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…
Thanks Andre. Hope you come back to town, y’all were great.