From Tin Hau to New York: Ted Lo's extraordinary jazz journey

South China Morning Post

26-05-2025

I WAS BORN IN 1950 and grew up the third youngest of four boys in Tin Hau Temple Road, Causeway Bay. For a Chinese family, my parents were very Western. We never had Chinese music at home. Growing up, my father loved Nat King Cole and
and grew up the third youngest of four boys in Tin Hau Temple Road, Causeway Bay. For a Chinese family, my parents were very Western. We never had Chinese music at home. Growing up, my father loved Nat King Cole and
Frank Sinatra , so we listened to swing, big band, that kind of music. My parents were always so supportive. By the time I was 12, we already had a band room with drums, bass and guitar so we could jam. I never studied, never had lessons, just banged on the drums.
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At the time, the radio was all British rock and my oldest brother, Tony, who was three years older than me, was into
The Beatles and
Elvis Presley . He turned me on to Jimi Hendrix. We had a family band, The Dimensions, and in 1966 we won a television talent show sponsored by Sing Tao, with me on drums, Tony on guitar and brother Ambrose on bass, with my uncle also on guitar and a friend on vocals. The following year my youngest brother, Hank, joined on guitar as Tony had gone abroad.
In the 1960s, Ted Lo played in family band The Dimensions alongside his brothers Tony, Ambrose, Hank, uncle Hardy Chan and friend David Fang. Photo: courtesy Ted Lo
MY FATHER WAS AN ARCHITECT, so was my grandfather – it was a family business. My brothers also became architects, working with my father. They were all very good at drawing. But I don't draw well, it's not my thing. We had a piano at home, my mother played a little bit, and around the age of 13, so two years before I went abroad, I had lessons from Bading Tuason (the musical director of the Hong Kong Hilton from 1968 to 1995). I learned so much from him. He allowed me to sit in with him at times at the Eagle's Nest (nightclub at the Hilton). I was a kid. I was 13 years old. Imagine me jamming for some professional, the feeling, you know. My parents took us to bars and we saw (jazz bandleader) Tony Carpio
, so was my grandfather – it was a family business. My brothers also became architects, working with my father. They were all very good at drawing. But I don't draw well, it's not my thing. We had a piano at home, my mother played a little bit, and around the age of 13, so two years before I went abroad, I had lessons from Bading Tuason (the musical director of the Hong Kong Hilton from 1968 to 1995). I learned so much from him. He allowed me to sit in with him at times at the Eagle's Nest (nightclub at the Hilton). I was a kid. I was 13 years old. Imagine me jamming for some professional, the feeling, you know. My parents took us to bars and we saw (jazz bandleader) Tony Carpio
at the Repulse Bay Hotel . We were in awe.
A young Ted Lo (right) and his musical family. Photo: courtesy Ted Lo
I WENT TO THE Eric Hamber Secondary School in Vancouver, Canada, for a couple of years, and I saw a jazz organist playing in a restaurant inside a mall and asked him to teach me. I subbed for him for a couple of weekends and that was my first professional paying gig. I heard about the Berklee College of Music in Boston, in the United States, and my father said, 'Ted, I don't know how to advise you, I don't know anything about music.' It's a risky business. I was the first Chinese musician who actually got a degree at Berklee.
A FEW NIGHTS AGO I had a concert and for the first time in my life I teared up on stage. I was telling the audience my most inspirational story. I graduated in 1976 and the following year I got a call to do a recording session in Los Angeles for an album (Identity) with Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. I was overdubbing two songs. These days, this generation, if you want to do some overdubbing, you can do it anywhere in the world, just send the files. But back then that was a big deal for a jazz album. They had to fly me to LA. So the tracks are re-recorded, and you're just putting in some colours. Guess who the producer was?
I had a concert and for the first time in my life I teared up on stage. I was telling the audience my most inspirational story. I graduated in 1976 and the following year I got a call to do a recording session in Los Angeles for an album (Identity) with Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. I was overdubbing two songs. These days, this generation, if you want to do some overdubbing, you can do it anywhere in the world, just send the files. But back then that was a big deal for a jazz album. They had to fly me to LA. So the tracks are re-recorded, and you're just putting in some colours. Guess who the producer was?
Herbie Hancock
Ted Lo in Boston in the 1970s. Photo: courtesy Ted Lo
So Herbie was my idol. Maybe my most influential pianist in the 1970s. So the session was going fine. He's a great producer. He's very, very chill. At the end, everybody left. I was waiting for my ride so we had a chance to talk. And then he went to the piano and played for me for about half an hour. The first song he played was his famous 'Maiden Voyage'. Not only that, he sang it for me. I didn't know it had lyrics, because he'd recorded an instrumental version. And he told me that his wife, Gigi, wrote the lyrics for it. So that was, I would say, the most inspiring jazz story for me.