It's surprising that singer Ginger Kwan hasn't recorded more extensively, given her high profile on the Hong Kong jazz scene. Kwantum Leap, now out on Hwang Concepts, is her debut solo CD, but the personnel aboard attests to the esteem she enjoys among her peers in Hong Kong and overseas.
Featured musicians include pianists Jezrael Lucero (who produced the album) and Jason Cheng (credited as executive producer); guitarists Dan Lavelle and Orlando Bonzi; drummers Anthony Fernandes, Erivelton Silva and Jun Kung; bassists Paul Candelaria, Peter Scherr, Sergio Brandao, Ray Vaughn Covington and Rickard Malmsten; percussionist Dulip Charith Wijesinha (better known as DC); multi-instrumentalist Jim Schneider; and a strong cast of horn and reed players, including trumpeters Mark Henderson, Michael Kurtz and Toby Mak.
Michelle Carrillo contributes backing vocals, and Kwan's long-time vocal partner Jennifer Palor duets with Kwan on a song written for the album by Lavelle, We Will Find a Way. The album was recorded mostly in Hong Kong although Mak cut his part for Lavelle's Miles and Miles of Sunshine in Shanghai, where he is now based. Kwan wrote or co-wrote the lyrics to five of the nine tracks, and co-wrote the music to two with Lavelle.
Howard McCrary and Schneider pitched in a song each, and Kwan chose one cover, Mick Hucknall of Simply Red's Your Mirror. Kwan and Lavelle's With You appears twice, sung the first time in English and the second in Putonghua.
It's an optimistic album, and Kwan says that while making it she felt on a mission to project some positive thinking. Several of the songs reflect the influence of soul jazz, and also of her beloved Motown.
She and Palor have produced three successful Motown revue shows featuring many of the players on the album - two drawing from the label's general repertoire and one focusing on Stevie Wonder.