Originally planned as a one-off show to help get Hong Kong back on its feet after the Sars crisis, the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) Jazz Festival is now established as an annual event.
For three nights next week, Bert's - the basement jazz bar of the club where pianist Allen Youngblood presides as musical director - will be open to all comers with a selection of the best jazz soloists and ensembles the town has to offer.
Budgetary constraints precluded booking locals Ted Lo and Eugene Pao, and a plan to bring saxophonist Tots Tolentino in from the Philippines also fell through due to a lack of funds.
Manila-based singer Rowena Michaels - one of the hits of last year's event - is returning, however, and the varied line-up of bands includes Youngblood and Jazbalaya, Red Taurus, the Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra, the Skip Moy Quartet and the Hong Kong City Jazz Band.
Pianist YoYong will play unaccompanied, as will guitarist Guy Le Claire, who will also appear with Jazbalaya. Moy's group, which includes pianist Jason Cheng, bassist Sylvain Gagnon and drummer DC, will back Michaels.
'She's kind of eclectic,' says Youngblood. 'She sings jazz and other things. She works mostly in hotels, but this gives her a chance to get out of that context and open up. She's very good, and she'll be one of the featured performers at the Puerto Galera Jazz Festival.'
The Puerto Galera festival in the Philippines is being co-organised by the FCC's Jazz Society and will run from October 28 to 30. Two tickets will be given away as a door prize at the Hong Kong festival.
