Running in its second consecutive year, the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival 2009 brought veteran jazz musicians to Hong Kong from 1 to 15 October 2009 during which a total of 14 groups performed in 5 different venues across Hong Kong, namely ELEMENTS, Backstage, Dada Lounge, Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall and Shatin Town Hall Piazza.

The Festival line up comprises renowned musicians from Europe, USA, and Asia.  The European musicians include the Italian trumpet master Enrico Rava and his New Quintet featuring Gianluca Petrella, the French accordionist Richard Galliano, the Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren, the British saxophonist Tim Garland, the Italian Bruno Tocanne ‘New Songs’ Quartet, the Swiss group Bconnected, the German vocalist Michael Schiefel, the French group Sept Tete, the Italian saxophonist Giancarlo Djanian.

The super-power group Henderson Berlin Chambers Trio featuring Scott Henderson, Jeff Berlin & Dennis Chambers comes from US.  The Asian musicians are Youn Sun Nah Quartet (featuring Eugene Pao) from South Korea, Yosuke Onuma from Japan, and Tsang Tak Hong & Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra from Hong Kong.

As apart from the open-air and indoor concerts / gigs, another highlight is the jazz photo exhibition by William Ellis (Britain) and Elaine LIU (HK) held at ELEMENTS.