Conductor mixes sounds of East and West at JZ Spring Festival
Print Edition
THE third JZ Spring Festival kicked off on April 30 with “When Jazz Meets China,” a concert that featured renowned jazz trumpeter Li Xiaochuan accompanied by the JZ Sympthony Orchestra. The program included a host of Chinese songs reinterpreted for jazz, with arrangement and conduction provided by Luxembourg composer Gaston Waltzing.
Born in Luxembourg City in 1956, Waltzing has composed music for film and television, as well as operas that combine classical music with jazz and rock. He is also the founder of Largo and the Luxembourg National Jazz Orchestra.
This year, as the conductor of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the composer of the album “Sings,” Waltzing helped Angelique Kidjo win the “Best World Music Album” prize at the 58th Grammy Awards.
Since 2009, Waltzing has been a frequent visitor to China, where he regularly performs and participates in jazz workshops.
Between rehearsals for the recent concert, Waltzing kindly accepted an interview with Shanghai Daily. Even after a long day of baton-waving, Waltzing was still excited to share his passion for music and life.
Q: The concert features a fusion of jazz and Chinese music. Besides being the show’s conductor, you also arranged the music in cooperation with David Laborier. How did you come to this project?
A: I’m always trying to do something with symphony orchestras, and this time the idea came to me “Why not try Chinese music; old Chinese music?”
David Laborier had his first cooperation with Li Xiaochuan three years ago. I first asked them to work with me last year. The final program list was born after talking and talking. We started with old famous songs like “Jasmine Flower,” with a symphony orchestra, bands, old instruments and singers; everything seemed to be very interesting.
Q: Before you cooperated with Li, did you know any other Chinese musicians?
A: The first time I came to Shanghai was in 2009. Since then, I’ve come to China several times per year to different cities for performances and music workshops. That was when I started to make contact with Chinese musicians and audiences. But this (concert) is my first deep cooperation with a Chinese musician, symphony orchestra and Chinese traditional music.
Q: Shanghai JZ Music Festival has been working to popularize jazz in China for over a decade. You were the director of the Echternach International Music Festival in 2008, and many other music events subsequent to that. How influential are music festivals of this kind?
A: Ten years is not that long at all compared with the 5,000 years of history in China. It will take time... Even in Europe we need music education of this kind as well — there is a little bit in Paris and Germany, but not all over (Europe).
During performances and workshops in China over recent years, I always get positive reactions. I have seen some audience members come to the concerts with their kids. You can see young parents starting to educate small children. These young kids listen to the concert and then reach out to start playing music themselves afterward — I like that.
Q: Throughout much of your musical career you have combined jazz with classic music, dance, and other types of music and art. What’s the secret to a successful musical combination?
A: I am a big believer in “music is music.” No matter if it’s jazz, hip hop, classical — it’s all music. There is no secret to combining different types; just find the “core” of the music.
For example, when you listen to the Chinese song “Jasmine Flower,” you find its beautiful melody and then you can make a jazz score or whatever you like. You should be open minded to everything.
Q: You have written over 150 scores for television and movies. How do you stay so productive and where do you get inspiration from?
A: First of all, you need to be passionate — love what you do. Secondly you have to be self-disciplined. I think inspiration is always overrated. In my philosophy there is only ten percents inspiration and other 90 percent is hard work. When you make a score or arrangement, it’s work... You have to sit down and take your time. You can not work in the wind and wait for inspiration.
I love what I do, so I’ve never found it tiring. We are lucky people, because we live on what we like, travel to different countries and meet a lot of new people.
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