Xia Jia acoustic trio - from left to right: Liu Yue, Xia Jia, Bei Bei. [Photo: www.jiaxia.com]

Hello and welcome to this edition of China Beat on China Radio International. I'm Xu Jue. This week we'll continue with our attention to China's jazz scene, as we're right in the jazz season with the Beijing Ninegate Jazz Festival on round this weekend.

In these two days' show, we'll feature a Chinese jazz pianist Xia Jia, and his several band projects. Now let's welcome Xia Jia.

Before we dive deep into the detailed stories of this jazz pianist, let's first have a taste of his music with the following piece, A Purple Seed, brought by Xia Jia and his acoustic trio.

(A Purple Seed)

Now being a veteran jazz pianist in China, Xia Jia started his musical practice from a very young age through classical music.

Xia Jia tells me that his mother became his first piano teacher when he was five years old. When reaching 12, he attended the primary school attached to the Central Conservatory of Music. His classical piano study proceeded till he's recruited to the Central Conservatory of Music, when he shifted his major to conducting.

But in 1995, Xia Jia quit school as he started to learn jazz piano playing by himself. But now he does recognize the great benefit that study conducting has brought to him.

Xia Jia says by studying conducting, he's equipped with a keen sense of music, and gradually established an overall yet detailed perspective of music.

Then how did Xia Jia get his first contact with jazz music?

In the 1980s, there were very limited accesses to jazz music in China. In 1995, Xia Jia obtained a book on modern jazz theory. At first contact with this music genre, he felt Jazz music was so full of vitality and fit him so well that he could not resist its charm. With years of professional piano study background, Xia Jia quickly got an understanding of the methodology of jazz, and started to play jazz piano.

Before we get to know more about this jazz pianist, let's pause for a little while for a piece of his music. This piece is "untitled", but wish you'll like it anyway.

("Untitled" piece )