UCCA Beijing

Special Event
“Meditations in an Emergency” Series | UCCA Jazz Night: To Whom We Love

2020.7.26
19:30-21:30

Performing Arts

On the evening of July 26, 2020, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art will host a special event for a nighttime tour of “Meditations in an Emergency,” the current exhibition. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in the art on display while also enjoying a jazz performance by a quartet comprised by pianist Feng Wei, drummer Shao Haha, saxophonist Wang Zongxing, and bassist Sheng Zhi.

“Meditations in an Emergency” takes its title from an anthology of poetry by Frank O’Hara (1926-1966), who also served as a curator at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The group exhibition looks to art as a source of solace, reflection, and solidarity. As O’Hara wrote in one of the anthology’s poems, “In times of crisis, we must all decide again and again whom we love.”

Inspired by the exhibition and O’Hara’s poetry, the performance is dedicated “To Whom We Love.” Just as “Meditations in an Emergency” finds comfort in art, the concert turns to jazz’s alchemical power to transform traditional compositions into living, breathing forms through improvisation and adaptation.

 

Schedule

19:30-20:00  First Guided Exhibition Tour

20:00-20:30  Second Guided Exhibition Tour

20:30-21:00  Jazz Quartet First Set

21:00-21:15  Reception

21:15-21:45  Jazz Quartet Second Set


*Refreshments will be available throughout the event

Program

1.  Body & Soul

2.  Billie's Bounce

3.  How Deep the Ocean

4. Wave

5. Yardbird Suite

6.  Black Narcissus

7.  Think of One

8.  Autumn Leaves

9.  Yesterdays

10. My Foolish Heart

11.  The Girl from Ipanema


*Setlist may differ from live event

Artists

Feng Wei (Jazz Pianist, Composer)

Feng Wei has been learning traditional folk music since his childhood. In 2009, he began studying jazz, and formed his first jazz band, Power Trio, in Tianjin. In 2013, he moved to Beijing to continue his study of music, began independently composing music, and formed the Seesaw Jazz Quartet. The band soon attracted the attention of musicians and fans alike. After many performances and preparation, the band’s album Dawn was released worldwide. The group’s songs include “Crescent Moon,” “Seesaw,” “Shique North,” “Winter Solstice,” and “Horse Racing,” which incorporate elements of Chinese folk music with jazz in Feng Wei’s distinct musical style.

 


Shao Haha (Drummer)

Shao Haha is currently a drum lecturer at the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy. Passionate about music since childhood, he was later admitted to the Xi’an Conservatory of Music to study percussion. He has more than two decades of performing and recording experience in jazz as well as in other genres. He has collaborated with artists and bands such as Zhang Chu, Zheng Jun, Avanti Band, Jerry Bergonzi, and Carl Winther, and performed around the world, on stages including the Beijing 9th International Jazz Festival, the Jazz Shanghai Music Festival, the Berlin International Jazz Festival, and the 29th World Music Education Conference Opening Concert. He has also travled to Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Croatia with the Golden Buddha Jazz Orchestra on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

 


Wang Zongxing (Saxophone Musician)

Wang Zongxing began his study at the Xi’an Conservatory of Music for saxophone performance under Professor Mi Heping at age 13. From 1997, he studied saxophone performance at Beijing Midi School of Music. Wang met Kenny Garrett in 2005, and was strongly influenced and inspired by this mentorship experience. He has been an orchestra member of the China Oriental Performing Arts Group since 1999 and a professor of saxophone performance at Beijing Contemporary Music Academy since 2005.

 


Sheng Zhi (Bassist)

Sheng Zhi is a bass lecturer at the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy, bassist of the band Los Amigos, and is proficient in electric bass and double bass performance. He is well-versed in different genres of music, including pop, jazz, funk, Latin, and more.

Collaborate

Pearl River Piano

Kayserburg