How Hong Kong jazz legend Tony Carpio inspired the city’s musicians, from Eugene Pao to Ted Lo
- Carpio, who died last month aged 82, played with jazz greats, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the US and inspired generations of musicians
The Tony Carpio Big Band was a regular fixture at the Dickens Bar in Causeway Bay’s Excelsior hotel from the early 1980s until 1995, playing on the first Sunday afternoon of each month.
The 20 musicians worked through three sets over three hours, from 3pm to 6pm, under the direction of the namesake Filipino bandleader and composer, who died on October 17, age 82.
Tony Carpio inspired many in Hong Kong to take up a career in music, particularly in jazz, and during his career, America’s best jazz musicians would play his compositions.
The Tony Carpio Big Band comprised five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones and a five-piece rhythm section, which included two drummers for the “Battle of the Drums” in the third set.
There was music by Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, with big band chart hits including “Tuxedo Junction” and Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing”.
“Plus, Tony conducting and myself singing,” says Australian singer Rosalie Carpio, who was married to Tony Carpio for 40 years, partners in life and show business.
