“Li Xiaochuan•Sound” provided a sensational experience for jazz lovers in Macau at the Taipa Houses’ Amphitheatre on October 8. The Macau Post Daily interviewed Li about his musical experience and his view on jazz development in the mainland.
The exclusive interview was held at Royal Hotel earlier this month.
A total of seven compositions – all written by Li – plus an encore were performed by the quintet that day: Li on trumpet, Huang Jianyi on piano, Rong Chenchu on the vibraphone, Huang Yong on te bass guitar, and Xu Zhitong on drums.
Li is a jazz trumpeter, composer and educator. After graduating from Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2005 and obtaining his master’s degree in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas in 2011, Li began teaching at the Shanghai Conservatory and performing in festivals such as JZ Festival Shanghai, Beijing Nine Gates International Jazz Festival, and Oslo Jazz Festival.
Road to Jazz
Li noted that besides being in a military band, he had also been a member of a jazz big band when he was young. However, it was really during his college years in the 2000s that he had direct contact with jazz. “Since the 90s, besides local players from the mainland, Shanghai has attracted jazz musicians from areas such as Africa, the United States, and Europe. JZ club, one of the places where musicians love to play, is very close to the college where I studied, which provided me with a great opportunity to learn the nuances of jazz and how to perform it,” Li said.
However, Li, coming from a classical music tradition, did not study jazz at college immediately, but instead worked as a freelance musician for a few years after graduating in Shanghai. “It was a big decision for me to study jazz in the US, and for my family also. Even though my father is also a trumpeter, he wasn’t sure what jazz music really was at that time. Nonetheless, I still committed to studying jazz in 2007, because I love it so much.”
Moreover, Li also said that he felt much more comfortable playing jazz than classical music. “For classical music, students need to spend time studying a piece more from a perspective of “perfection”. Jazz is different: it is more creative, playful and the style resonates with me.”
Jazz in the mainland
“Therefore, usually many classical musicians find it very hard to improvise, because they are trained in the art of ‘perfecting music’ most of the time. However, jazz is not about ‘perfecting music’. Instead, playing jazz requires your own perspective and personal musical interpretation,” Li added, pointing out that his paedagogy involves giving adequate space to his students in Shanghai to create the music instead of always giving out the “correct” approach.
“Because there is no correct way to play it, and I think Orientals like us are just as capable of playing music creatively: we just need to get in touch with it more frequently. In fact, now there are more jazz courses and programmes being offered by university music departments and even big bands in secondary schools, and I can see that the level of jazz in the population is constantly growing,” Li noted.
Besides education, jazz performances have been proliferating in the mainland. “Compared to a decade ago, nowadays we have so many more jazz players, especially in some major cities. I think jazz development will only get better and better in the future,” Li said.
The Li Xiaochuan•Sound quintet performs at the Taipa Houses’ Amphitheatre on October 8. – Photos provided by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and Li Xiaochuan
