BIOGRAPHY
Vincent Hsu is a jazz bassist and composer. Born in Changhua, Taiwan, and raised in Kaohsiung, he launched his musical career in New York City, where he lived for eight years. His debut album, Homeland, won Best Jazz Album at the 2014 Golden Indie Music Awards and was nominated for three Golden Melody Awards in 2015: Best Album, Best Composer, and Best Producer (Instrumental). His 2nd album, Lullaby for the Youth, with Harold Danko on piano and Billy Drummond on drums, was also nominated for three Golden Indie Music Awards in 2017. In 2018, Vincent Hsu’s latest album In Our Blood featuring Victor Mendoza, with Soy La Ley Afro-Cuban Jazz Band, won the Best Jazz Single with Vincent’s composition “Dreamer's Blues” at the 2018 Golden Indie Music Awards. This album aims to express his passion toward Afro-Cuban music and its tradition through musicians and stories from Taiwan.
Vincent was awarded a master’s degree in Jazz Performance from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance from City College of New York, where he previously earned a master’s degree in TESOL. He studied acoustic bass with legendary musicians, including Cecil McBee, Victor Venegas, Andy González, and John Schaeffer (former Principal Bassist for the New York Philharmonic). His musical styles cross between jazz and Afro-Cuban music.
Vincent has performed at various jazz venues in New York, such as Blue Note, Jazz Gallery, St. Nick's Pub, Jules Bistro, Puppet’s Jazz Bar, Bowery Poetry Club, Shrine, Arturo's, Big Apple Jazz/ EZ’s Woodshed, Aaron Davis Hall/ CUNY Jazz Festival, and Smalls. Vincent also has a strong passion in Latin and Afro-Cuban music. He is one of the founders of the traditional Cuban band—Sarah Y Su Cachito—who regularly performs authentic Cuban and Latin jazz in New York since 2006. In addition to jazz performance, Vincent expresses his music across different disciplines, from collaborating with spoken word artists to incorporating jazz with dance education.
In addition to performing, he is committed to the outreach of jazz culture and original compositions, actively promoting jazz and Afro-Cuban music through projects in education and international exchange. Starting from 2018, He’s hosting a new radio show "Jazz Supreme" at Bravo FM 91.3, which won the Golden Bell Awards in 2020 for Best Non-Pop Radio Program and Host. He formed the Soy La Ley Afro-Cuban Jazz Band and serves as the musical director of the Clave de Cuba arts festival. In recent years, he has regularly appeared at major jazz festivals, including Madrid Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, New Orleans Down River Festival, Taichung Jazz Festival, Taipei Jazz Festival, National Theater & Concert Hall Summer Jazz Festival, Macau Jazz Festival, and Busan Jazz Festival, etc. The musicians he collaborated with include Harold Danko, Billy Drummond, Victor Lewis, Jerome Jennings, Luis Perdomo, Raul Pineda, Javier Gutierrez Massó "Caramelo de Cuba", Helen Sung, Wayne Escoffery, Tomoko Ohno, Alex Terrier, Andy Jaffe, Zaccai Curtis, among many others.
低音提琴演奏暨作曲家Vincent Hsu 徐崇育出生於台灣彰化、成長於高雄，旅居紐約八年。以首張爵士創作專輯《Homeland》榮獲第5屆金音創作獎「年度最佳爵士專輯」，第26屆金曲獎三項提名，包括「演奏類最佳專輯」、「演奏類最佳專輯製作人」、「演奏類最佳作曲人」。並獲由新加坡、馬來西亞、台灣三地音樂傳媒評選之第八屆 Freshmusic Awards「年度最佳演奏專輯獎」。2017年以最新專輯《Lullaby for the Youth 給年輕的搖籃曲》入圍第8屆金音創作獎三項提名：「最佳爵士專輯」、「最佳爵士單曲」、「最佳樂手」。2018年6月發行徐崇育 & Soy La Ley 古巴爵士樂團首張專輯《In Our Blood 古巴吶喊》，並以 “Dreamer’s Blues 夢想家的藍調” 贏得第9屆金音創作獎「年度最佳爵士單曲獎」。
演奏風格擅長爵士及非洲古巴音樂，為少數曾同時於紐約和北京Blue Note Jazz Club演出之台灣爵士樂手。自2018年1月開啟全新爵士樂廣播節目，擔任Bravo FM91.3【Jazz Supreme 爵士．無所不在】主持人，並以該節目獲得2020年廣播金鐘獎「類型音樂節目獎」與 「類型音樂節目主持人獎」。
於紐約大學 (NYU) 取得爵士演奏碩士，並擁有紐約市立大學 (CUNY) 爵士演奏學士和英語教學碩士雙學位，主修低音提琴，師事前紐約愛樂低音大提琴首席 John A. Schaeffer、葛萊美最佳拉丁爵士演奏專輯得主 Brian Lynch，以及Cecil McBee, John Patitucci, Victor Venegaz, Andy Gonzalez, Marc Johnson, Billy Drummond 等名師。除現場演出外，深感於爵士樂文化和原創作品之重要，致力於爵士樂與古巴音樂文化之推廣、教育和國際連結。現為國立台灣藝術大學即興演奏講師，並於各大學教授即興演奏、表演藝術、爵士樂欣賞。擔任「Clave de Cuba—絕對古巴」藝術節之音樂總監、「Jazz in Sync 爵士同步」系列策展人、兩廳院夏日爵士派對策展顧問，並受邀為兩廳院和欣講堂擔任爵士樂講者。
現為Soy La Ley古巴爵士樂團和徐崇育 “Journey Through Jazz” 爵士樂團兩團團長。身為團長，帶領樂團受邀參與台中爵士音樂節、台北爵士音樂節、兩廳院夏日爵士音樂節、愛丁堡爵士與藍調音樂節、馬德里爵士音樂節、澳門爵士音樂節等。不定期於紐約各地演奏傳統古巴音樂和拉丁爵士，並參與外百老匯音樂劇之演出，演奏地點包括: Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid, Deer Head Inn, Jazz Gallery, ShapeShifter Lab, Puppet’s Jazz Bar, St. Nick’s Pub, Big Apple Jazz, Arturo’s, Jules Bistro, Garage, Bowery Poetry Club 等。近年來以自己的原創作曲進行爵士樂交流計劃，與國際音樂家們合作，曾同台演出者包括：Harold Danko、Billy Drummond、Jerome Jennings、Luis Perdomo、Raul Pineda, Javier Gutierrez Massó "Caramelo de Cuba"、 Helen Sung、Wayne Escoffery、Tomoko Ohno、Alex Terrier等。
2021年以作品『重返哈林』受邀成為英國最規模最大的愛丁堡爵士與藍調音樂節之線上節目，為亞洲唯一受邀團體。
2019年成為首位受邀至紐奧良爵士博物館演出的台灣音樂家赴美巡演。
2018年底以徐崇育爵士六重奏《Clave de Taiwan》受邀至西班牙馬德里爵士音樂節。
2017年受邀至韓國釜山爵士音樂節演出。
2016年以專輯《Lullaby for the Youth 給年輕的搖籃曲》進行亞洲、美東巡演。
Artist Statement
My mentor Cecil McBee once told me : “Express, Not Impressed !” It sums up my philosophy in terms of performing as a jazz bassist and leader on the stage. As someone who started playing double bass at the age of 25, the constant struggle I’ve been through has been the critical strength to help me overcome the challenging of being a musician. Besides jazz, Afro-Cuban music is also a huge inspiration for my own creative work. The relationship between religion (Yoruba) and rhythm (bata) has inspired me to study diligently and humble me at the same time.
My composition is the mixture of jazz and Afro-Cuban spirits, it’s the musical combination of gospel and rumba, Yoruba and blues, Taiwan and Africa. My composition is the gateway for me to seek out musicians who come from different cultural backgrounds and share the love for the music through the process of making music together. Music makes us unite as a single soul, to express the humanity across the boarders.