Andrew Field, a History lecturer at the University of New South Wales who is writing a book about Shanghai’s historic jazz legacy, will be speaking at M on the Bund this saturday at 5pm. The talk will focus on famous ballrooms of 1930s Shanghai.
Andrew also made a movie about the current Shanghai jazz scene in 2004, but I don’t see the clip on his page anymore…He had a few minutes of the film posted on his site before, but now I have found a pretty full version of the movie here. However it seems to have a few minutes of audio (with no video) appended to the end, from some filming in a cab or something.
There’s lots of good interviews about the state of the scene two years ago, highlighting the gigs and thoughts of many musicians who are still on the scene now (including me!). He covers many of the main clubs in town including Cotton Club, the Portman jazz bar, and Full House 2 (which is now closed).?? He talks to many players both local and foreign, getting some interesting insights about opportunities, lifestyle, and the development of the scene.