“Jazz stopped evolving,” Moyer writes in his recent article in Washington Post, All That Jazz Isn’t All That Great. He also says that Ornette Coleman-inspired free jazz now sounds ancient and that “jazz has run out of ideas, and yet it’s still getting applause”. We cannot agree to such statements as jazz has been globalized and many jazz musicians are extending jazz to other frontiers like Miguel Zenon's exploring Puerto Rican music, Danilo Perez exploring Panamanian music, Nguyen Le’s exploring Vietnamese music, Rudresh Mahanthappa exploring Indian classical music…. As contrary to what Moyer writes, jazz has become so diverse that jazz can now mean very different to different people. Take the example of the Asian jazz, Nordic jazz, and European jazz which the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival (HKIJF) brings to local jazz lovers from 14 to 20 September 2014.

This year’s highlight will be “The New Generation of Asian Jazz”. About half of the 11 participating groups come from Asian countries. To further extend jazz into the community, a free performance at the Hong Kong Cultural Piazza C will be held in addition to the shows at City Hall Theatre.

Our list should start with the Indonesian band simakDialog which is an Asian fusion group combining western jazz/rock/psychedelia and Javanese/Indonesian exotic rhythm riffs. While it frequently reminds listeners of some towering progressive jazz pillars, such as Weather Report and Pat Metheny Group, it distinguishes itself from other fusion jazz groups by the group’s seamless integration of traditional classical Indonesian forms to fusion jazz.

Another Asian killer is the Jazz Snobs Funk Addicts (JSFA). It is a Seoul-based sextet co-led by pianist/keyboardist Jiyoung Lee and bassist Eunchang Choi. JSFA’s music is inspired by quite different musical threads - the harmony comes from traditional jazz and classical music but the rhythms are from hip-hop and R&B. In a nutshell, JSFA is jazz-funk tinged with R&B.

The other Asian groups are the duo of the Malaysia’s most renowned finger-style master guitarist Roger Wang and the local master guitarist who have refined a brand of music that blends the accessibility of pop music with the intricacy of jazz; and Maple Jazz band from the Mainland which keeps on exploring mainstream jazz while fusing all kind of music genres, especially the funk tradition and Latin tinge. The local groups are the 5422 Collective which adopts a more modern compositional style and features primarily original works, along with a number of rearranged jazz vocal favorites; and the Bouloukos-Fernandes-Gagnon Trio which comprises the pianist Nicholas Bouloukos, the drummer Anthony Fernandes and the bassist Sylvain Gagnon who have a long history of performing diverse styles of jazz like mainstream jazz, funk, Latin jazz in the Mainland and Hong Kong.

For Nordic jazz, the aspiring Danish group Mikkel Ploug Trio will bring in different styles - melodic lyricism and neo-boppish style with robust notes. As a guitarist, Ploug paints a deep sonic canvas with floating music.

For European jazz, the folk jazz group Broes from Belgium experiments the fusion of Belgium folk music and elements of jazz. The Italian jazz vocalist Boris Savoldelli will challenge his “vocal instrument” with new and original ways of singing.

For genre-defying music, the Canadian Gia & The Unpredictable Update will surprise the listeners with their blend of world, fusion, jazz, classical and progressive rock elements under the leadership of the imaginative pianist/keyboardist and band leader Gia Ionesco. The Argentina Tango Jazz Quartet will broaden listeners’ horizon in mixing the melodic and  rhythmic patterns of Tango with the harmonies and improvisation of Jazz.

Jazz never stops evolving.