As a avid jazz fan, I am pleased to feature this year’s Hong Kong International Jazz Festival right here on Howzit-HongKong.com
Known as the most stunning jazz gathering in town, the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival will once again thrill jazz aficionados and young jazz enthusiasts with world class music this autumn. In its third edition, the Festival will run from 3 to 9 October, offering an exciting range of programme featuring concerts and workshops by some of the world’s most gifted performers and groups.
“The Old, the New and the Chosen Few” is the theme of this year and with a mix of high calibre Chinese and Asian young talents and internationally renowned musicians who will set the stage for a diverse and captivating jazz experience. More than 10 jazz groups performing in 6 concerts promise to bring a unique experience to jazz lovers.
As an aficionado of the so-called “old-school” jazz scene, I am particularly pleased that Stanley Jordan will feature on this year’s program.
Stanley Jordan is one of the most distinctive guitarists from USA. Born in Chicago and raised in California, Jordan started his classical piano lessons at age six and picked up the guitar when guitar heroes were becoming household names. Names like Jimi Hendrix. At the age of 15, he had the idea to bring the flexibility of piano to the guitar.
Stanley Jordan grabbed the music world by the ears when he arrived in New York in 1984. The release of his 1985 debut album “Magic Touch” placed him at the forefront of re-launching legendary Blue Note Records into a contemporary entity in jazz and beyond. The album went on the top of Billboard’s jazz chart for a stunning 51 weeks !
Key to Jordan’s fast-track acclaim was his mastery of a special “tapping” technique on the guitar’s fret board, using both hands to tap the fingerboard like a pianist. It allows him to play chords, melodies, and bass lines simultaneously. Musicians and critics alike were blown away. Never before had anyone been as innovative with the concept as Jordan. He was said to take tapping into another level. Up to now his technique has been widely adapted by guitarist all over the world.
Stanley Jordan is not all about jazz. Here he is playing that classic Led Zeppelin hit, Stairway to Heaven:
Catch all the news, schedule, booking information and highlights from the 2010 HK International Jazz Festival by clicking here
It’s summer and the Dragon Boat racing season is upon us.
Here in Hong Kong it doesn’t come bigger than the Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships, with this year’s races taking place on Wednesday, June 16.
Dragon boat racing is held to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival (Tuen Ng Festival) and is one of the most exciting sports you will ever see in Hong Kong. It is immensely popular in Hong Kong and attracts teams from all walks of life, including traditional fishermen. Many foreign teams, including some from South Africa, travel to the SAR to take part in local races.
The races are held every year at locations throughout Hong Kong, while the main races will be held on the Tuen Ng Festival Day, which falls on 16 Jun this year.
Here is some of the action from the 2008 Stanley race:
How to get to Stanley:
MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D, then take bus 6, 6A, 6X or 260 at Exchange Square bus terminal to Stanley;
Or take bus number 14 from Sai Wan Ho Ferry Pier to Stanley;
Or take mini bus number 40 or 16M from Causeway Bay, Tang Lung Street to Stanley
Here at Howzit-HongKong HQ we LUV our sushi! However, when it comes to sashimi (despite having been a resident in Asia for ten years) I’m not so sure. Be that as it may, HongKongers for sure LUV eating. You name it, they eat it. I lived in Ma On Shan in Hong Kong’s New Territories for just over a year and in that part of the SAR, snake soup is the meal most ordered during the current winter because in Chinese culture it is considered to be a ‘warming’ dish.
The headline story in the local papers (South China Morning Post/SCMP story below) over the last two days is surely the record price paid by a ‘consortium’ of a Hong Kong sushi outlet and it’s Japanese partners for a single blue-fin tuna. A whopping 16.3 million Yen/ US$166,000/ HK$1.3 million was paid for what the WWF calls an endangered species.
(Click to read to SCMP story)
Needless to say, the local office of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has been up in arms about the issue, launching an animated and colourful protest at outlets of the local sushi chain in question yesterday:
If you add in the US$250,000 Stanley Ho recently paid for a single Italian white truffle, Hong Kong’s rich and famous will surely leave no stone (or tuna) unturned to pay premium moola for the best of the best. Endangered or not.
