Taichung Jazz Festival

Several of our friends had alerted us to a real gem that happens in Taichung. This is the annual Jazz Festival. It happens very close to our apartment in the Civilian Plaza and along JinGuo Parkway. This happens to also be my favorite jogging route in the city. 

2008 is the sixth year for the festival and it is gathering international standing through great promotion and the tireless efforts of the Taichung mayor, Jason Hu (more about him in a later post). The festival attracts a world class mix of artists from everywhere. This year's concert line up is on the web here. 

The first day got off to a big start with an attempt to break the world's record for the most saxophones playing at once. Held by Toronto from 2004, the record was 900 and Taichung was aiming for 1000. The official count came in at 988! I took a lot of pictures of the event, trying to focus on people in the crowd. There were many school bands. I had on my Red Sox cap and got into a great conversation with another American who was teaching at an international school in Taipei and came with a whole class.

We returned in the evening for the opening concert and then several times during the week for smaller concerts on the small stages along JinGuo Parkway. In addition, there were food vendors all along the parkway, including from some of the best hotels in town. People were out in force every night and it was a blast. There were families, groups of friends, and just individuals, hanging out and enjoying the music.

The smaller concerts were by far the most interesting with the up close feel of the crowd and the intimacy of the small stage. Saskia Laroo and her band was the wildest, with people up and moving. She was introduced by Mayor Hu and the Taiwan representative of the Netherlands (their de facto ambassador). She has an enormous electronic collection to add to her own great horn work, and a backup group of stellar musicians. The Denny Euprasert Sextet was also great and I have some (not so good) photos of both concerts here. There are also some photos from other concerts and the closing show back on the big stage. My photos of Slide Hampton are taken from the big screens that flanked both sides of the stage. 

A great time was had by all, especially the two of us!

From Taiwan 2008