William Chan
Mars Lee Siu Hong, chairman of the Macau Jazz Promotion Association (MJPA), told The Macau Post Daily in an exclusive interview on Monday at the association’s office in Areia Preta that he and other MJPA members will perform in hush!
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) said in a statement recently that “hush! Concerts 2022” will present different music metiers from late October to mid-November as well as concerts involving over 40 local bands, musicians and art groups.
Lee said that the girl band Lazy Jones and the Macau Youth Jazz Orchestra will both perform this coming Saturday, while Jazz Little Sisters, Jazz Young Good Man and Mars Latin Session will all be performing next weekend (November 12-13). All the groups, led by Lee and other association members, will provide musical experiences – not limited to jazz – to local audiences in Coloane.
What is hush!
For over a decade, Lee has been participating in hush!, and he has witnessed the changes over the years. “In the first few years, hush! was more like a concert held annually at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM), where they invited pop and rock bands to perform at the festival. As the years went by, both the performances and the performing locations became more and more diverse.
“Last year my group joined the festival to perform ‘soul’ music. This year we hit the scene with Latin jazz and bossa nova, as well as big band and jazz combos,” Lee said, noting that the government welcomes all sorts of music styles and genres and forms to the festival, and it has set up workshops and activities around the performing locations in Coloane to provide an immersive music experience for the audience.
“In my opinion, the government has been very inclusive of hush!’s applicants. Of course, there will always be a balance between quantity and quality, but the government tries its best to organise workshops, activities for the less well-known local music communities such as metal, electronic, punk. Other activities such as ‘hush! 300 Seconds’ also showcases musicians’ ability through online platforms,” Lee said.
Why play in hush!
For most non-classical musicians, hush! is the biggest music event in Macau every year. “On the one hand, hush! is very well organised and funded by the government, and its large scale attracts all kinds of musicians. On the other hand, there aren’t really a lot of performing chances and places in Macau, especially for non-classical musicians. The contrast makes hush! very popular among non-classical musicians,” Lee noted.
The most memorable experience in hush! for Lee was performing on Hac Sa Beach. “Besides stage performances in various locations such as on the rooftop of Ponte 9, we have participated in flash shows and workshops as well. However, my greatest experience was to perform on the spacious Hac Sa Beach, where the organisers set up a stage during hush! for concerts.
“I think people who travelled to the beach specifically to see a show had a different kind of mentality than simply going to a concert in the peninsula where most music concerts are held normally. They are more relaxed on the beach than in the city, and thus become more engaged with the performers,” Lee said, adding that his session this year is not on the beach but instead in Coloane Village. He expects to give the audience a great experience in the upcoming hush! Concert 2022.
These undated photos downloaded from one of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) websites show music groups Lazy Jones, Macau Youth Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Little Sisters and Jazz Young Good Man posing with their instruments.
Mars’ Soul Session performs on the rooftop of Ponte 9 in the Inner Harbour during last year’s hush! - Photo provided by Mars Lee Siu Hong
This screenshot of Mars Lee Siu Hong’s “hush! 300 Seconds- The Dorian Dance” taken from YouTube yesterday shows Lee explaining music playing techniques.
Macau Jazz Promotion Association (MJPA) members pose at the Rui Cunha Foundation (FRC) after the performance last Saturday.
Photo provided by Mars Lee Siu Hing.
