There was an interesting band playing the first two sets at JZ last night, before our regular quintet jumped onstage to finish the night out with a final set.?? It was a quartet let by Finnish saxophonist and composer Pekka Pylkkanen, who are touring through Asia for a while.?? Having come from Hong Kong before, they are playing tonight at the Hangzhou location of JZ club.
Their first set seemed a little stiff, but I attributed it at least partly to the already boxy-sounding piano’s dire need to be tuned, and perhaps some other sound system issues.?? The friends I was listening with were not so forgiving, saying they absolutely did not like the music nor the band playing it.?? I feel like I have a bit of perspective though, having checked out their website and hearing a tune or two from there before they came.
I will say the arrangements were all quite elaborate and difficult, and when that’s the case it can sound contrived if the band isn’t having an optimal night.?? I felt this might have been the case a bit, especially in the first set.?? The band is obviously quite familiar with the music, so it wasn’t that they weren’t tight; but there were times when the rhythm section felt like they were annoyed at each other or something.
In the second set, however, they started up again with renewed energy.?? Also I could hear the piano better.?? It was definitely better and they finished their show strong.
[...] Andre Sumelius, who was playing drums with Pekka Pylkkanen’s group as they toured China and Japan, including Shanghai, had a few good things to say about the Shanghai jazz scene from his point of view: Shanghai has a very inspiring jazz scene, there are a lot of people in the audience and the musicians are free to perform their own compositions the way they want to present it; using a lot of varying dynamics and textures/vehicles to achieve a dynamic set. This was very nice to observe, especially in comparison to the strict (club/restaurant implemented) guidelines of the bay area jazz scene. In my opinion, people (and most importantly “the layman”) come to hear jazz music for the energy it puts across and out to the listener. They aren’t necessarily dissecting it and really “hearing” what each improviser is playing or superimposing over the chords and form of the song, but rather hearing the honesty and energy the musicians are playing with. Shanghai has all of the potential of any jazz scene, and I’m sure more musicians will venture over to the city once they realize they can make a good living playing their own music without compromise there… [...]