Review by William Chan
Coco Zhao and six of his music friends completed their performance at the Grand Auditorium of the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) in Nape on Saturday. It has been many years since the CCM has held a jazz concert with non-local musicians at its auditoria.
Inspired by Shidaiqu [“songs of the era”] in 1920s Shanghai, Zhao fused Western and Chinese elements into his music and created exciting, impressive and spectacular sounds that won the audience’s applause at the end of every song.
I especially liked Zhao’s “Blooming Flower, Full Moon” and “Sunday Story” – both are relatively slow and expressive songs in which Zhao incorporated fusion elements. Zhao’s compositions, as well as his versatile and wonderfully expressive voice, provided a nostalgic feel of a distant past and also a refreshing sensation.
Besides Zhao’s magical voice, the instrument players were amazing. The characteristic performances of guitarist Lawrence Ku, double bassist Joseph Han were stunning. The players had so much chemistry – they always looked like they were at ease and having fun – and their solos were fantastic, with great care taken with phrasing and build-up, not to mention that they all have great techniques and wowed the audience during the performance.
A fly in the ointment, I may say, is that the septet is a tad weak when playing jazz classics, which are usually played by a big band.
Throughout, the audience was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, with some even giving a standing ovation after their encore “Shanghai Shanglow”. Zhao noted during the performance that the next time he would definitely sing the Portuguese version of “No More Blues” in Macau, and I bet his future performance will also be before a full-house, complete with thunderous applause – just like Saturday’s show.
This photo taken on Saturday at the Grand Auditorium of the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) shows the audience applauding after the septet’s encore, some of them offering a standing ovation. Photo: William Chan
