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| Michael Simon goes East, West, & Beyond Michael Simon continues to effortlessly marry East and West by incorporating the Chinese lute or pipa into his compositions. Steeped in traditional jazz, Simon's Asian Connection has been pushing the envelope on genre-bending Oriental jazz since 2017, with Simon's earliest involvement with Taiwanese musicians and composers going back over 20(!) years. He dedicates his 2024 release to his late father, Hadsy Simon, who introduced him to spiritualism and other aspects of the Asian culture the trumpeter has embraced personally and professionally. Hailing from Japan, Hongkong, China, and, prominently, Taiwan, Asian Connection features Hong Kong drummer Huang Tzu Yu (Fish), who kicked off his career by winning Yamaha Asia's Beat Grand Final in the Best Drummer category and touring with Cantonese pop superstar Andy Lau. Since incorporating jazz into his day to day repertoire, he joined forces with Simon. Taipei-based Japanese bassist Ikeda Kinya, hand-picked for his transformative and precise playing, and Taiwanese multi-instrumentalist Hauyi Tsai, originally an award-winning ukelelist but embracing her talent for the pipa on East, West & Beyond, complete the group's lineup alongside Hsieh and Hanuraga. write your comments about the article :: © 2024 Jazz News :: home page |