The Hong Kong International Jazz Festival 2010 aimed to be in-keeping with the times.  With jazz constantly moving forward and beyond the boundaries defining jazz as jazz, the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival 2010 tried to fit into this trend by staging more than 10 jazz groups from all corners of the world.

Through the period from 3 to 9 October 2010, the Festival uplifted the audience enthusiastically with its global lineup. There was Stefan Rusconi (Switzerland) with his magically captivating playing, and Steinar Raknes (Norway) who merges ballads with folklore from Norway in a way beyond anyone’s imagination.

There was Pekka Global Unit (Finland, Ireland, Greece) whose slightly tart expressive approach is at the service of an expansive romanticism, and Logic (Australia) who are such a rarity, having themselves attained commercial success while remaining an exploratory jazz group.  There was also Stanley Jordan (USA) who impresses with a immeasurable depth of expressiveness, and Joey Calderazzo (USA) who plays with a slight genteel air that is unmistakably his own and last but not least, there was the red hot drummer John Thomas (Malaysia).

As an integral part of the Festival, there was also a showing of the full version of the documentary ICONS AMONG US at Hong Kong Art Centre, Agnes b CINEMA!  Directed by Michael Rivoira and Lars Larson and Peter J. Vogt, this is a dynamic and engaging documentary that explores the thoughts and lives of the musicians spearheading today’s jazz front lines.  And it hits us: with Jazz constantly undergoing changes of monumental magnitude and importance, the future is now.

Also, the Festival made another huge breakthrough in 2010.  It dedicated some of its programs as part of the 9th annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days, celebrating the power of music to bridge cultural and religious barriers.  In this accelerated world of borderless inspirations, jazz has become more than an art form.  It has become more than a calling.  Jazz is not the past.  It’s not the present.  It’s a fusion of all these things that makes it ever more interesting.  It’s the fun and the thrill that comes with being a part of it.