Midnight Rose: Meet in Beijing Arts Festival presents Italian jazz concert

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Europe

03:35

Italy is the guest country of honor of this year's Meet in Beijing Festival. And in the past month, it's brought its music, fine art, drama, film and cuisine to China. Right before the festival wrapped up, some of Italy's most prestigious jazz musicians treated Beijing music enthusiasts to a late night performance. Our reporter Yang Ran has the details.

YANG RAN NCPA, BEIJING "It is 10:30 pm and it is an unusual time for a concert at NCPA. It is actually an opportunity that comes once a year for the Midnight Rose Jazz Concert. This year's program is presented by Umbria Jazz, one of the most important jazz festivals in the world."

Both of the two bands on the playlist, Fabrizio Bosso's Quartet "State of the Art" and Karima "Close to You" Quartet, are very familiar to China's jazz scene.

Fabrizio Bosso and his quartet have performed in many major music festivals across Europe, including Umbria Jazz. Umbria Jazz goes back to in 1973 in Perugia. It's seen almost all the jazz greats on the planet, including B.B. King, Tony Bennett, and James Brown.

FABRIZIO BOSSO, TRUMPET "STATE OF THE ART" QUARTET "It is my second visit to China. Last time I played at the JZ Festival in Shanghai and some local jazz clubs. That was a fantastic experience. I'm happy to be back in China and it's my first time in Beijing. And I'm also very honored to represent Umbria, which is a very important institution."

Karima named her quartet "Close to You" after the hit by American composer, pianist and singer Burt Bacharach. She also brings other songs from the multiple Grammy and Oscar winner, like "Alfie" and "Say a Little Prayer".

In 2014 Karima released an album of the quartet's namesake, in which she sings 13 Bacharach compositions. It's the most acclaimed recording in her career.

KARIMA, VOCALS "CLOSE TO YOU" QUARTET "I met Burt Bacharach in Rome and soon we decided to work together. And that album is very important to me. I will also perform a jam session with the other musicians at the NCPA cafe after the hall concert. That's the real appeal of music. People of different origins, nationalities and religions are gathered together to relax and enjoy themselves."

Saxophonist Rosario Giuliani is the featured artist of the concert. In his third time performance in China, he's very impressed by the Chinese audience members.

Midnight Rose Jazz Concert also marks the end of the month-long NCPA May Festival. YR, CGTN