiba, in their jazz, bringing the audience to a whole new world of music. “I want to make Chinese melodies and our national instruments international in order to disseminate Chinese culture,” Li said during the performance.

    Although unfamiliar to the local audience, VOLOSI won the hearts of the Chinese audience thanks to the quintet’s emotional interpretations and perfect collaboration. They performed 16 tracks, including “Dusk,” “Tsavkisi” and “Crawler” from their new album “Normadism.”

    VOLOSI bore marks of improvisational jazz charged with rock energy and a full swing of emotional content, which left a deep impression on the audience, who cheered and whistled for their unique performance style.

    The band members were so moved by the audience’s enthusiasm that they returned to the stage for two encores after their performance.