This programme is supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Project Grant: Jockey Club Black Box Theatre Subsidy Scheme.
Tickets are now available at Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre Box Office and art-mate.
art-mate Website : https://www.art-mate.net
For ticketing, please contact the presenter for more information.

I closed the window, put on a cassette of Charlie Parker playing Just Friends, and resumed translating…
—— Pinball, 1973

The Dixieland band played Hello Dolly. Watanabe and I listened attentively.
—— Dance Dance Dance

I’ve been listening to the same music over and over … Sometimes Coltrane’s My Favorite Things.
—— Kafka on the Shore

The cycle … ended with Bill Evans’ Waltz for Debby. Rain fell past the window. Time moved slowly. Naoko went on talking by herself.
—— Norwegian Wood

Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami has a deep love for music. He once operated a jazz bar for the sake of listening to music and playing his beloved records the entire day. As a writer, he debuted with the Gunzo Newcomer Prize winning novel Hear the Wind Sing. His 1987 masterpiece Norwegian Wood has garnered numerous literary awards, and has sold millions of copies.

In addition to his novels, Murakami has published short stories, essays, travelogues, and non-fiction. He carefully selects classical, jazz, rock, and American pop music, to infuse into his writings, a practice which contributed to his unique writing style.

Music enriches his works, serves as effective literary devices that describe sceneries, propel plots, and express emotions.

Murakami said, “Practically everything I know about writing, then, I learned from music… if I had not been so obsessed with music, I might not have become a novelist.”

Jazz has a special place in Murakami’s heart and hence occupies a significant portion of the tens of thousands of his vinyl records collection. He has written works specifically about jazz, including Portrait in Jazz, Portrait in Jazz 2, and It Don’t Mean a Thing, If It Ain’t Got that Swing.

He said, “I’ve loved jazz since I was around thirteen or fourteen. Music has had a profound influence on me. Chords, melodies, rhythms, and the atmosphere of the blues have all been very helpful to me in my writing.”

Justin Siu and Constance Lin collaborate to create a unique experience that delves into Haruki Murakami’s world through jazz music: Constance to present literary excerpts as a backdrop, while Justin, along with three other musicians, to perform classics highlighted in Murakami’s works and, in a loose sense, to embody his characters.

Spontaneous improvisations, freedom of expression, distinctive rhythms – a few of the hallmark characteristics of jazz, cement the foundation to recreate some of the conceptual set pieces, themes and personalities inspired by Murakami, in this live performance.

Presented by: Justin Siu
Production team: Innonation Studio
Concept / Music / Upright Bass: Justin Siu
Concept / Narration: Constance Lin
Saxophone: Yu Hagiwara
Piano: Mason Chan
Drums: Samuel Chan