Davide “Dado” Pasqualini might not know much about horse racing- and why should he?- but as more of a creative percussive force than a drummer, he is world class. And even in Hong Kong’s bitch-eat-bitchiness “jazz” music scene with Backstabbers by the O’Jays playing in the background, no one can take anything away from this Italian- a creative, passionate and committed musician who works hard for the money no matter how big or small the gig.
But on this Valentine’s Day evening at Peel Fresco, the night belonged to Jackie Yin. And in a city where the word “jazz” is used much too easily and freely, here is someone who is young, born and bred in Beijing, and who has made a point to learn and appreciate a genre of music that has been bastardised by wannabe “jazzmeisters.”
In a voice that can be described as husky, and which would not be outta place in a David Lynch movie like “Blue Velvet”, and not what one expects from such a young and petite girl, Jackie Yin- and she’s still on a steep learning curve- choosing to interpret Chet Baker’s “Just Friends”, showed a talent with a knowledge of her craft that belies her age.
After a somewhat heavy-handed chord that threw me for a loop, Jackie’s French version of “I Wish You Love” was saved midstream when she and Davide brought the song back home after it went MIA for a while.
It begged for more of the same as it worked extremely well with the duo effortlessly moving onto Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” and, possibly, stumbling onto the framework for a different musical journey for a future gig
“Nature Boy”, along with Mel Torme’s “A Christmas Song”, and almost everything written by Hoagy Carmichael, being one of my favourite songs, was performed ably and where, apart from Davide, Jeff Lehmberg on double bass played excellently as part of a musical team.
Less successful was the duet of “Love” with keyboardist Mark Peters sharing vocals where things went awry and verged on corn. It wasn’t a great song choice. But, hey, shit occasionally happens.
The key thing is that in Jackie Yin, there is someone who stays true to her love- Jazz- and which should be respected, appreciated and supported.
With the right guidance, more ‘live’ performances to build up her confidence, creative material that can come alive with creative musicianship, here is a talent that has time and talent on her side and, sad to say, needs to leave the insular world of the Adult Contemporary Hong Kong music world and explore more adventurous and challenging musical horizons.
Like that House Of The Rising Son, this city has been the ruin of many a poor- and talented- boy and girl in music. It’s a city where they lose their way until Father Time catches up and they’re caught between a rock and a hard place.
As for Jackie Yin, I wish David Lynch was with me when she sang, “My Funny Valentine”- moody, dark and part of the soundtrack to an equally dark movie that has yet to be made.
This and a cavalry of police walking in after midnight for a “routine visit”, was the imperfect ending to a twisted Valentine’s Day at the surreal Peel Fresco.
