Jazz in China is coming into its own

"At that time, nearly all jazz musicians in Beijing came to Liu because he is well-known and determined to build a scene in the country," Luo says. "We learned and jammed together. Music is full of color and imagination to us."

In 2010, he went to further his musical education at The University of Arts of Cuba, where he studied with Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes. The eight-time Grammy Award winner, now 74, opened Luo's eyes to the jazz genre, Afro-Cuban music and Latin American rhythms.

"I once asked him why his music is so attractive. He told me that it's because he has a Cuban heart," recalls Luo. "As a Chinese musician, I want to create music with a Chinese heart. That's what I say with my music."

One of Luo's early works is Farewell My Concubine, which was inspired by the famous Peking Opera piece of the same name performed by late master Mei Lanfang (1894-1961). Luo wrote his piece in 2011 after visiting Mei Baojiu, son of Mei Lanfang, who is also a Peking Opera master.

He also fuses jazz with music elements from Xinjiang, including the pieces The Beautiful Kashgar, Xinjiang Xinjiang and The Heart of Sayram Lake.

"I am proud that some Chinese musicians are able to play with world-class musicians on the same stage, though we started jazz very late and Chinese jazz is still in its infancy," says Liu.

He also mentions 16-year-old jazz pianist Dai Liang, also known as A Bu, who won the 2015 Parmigiani Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition and now is studying at the Juilliard School in New York.

"I am very positive about the country's jazz scene because these people are the future," Liu says.