2018年CRI French musician stages jazz piano concert in Beijing

 

A piano concert featuring a unique solo improvisation¹ by French musician Philippe LéOGé was held recently in Beijing.

The French Jazz artist said he was excited to face the challenge that comes with improvisation in a solo show, and was delighted to pave a way for a potential collaboration² with Chinese musicians.

Shen Ting has more.

Philippe LéOGé's concert, called Swaying Melody, is comprised of 15 tunes³, categorized in two parts: a Salute⁴ to French Songs, and a Salute to Duke Ellington.

The musician explains:

"I've played these tunes with other musicians. Perhaps, some of them are never in solo. It would be the first time tonight about Duke Ellington. But I know the tunes, of course, and later I take these elements and I improvise⁵. So it's a risk, you know, because the music is not written. And I have to find inspiration. This is a new concept. In the jazz music, its spirit is improvisation."

In the early 1980s, Philippe LéOGé' was the musical director, pianist, and arranger of the Big Band called " Garonne " .

In 2002, he decided⁶ to focus on his career as a soloist⁷.

He has since recorded three albums, "Improvisualisations" in 2005, "Live at the Palais des Congrès" in 2007, and "My French Standards Songbook" in 2014.

"My French Standards Songbook" was named one of the 25 best Jazz albums by French magazines l'Express, Classica, and Pianiste.

LéOGé hopes to encourage Chinese audiences to become accustomed to Jazz piano.

In the audience for LéOGé's performance in Beijing was Wan⁸ Xiaoya (万小丫), a student with the Central Conservatory⁹ of Music Middle School.

"I've rarely seen Jazz piano music shows. My school is dominated by traditional, classical music, so I have little knowledge about Jazz piano. From my understanding, Jazz piano can generate a much richer variety of harmonies and style of melodies. It is not confined by the traditions of classical music, but allows for improvisation in the harmonies."

Performing in China is a new experience for LéOGé', who has tour extensively including to Norway, Sweden, Germany, France,

"It's the first time I come here, the first time in Beijing and in China. There're many beautiful musicians, young pianists more and more than in France. But in Europe, there are many composers, the composers that compose all these music, classical music. I hope to collaborate¹⁰ with Chinese musicians, perhaps next year or later."

His show "Swaying Melody" at the Beijing Concert Hall is part of the concert hall's "International Classical Music Season", which is scheduled to run until November.

Lissy is project manager with the Concert Hall.

"Our years of experience suggests that there are few fans of Jazz piano in China. The jazz show would usually attract a relatively¹¹ smaller audience to the venue¹². However, steady progress has been made in recent years. This year, around 70 percent of seats at the concert hall have been booked for the jazz piano performance. For several years, our concert hall has kept Jazz music as part of our classical music season in the hope that we can help foster the development of Jazz music in China."

Jazz piano emerged during the 1920s, predominantly in New York.

An acoustic¹³ piano or electric piano is used as an instrument of improvisation, with the left hand establishing the rhythm and the right hand providing the melody.

1 improvisation   

n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作

参考例句：

• a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
• Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。

2 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

3 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

5 improvise   

v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
• As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 soloist   

n.独奏者，独唱者

参考例句：

• The soloist brought the house down with encore for his impressive voice.这位独唱家以他那感人的歌声博得全场喝彩。
• The soloist had never performed in London before.那位独唱者过去从未在伦敦演出过。

8 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

9 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

10 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

13 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。