Black Music Legends Club
VIEW EVENT DETAILSConversations with Dr. Chi Chung Wong & Alan Kwan
From Louis Armstrong to Michael Jackson, from John Coltrane to Herbie Hancock, legendary Black musicians from the last century have defined the music world as we know it today. Genres like jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop, and rock can all trace their roots back to music Black musicians created.
In this series, veteran radio DJ Dr. Chi Chung Wong joins Golden Melody Award-winning jazz guitarist Alan Kwan to host a series of talks with live music demonstrations, inviting the city’s best musicians as guest speakers to discuss the life, the work and the lasting influence of four trailblazing Black music heroes, from the genres of jazz, rock, blues to hip-hop/rap.
Dr Chi Chung Wong is a veteran DJ on Commercial Radio 2 for 30 years promoting international and local indie music and Head of General Education of the University of Hong Kong. Chi Chung has curated a wide array of cross-cultural projects, such as David Bowie’s Mandarin song (1997), Gen-S Concert of Shanghai Expo (2010), HK Week @ Taipei (2012), collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto on async (2017) etc.
Alan Kwan is a Jazz guitarist, composer and producer. He studied with Eugene Pao and Ted Lo, and graduated from Queens College, City University of New York and the University of North Texas. In 2019, Alan’s first album, Petrichor, received three nominations for the 31st Golden Melody Awards including best album, best album producer, and best composition. In 2021 with the album Between Now and Never, he won Best Instrumental Album Producer at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards.
Eugene Pao is Hong Kong’s most publicly recognised jazz musician. He has been at the vanguard of promoting jazz in the territory since his return from studies in the US in the mid-1980s. As Hong Kong’s premier jazz guitarist, Pao has performed at international jazz festivals, concert halls and jazz clubs around the world, playing and recording with various jazz greats. He has composed for TV commercials and film soundtracks, and in 2008 was featured on the cover of Esquire HK’s 20th anniversary issue as one of the city’s 20 most influential men.
Justin Siu is a multi-disciplinary musician. He started learning classical cello at the age of 9, and attended the University of Cambridge, from which he obtained his M.A. in computer science, ironically under a music award. Upon returning to Hong Kong, Justin put down the keyboard and picked up the double bass instead. His new course soon brought him acclaim as a jazz bassist, having collaborated with many renowned local and foreign jazz artists. In 2018, Justin released jazz album “SPIN”, under Universal Music, backed by the city’s premiere jazz pianist Ted Lo, Canadian vocalist Janaia Farrell and French drummer Laurent Robin. The album maintained the best-selling Jazz album spot at HMV in Hong Kong for 6 weeks upon release.
Ram Cheung is an enthusiastic blues guitarist and lead vocalist. He has set up his own 4-piece electric blues band Then You Suffer, acoustic blues duo JR Blues Line, and also blues sextet Shake That Thing, widely infused with his diverse taste of experimental flavours. He also enjoyed performing with numerous celebrated blues and jazz musicians, including Henry Chung, Eugene Pao, Tommy Chung, Sybil Thomas, Alan Kwan, etc.
Gold Mountain is a rapper, composer and producer. He has made a name for himself in the Hong Kong underground scene, and is known for supporting like-minded musicians who share his passion for authentic work. He has collaborated in multiple cross-disciplinary projects with local and international artists, dance troupes, musicians, and currently performs as lead vocalist for the free jazz band Fountain Collective. He also creates music for VTubers under the pen name Nobuo Uwumatsu.
Organized by The Hong Kong Jazz Academy
The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and participants and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, do not reflect the opinion, position or official policy of Asia Society Hong Kong, its members, or its committees. Asia Society Hong Kong does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for the content of the information presented.
Event Details
Asia Society Hong Kong Center, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty