The Taipei Cultural Center in New York and FirstWorks are proud to present this stunning live performance film created by Taiwanese jazz artist Vincent Hsu (徐崇育) and his ensemble, Soy La Ley Afro-Cuban Jazz Band (Soy La Ley古巴爵士樂團). Born in Changhua, Taiwan, Hsu is an award-winning bassist and composer who fuses jazz and Afro-Cuban music with his Taiwanese roots.
♠Program
The band’s newest program of 《Jazz Changed, Jazz Changes, Jazz Changin’》live performance film will be streaming at FirstWorks’ Facebook on Friday, November 12, 8 PM ET.
Streaming On-Demand November 12-19 on the FirstWorks Virtual Stage - Get your FREE tickets here -> https://bit.ly/3GdR2bI
“How has jazz changed the world? How is it changing the world? How has jazz itself changed?” Reflecting on these questions, Hsu’s film is a thrilling tribute to a uniquely African American art form, and an acknowledgment of the indelible impact jazz has left on people and societies around the world.
Featuring impeccable sound and spectacular settings unique to this island nation, the performance film reflects both the everyday and traditional life in Taiwan, while showing that jazz is alive and well beyond its birthplace. Interview clips with prominent musicians and scholars are also featured, including with Hsu's mentor, the legendary bassist Cecil McBee, historian Loren Schoenberg, drummer and educator Jerome Jennings, and poet and writer Naomi Extra.
♠About the Band
Formed in 2010, Vincent Hsu & Soy La Ley Afro-Cuban Jazz Band (徐崇育& Soy La Ley古巴爵士樂團)aims to infuse their Taiwanese roots to the practices of jazz and Afro-Cuban music style, leading audiences to experience the unpredictability of jazz improvisation through Afro-Cuban rhythms. Their debut album ‘In Our Blood’ was released in June 2018. It won the “Best Jazz Single of the Year” with Vincent Hsu’s composition “Dreamer's Blues” at the 2018 Golden Indie Music Awards, and was also honored with the Global Music Awards' Silver Medal for Outstanding Achievement in 2019.
Vincent Hsu, the founder/bandleader has been touring worldwide, including Madrid International Jazz Festival, Busan Jazz Festival, Taichung Jazz Festival, National Theater & Concert Hall Summer Jazz Festival, and Macau Jazz Festival, among others. Taking the combination of Latin music and jazz as a form of bilingualism, Hsu is an inheritor of the musical lineage that originates in New York’s Spanish Harlem. Three distinct cultures intersect and interweave to shape the sonic character of his band: the singular power of African polyrhythms come together with the fusion of Latin and jazz improvisation in a profusion of Taiwanese compositional elements that give rise to vivid storytelling. Vincent Hsu & Soy La Ley Afro-Cuban Jazz Band have taken the dual vernaculars of Afro-Cuban music and jazz, and left their own musical mark through the creation of an original work that embraces the context of Taiwan’s own soundscape.