The TJO is the premier jazz orchestra in Taiwan. I have been very fortunate to have been asked to compose many pieces for them over the years. One of my favorites is this one, Kee-Lung Mountrain. The melody is a traditional Taiwanese folk tune, and their director, Cheng-Yu Lee, asked me to arrange and adapt it for this ensemble. Each new CD release includes some of these contemporary adaptations of traditional music; it’s their way of honoring tradition and keeping this music alive for the next generation. Give it a listen below!
The TJO also presents a regular series of concerts on the Taipei public television network. They recently included one of my charts, “Song of Orpheus,” on a concert. It’s remarkable (to me, anyway) that a piece by an American jazz composer, based on a figure from Greek mythology and using a Greek mood, could be so popular in Taiwan, which is so far geographically from both of those places. But, as they say, music knows no boundaries. You can watch the entire performance here, and if you wish to go right to sign of Orpheus, it begins at 16:35.