Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

MAKE your next get-together swing to the beat of music at the OCT-LOFT Jazz Festival.

Spanning 19 nights and three venues, music fans of all tastes will experience the seventh annual OCT-LOFT Jazz Festival presented by 25 bands from 15 countries and regions Oct. 11-29. Musicians from China, Israel, Japan, North America, Europe, Mali and Brazil will showcase their talents, each offering a different sound.

The festival is designed to involve, encourage, entertain and inspire music lovers. Experimental, funky R&B, vibrant Latin sound, electronic, folk and jazz-influenced dance music are just a few of the styles that will be showcased.

The international experience of the Brazilian Balaio Quartet along with U.S. legendary trumpeter Randy Brecker will definitely make a show not to be missed. “Balaio Invites Randy Brecker” on Oct. 18 is a one-of-a-kind performance fusing jazz and Brazilian music. Brecker’s versatility in different musical genres has made him a sought-after player, equally accomplished in playing jazz, rock, and R&B. He has helped shape the silhouette of the Jazz genre and has contributed to an impressive list of collaborations in his many years of dedication to the art.

Another headline performer is Japanese jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita, who is praised by critics for his unique piano style, which is influenced by free jazz, modal jazz and soul jazz, and for broadening the horizon of the Japanese jazz scene.

Emerging musicians from around the world will liven up the stage with fusion jazz. Swiss duo Odd Beholder will embue us with a somber and dreamy night. Mathias Heise Quadrillion from Denmark will create a contemporary sound combining the chromatic harmonica and jazz fusion. Jazz harmonies and improvisations mixed with rock and funk music’s hard-hitting, primal beats are masterfully fused into a cheerful and euphoric expression.

Also from Denmark, Mads Mathias will capture Shenzheners’ hearts with his charismatic performances and original songs. Influenced by the great jazz vocalists such as Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick Jr., Mathias won a Danish Music Award for Best New Danish Jazz Artist of the Year for his debut album “Free Falling.”

Samy Thiebault Quartet from France will delight locals with music inspired by the saxophonist’s Moroccan origins, his childhood home in West Africa, and by the landscapes of South America, where the quartet has often played. These places are transfigured in the language of jazz, at once classic, contemporary and modern.

Every year, the festival delivers a few poetic nights of Chinese folk with avant-garde styles. Zeng Chengwei and his son Zeng He from Sichuan Conservatory of Music will present tranquil music with their guqins. Wind instrument player Lao Dan will show off his skills on saxophone and flute. He focuses on experimenting the traditional Chinese flute and blends his free thoughts and mood into is compositions. Huan Qing, a dongxiao and lyre player, will also showcase his avant-garde folk with profound roots in Chinese culture. He started making and playing the Greek classical lyre in 2007.

There are also plenty of opportunities for the community to get involved in the festival, from participating in free talks to watching documentaries.

Shows

Oct. 11, J.A.S.S. (USA/France/Switzerland), Mathias Heise Quadrillion (Denmark)

Oct. 12, Yukihiro Isso Quartet (Japan), Kalaha (Denmark)

Oct. 13, Lao Dan (China), Huan Qing (China)

Oct. 14, Kalo-Yele (Switzerland/Mali)

Oct. 15, Yosuke Yamashita Special Quartet (Japan)

Oct. 18, Marutyri (The Netherlands), Balaio Invites Randy Brecker (USA/Brazil)

Oct. 19, Buttering Trio (Israel), Michal Milczarek Trio (Poland)

Oct. 20, Mads Mathias Quartet (Denmark)

Oct. 21, Dainius Pulauskas Group (Lithuania)

Oct. 22, Phil Abraham Quartet (Belgium), Odd Beholder (Switzerland)

Oct. 24, Lorenzo Naccarato Trio (France)

Oct. 25, Auguste Quartet (Canada), Yannnick Barman (Switzerland)

Oct. 26, Yannick Rieu Quartet (Canada)

Oct. 27, Zeng Chengwei & Zeng He Guqin Session (China)

Oct. 28, Peek 3 (Croatia), Sheep Got Waxed (Lithuania)

Oct. 29, Samy Thiebault Quartet (France), Rusconi (Switzerland)

Tickets: 60-150 yuan

Venue: B10 Live

Talk, salon & documentaries

Talk ‘Portraits of the Unheard: Zurich Improvised Music Label Intakt Records and Unerhort! Festival’

Speaker: Lucas Niggli (Switzerland)

Time: 2 p.m., Oct. 14

Venue: A3+

Salon ‘Unidentified Flying Records Hunters: Jazz Vinyl’

Speakers: Tu Fei, Zhang Xiaozhou, Ding Lu (China)

Time: 8 p.m., Oct. 17

Venue: Old Heaven Bookstore

Screening ‘Song from the Forest’

Time: 2 p.m., Oct. 21

Director: Michael Obert (Germany)

Venue: A3+

Screening ‘The Future Is Primitive: Shakuhachi and Skateboarding’

Director: Katsuya Nonaka (Japan)

Time: 2 p.m., Oct. 28

Venue: A3+

Add: North Area, OCT-LOFT, Nanshan District (南山区华侨城创意文化园北区)

Metro: Line 2, Qiaocheng North Station (侨城北站), Exit B