Sonder Patrick Lui Jazz Orchestra

• 1Windmill (feat. Alex Sipiagin)05:00
• 2Sonder08:38
• 3Façade07:43
• 4Ligia03:24
• 5Danny Boy04:38
• 6Remembrance of a Voice07:57
• 7The Most Beautiful Smile (feat. Alex Sipiagin)05:55
• 8Without a Song05:05
• Total Runtime48:20

Info for Sonder

The album "Sonder" is Hong Kong's first jazz big band album recorded at Systems Two Recording Studio in New York City. The recording, mixing, and post-production of the album was handled by New York Grammy Award winner Mike Marciano, and the musicians are a collection of local elites, with top trumpeter Alex Sipiagin invited to play. Alex Sipiagin, a native of Hong Kong, was invited to play on two of the tracks.

It's not easy for a native Hong Konger to travel to the world's top jazz destination, New York, to record a jazz album created by a Hong Konger. Apart from his love for jazz, he also has an even bigger dream, which is to show everyone that Hong Kong has jazz that's worth appreciating with "Sonder".

"To establish the mind for heaven and earth, to establish the life for the people, to continue the great learning for the sages of the past, and to open up peace for the world" is a famous saying of Zhang Zai, a philosopher, educator and master of science in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was known as "Mr Heng Ku", and he used this saying as his ultimate goal to motivate himself, which includes the past and the future, and talks about heaven, earth and the world, and sets up the highest standards for the four aspects, and this is what made the hearts of the readers in the following days fascinated by the saying. The key of the whole sentence is that it signifies the ability of an individual to "define" the world. In today's language, everyone can and should be a "Game Changer" who defines the world and the future, isn't that fun?

Words and language can undoubtedly define our concepts of life and the world, but they can also define us. On the Internet, there is an American named John Koenig, because of the lack of English in the expression of subtle emotions, from other languages to extract some roots and suffixes, created a lot of English words, named "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" (The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows), has caused a lot of repercussions, and some of the words have even begun to be used by many Americans. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows has caused a great deal of excitement, and even some of these words have begun to be used by many Americans in everyday situations, such as "Sonder", which means that we all think that we are the main characters and that everyone else is just an extra. But the reality is that you think you're the main character, but you're just a supporting character in someone else's story.

Recording life's encounters one by one with music: Music, especially jazz, is a much better way to express the meaning of "Sonder" than words. Local jazz musician Lei Pak Hei's first original jazz big band vinyl album "Sonder" will be released on 27 November 2020 on all major streaming platforms and physical shops, using music to talk to you about every unexpected encounter. Everyone meets a lot of people along the way, some of them leave a mark on each other's lives, while some of them are just casual encounters; some of the stories may be heartfelt, or they may just be plain and simple. Some stories may be heartfelt, some may just be dull and boring. Encounters are short-lived, and whether they are happy or sad, Lei Pak Hei uses his music to capture each and every scene.

"Sonder" is Hong Kong's first jazz big band album recorded in New York City. Recorded, mixed and post-produced by New York Grammy Award winner Mike Marciano, with guest appearances by top contemporary trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, the album's sound is versatile, both strong and soft, with each melody being both gentle and strong. Lei Pak Hei has no intention to replicate the formula of jazz, he uses his experience, his perception of life, to challenge the box of jazz tradition with a series of notes, breaking the inherent pattern of jazz, as a gift to every former encounter.

Hong Kong has its share of jazz music: From something to nothing, tradition to modernity, past to future, Lei Pak Hei is a man of definitions. He hopes to carry the traditional elements of jazz, but at the same time integrate contemporary elements into his compositions, creating unique and rich music in the process of collision. The format of the album echoes the concept of diversity, with the physical album coming on vinyl as well as a USB with Hi-Res Audio (96k 24-bit) files, which allows for the enjoyment of mesmerising music, from analogue to digital. I want the world to know that there is jazz in Hong Kong that is worth listening to," says Lui Pak Hei.

A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Lui Pak Hei has collaborated and performed with pop singers such as Eason Chan, Rubberband, Angela Tse and Wyland, and has been active in jazz scenes all over the world, including jazz festivals in Europe, Japan and Taiwan, and international jazz festivals such as Kyoto Composers Jazz Orchestra and Taipei Jazz Orchestra. In addition to participating in jazz festivals in Europe, Japan and Taiwan, he has also collaborated with internationally renowned jazz ensembles such as the Kyoto Composers Jazz Orchestra and the Taipei Jazz Band. He has been actively involved in behind-the-scenes production and film scoring, and later founded the Lei Pak Hei Jazz Orchestra, Hong Kong's first local jazz band. Behind his identity as a musician, he is a native of Hong Kong. Lui Pak-hei said that it is not easy for Asian jazz musicians to break through to the international arena, and he knows that in Hong Kong, music is not an easy path to follow, so apart from his passion for jazz, he also has a bigger dream to pursue. He hopes that through his music, he can show the world that in such a small place as Hong Kong, there are actually many young jazz musicians who are very good at what they do, and who have been working hard to build a strong foothold in the local community and to face the world. He hopes that "Sonder" will serve as an introduction to show that Hong Kong has its own worthwhile jazz music.

Patrick Lui, piano, direction
Patrick Lui Jazz Orchestra:
David DeJesus, alto saxophone, flute
Michael Thomas, alto saxophone, flute
Tim Armacost, tenor saxophone, clarinet
Frank Basile, baritone saxophone
John Walsh, trumpet
Jason Wiseman, trumpet
Vitaly Golovnev, trumpet
Jonathan Powell, trumpet
Luis Bonilla, trombone
John Yao, trombone
Matt McDonald, trombone
Jen Whartonm, bass trombone
Jesse Stacken, piano
Sebastian Noelle, guitar
Carlo DeRosa, bass
Paul Wells, drums
Guest:
Alex Sipiagin, trumpet

Patrick Lui
is an award-winning pianist, composer, arranger, and producer. Since graduating from Berklee College of Music, he has performed around the world including cities of New York, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, London, Taipei, and Osaka. He was the winner of the Taichung Jazz Piano Competition, a semi-finalist at the Bucharest International Jazz Competition, and has appeared in different music festivals such as EUROPAfest, Taichung Jazz Festival, JENerations Jazz Festival (USA), Kanazawa Street Jazz, Clockenflap, and Freespace Jazz Festival among others.

An active composer, Patrick contributed to the score for three feature films (The Bounty, This Is Not What I Expected, and Chasing The Dragon), and has also composed music for television programs and theatrical works for Radio & Television Hong Kong and Hong Kong Dance Company. Venturing into music other than jazz, he received a full scholarship from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund and is pursuing his Master’s degree at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, furthering his studies in traditional music. In September 2021, Patrick and his jazz group performed for the festival “The Present – Jazz Festival of an Inward Journey”, part of LCSD’s “Jazz Up” series, and premiered works that blended jazz and traditional music, a fruition of his research and studies.

In the pop music field, he is a frequent collaborator with RubberBand, and their works together have received wide acclaim. The album Easy, which they co-produced in 2012, was awarded the prestigious ‘Album of The Year’ by Commercial Radio Hong Kong. They have also won ‘Best Performance by a Band’ two times at the CASH Golden Sail Music Awards. In 2020, Patrick again co-produced and arranged for RubberBand’s album i, which featured his big band arrangements. Patrick also served as the pianist for Hong Kong’s foremost artist Eason Chan’s worldwide tour ‘Eason Says C’mon In’.

Patrick performs his compositions with his own big band as well as others abroad: he has been invited to perform with Taipei Jazz Orchestra at the Chiayi City International Band Festival in Taiwan, and Kyoto Composers Jazz Orchestra in Osaka, Japan, both times as guest conductor and pianist. His own big band, Patrick Lui Jazz Orchestra, appeared as the opening act for the 2019 Hong Kong Jazz Marathon with Will Vinson as special guest. Patrick Lui Jazz Orchestra was invited for three consecutive years to be one of the headliners of the Freespace Jazz Festival (2019-2021) hosted by the West Kowloon Cultural District, performing sold-out and critically acclaimed shows. On the international front, the orchestra was invited by the Jazz Education Network in the US to perform at their 2021 annual conference.

Patrick’s debut big band album, Sonder, was released in 2020. The album was recorded in New York City at the renowned Systems Two Recording Studio. The band consisted of all New York-based jazz musicians, featuring Alex Sipiagin on two songs. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by two-time Grammy award winner Mike Marciano, and distributed by Sony music.

Patrick participated in Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2021 as band leader and performer for the project Playground as part of the No Limits series, featuring a world premiere of a composition by Ng Cheuk-yin.

In March 2021, Patrick’s jazz orchestra composition ‘Mirror Dance’ won the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards (Jazz Composition, Emerging Division).

This album contains no booklet.