Guitar Soloist – Li Zheng Kai
Summer means it’s time for Sofitel’s Fête de la Musique, the third such annual celebration at Sofitel hotels around the region. All day long, on June 21st 2012, Sofitel hotels will become musical ambassadors in celebration of the annual Fête de la Musique. This popular street Music Festival was launched in France back in the summer of 1982, on the June 21st Solstice, and soon spread across the globe to become an international phenomenon. As a French brand of international hotels, Sofitel naturally plays an active role in this federating cultural event.
This year Sofitel Macau presents an evening of sophisticated yet accessible jazz that is as international as music itself. Appropriately for the Greater China region, the performers comprise two Frenchmen and one Chinese musician, members of Beijing-based Swing Pi Trio. Despite their location, much of their music, however, has its roots in Europe of the 1930s when gypsy jazz was a sensation in Paris. And a major part of the programme includes familiar swing and jazz standards from North and South America.
This professional trio wows audiences with performances based on the legendary gypsy jazz legacy of Django Reinhart and Stephane Grapelli plus favourite cosmopolitan swing and jazz numbers. French clarinettist Antoine Oosterom has established a special niche for himself on the Beijing music scene; his colourful solo style ranges from gypsy jazz with the Hot Club of Beijing to bossa nova and American jazz. Rhythm/guitar soloist Li Zhenkai is a true Reinhardt disciple and a regular on the Chinese jazz scene and further afield. A former member of swing band No Name Trio, French guitarist Nico Torrese has been active on Beijing’s jazz scene for years. His repertoire is centred on Django Reiinhardt compositions, but he also explores other music – anything that swings.
To enable as many music lovers as possible to enjoy the music, Sofitel Macau has scheduled this year’s Fête de la Musique on June 22nd (Friday), from 6.30pm – 9.00pm in the hotel lobby with free entry. The programme will comprise three 45-minute sets, with a round of complimentary sparkling beverages and canapés for guests during one of the intervals. And all guests will be entitled to a buy-one-get-one-free drink offer in Rendezvous Lobby Lounge on that evening.
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