Jazz evolved as a form of communication between different cultures and developed in the 20th century with the rapid movement of people from country to country. With the invention of the pianola and gramophone, jazz quickly spread to every corner of the globe, including Asia.
The J Z Club features some of the latest and greatest jazz from China, Japan, Korea, The Phillipines, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the rest. Australia is also part of Asia and we too, have some world class jazz artists here down under that will be part of this exciting program.
Please join me every Friday afternoon at 1.30 as we explore the eclectic world of Asian jazz.
Send’er Down Huie
A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium High School, John began writing and producing music for a variety of music ensembles and bodies such as; The Sydney Choral Society, The Australian Film Commission, The Australia Council and the ABC. He also worked with Jimmy and the Boys, Free Beer and The Posh before moving to Hong Kong in 1991 to score for a string of Asian film companies also appearing as a guest presenter on radio RTHK.
In 1997, John composed and produced ‘The Honourable Retreat’, a musical tribute to the handover of Hong Kong to China. Released by HMV, the concert and CD featured some of the finest Chinese instrumentalists in the territory and became the unofficial Hong Kong handover CD.
Moving to Shanghai in 2002, John spent three years researching jazz styles of Shanghai in the 1930’s resulting in the albums “Shanghai Jazz” 1 and 2, released by EMI. Legendary New York based film duo, Merchant Ivory included much of this music in the feature film, “The White Countess” released by Sony in 2005. In 2006 John wrote and produced ‘New Shanghai’. Also with EMI, this music was inspired by the 15th century eunuch admiral, Zheng He and the voyages of the Chinese treasure fleet.
Returning to Australia in 2009 he created the annual Chinese Garden Chamber Music Festival in Sydney and released the albums, ‘Butterfly Lovers’, ‘Preludes of the Revolution’ and later, ‘Third Culture’ with flutist, Jane Rutter.
