Whew! What a major weekend it has been. All of us putting on the festival spent a heck of a lot of time at Fuxing Park over the three days of the jazz fest, but overall the whole thing went smoothly and everyone who went had a great time. There were plenty of problems and things that definitely will need to be different next year, but I’m quite sure that we got the most important things right.
For one, the sound was superb. Onstage and in the audience, everyone could hear clearly and any problems were quickly and effectively resolved by the expert technicians running the two boards, together with help from the backline crew when needed. Steve Madden was brought in from the States to run the main soundboard, and everyone appreciated the expertise he brought…especially since good soundmen are few and far between in China. That might have even been the keystone to the whole thing, the one bit that could make it or break it.
Also very importantly, the music was fantastic. There was a good mix of foreign groups and domestically based bands, large bands and small ones, and lots of different styles of jazz. All of it was well-prepared and enjoyable.
The weather cooperated *just* enough…the only rain during the three days happened during sound checks early saturday, then right at the very beginning of the concert on saturday, and then just a quick splash that came down right as the very last band played their very last note on sunday night. It remained cloudy throughout the entire event, after two full weeks of absolutely perfect sunny weather before it, and then of course on monday the sun came back out. However the temperature stayed quite warm and comfortable, just a bit humid.
As for problems, well…there’s just too many to list here. And no reason to list them anyway, really…but the most important two were probably relatively low attendance on the first 2 of the 3 days, and then having too few toilets once all the people showed up on the third day! Feel free to comment if you were at the festival and have any suggestions or ideas for next year’s event. This was in many ways a trial run, so it will only get better from here on out.
I only checked out the second day, it was magnificent! The sound was so good that even on the bench outside you could still enjoy the music. Wish there were more people though. Here’s hoping for an even better jazz festival next year!
Suggestions? Uh… cheaper food?
Just saw they have pictures on SmartShanghai http://www.smartshanghai.com/gallery/751
Visiting Shanghai I was really impressed by the festival! Good organisation, good sound and a very high level of musicianship. I also had the opportunity to perform with some of the musicians at the JZ club and had a great time there! The fact that you would have wanted a larger audience shouldn??â??â??t let you down. You have to give the festival at least 4-5 years to develop. Don’t give up!