Smart Shanghai’s MP3 Monday’s blurb for Johnathon Parker’s release decried the need for a jazz writer in Shanghai. To quote “To be sure, jazz in Shanghai is a widely celebrated and flourishing phenomenon — at least it seems like it from an outsider’s perspective…jazz in Shanghai seems to conducted according to a real communal, collaborative mindset — a real diverse array of mutually supportive international talent — with a steady influx of new visiting and resident musicians at places like the JZ Club and House of Jazz and Blues,… as well as the yearly JZ Music Festival, which is the only real outdoor music festival in town…I guess jazz writing in the city is more to blame (with the exception of Mike and Mache at Layabozi.com) — the lack of it, and it’s an under-represented art form, it seems, in the cultural focus of Shanghai” http://www.smartshanghai.com/articles/nightlife/mp3-monday-jonathan-parker

Realizing a need and having extra energy as a result of a long period of sobriety, I have decided to champion the cause of my fellow musicians whom have all chosen to call Shanghai home.

Who am I you may ask? My name is Willow Neilson. I am a local musician/composer/ and now writer, performing alongside many of the people who have been and will be mentioned in posts on this site. Conflict of interest I hear you say? Very possible, but I promise I will try to convince other writers to sing my praises instead of turning this respectable jazz site into any sickening self congratulatory homepage of narcissism, as tempting as that may be.

What can you expect from the site in the future? There will be a featured artist monthly who will be interviewed and will provide a list of their top ten favorite albums, I feel this will demonstrate the diversity of our music scene and will also provide a source of new musical exploration for the readers of this post as we have musicians ranging from Africa to Norway who can enlighten us to their influences. There will also be local CD reviews, an updated listing (so my friends will stop calling me to ask what is on around town tonight like I am the movie guide or something) and many other delights as the ideas present themselves.

It is my hope that if you love jazz music you will regularly visit this site to stay abreast of upcoming music events. If you are involved in the local music industry and have some important news you would like shared, please contact me through the site.

The Shanghai jazz scene has gained added momentum this year. A landmark event for one of Shanghai’s groups was their performances at the “Blues to Bop” Jazz Festival in Lugano, Switzerland in late August. The second Shanghai group, after Coco Zhao’s Possicobilities, to be featured at an international festival, which possibly represents a growing interest in the constantly expanding music scene of Shanghai.

The Afrosonic Orchestra is a “party band” with a focus on grooves from the entire breadth of the African diaspora, from US funk and soul to African Afrobeat ala Fela Kuti. Bandleader Theo Croker’s description of the ensemble follows, “Afrosonic Orchestra is a twelve piece Afro-Funk-World-Soul-booty shaking-genre bending-mind blowing-barrier crossing-dynamic explosion of sound and energy. Its very existence defines the 21st century, defying musical, ethnical, stylistic, and racial barriers. The Shanghai-based collective features members from around the globe on five continents including the US, China, Brazil, Norway, and Australia.”

The twelve members of this group represent some of Shanghai’s most exciting players such as Steiner Nickelson, Alec Haavik, Irwin Hall, Leonardo Susi, EJ Parker, Alex Ritz, Willow Neilson, Lawrence Ku and representing China in very fine form are Erica Lee and Hu Dan Feng. American vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater’s daughter China Moses also joined the band for the last two shows of the festival.

The crowd response to the band was enthusiastic to say the least, the fun onstage antics that had been developed by the band over their many performances in Shanghai elicited joyous reactions from the Swiss onlookers. The horn sections dance moves were echoed in the crowd whilst Theo’s ode to Dizzy Gillespie’s mock African ‘Abakua’ call and response to the audience had them screaming back to us. Towards the end of each show the entire crowd was jumping up and down along to Theo’s composition “Realize” and an encore was always guaranteed.

There is rumor that the band will be invited back to Lugano to perform again next year. Afrosonic’s previous performances had people dancing on tables in Hong Kong and has been rocking Shanghai clubs regularly, hopefully the Lugano performances will mark the beginning of a new series of performances for the group, taking their individual blend of Afro funk to the rest of the world. Please see the links below for videos from the festival-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdxyt9UWhnA&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxXdZf6EAio&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PxRIeg0WDw&feature=youtu.be

Of course, there is a tradition of old songs from the 1930s jazz era of Shanghai but outside of the old men performers that still survive within the Peace Hotel it is far from apparent. Whilst many musicians from other countries have benefited from the guidance of elders in their musical tradition, musicians such as vocalist Coco Zhao had to seize any opportunity for musical information available to them, “I remember back in the 1990s, we only had very limited resources for us to listen to and play jazz. We had to ask our friends to bring back all kinds of CDs, tapes and books from overseas so that we could read, listen and learn.”

Coco Zhao also talks about the limited image many local Chinese associate with Jazz, “Whilst jazz music is happily making its home in China with all these foreign and local musicians, there is also misunderstanding from the audience. Many listeners still associate jazz with scenes from 1930s old Shanghai, and for them, jazz is probably just a way to display their social and financial positions.”

The types of jazz that the Chinese public are given exposure to are often very limited and Coco Zhao suggests his hopes for more open-minded acceptance of the artform’s more artistic possibilities against its current constrictions. “If Chinese television, radio, magazines and newspapers are only willing to play and promote commercial and easy listening music, then Chinese listeners will never be able to understand and accept new sounds. And the risk-taking and self-challenging musicians will never have their chance to let their music be heard across the country or even across the world.”

I feel this is an important historical article for Chinese jazz and very well written by Coco, who wrote it in English himself without the aid of a translator. Coco’s group Possicobilities was one of the first Chinese lead jazz groups to gain international recognition and upon hearing their CD “Dream Situation” it is no surprise why, with masterful arrangements by Peng Fei and Coco’s velvety vocal tones it a true aural pleasure. Please read the full article below-

http://www.asianculturalcouncil.org.hk/en/welcome/features_detail/16

Sam, Akira, and Jordan

It’s been a few years since Sam’s last stint at Blues and Jazz, and now the Boston-based guitarist and singer is back with the “classic trio” (plus one more) to rock the new location.  The rest of his classic trio I speak of, in case you weren’t around when they played either of the two stints at the old House of Blues and Jazz, around 2 and 4 years ago, are drummer Akira Nakamura and bassist Jordan Scannella, famous for laying down extra-solid grooves in many styles all night, every night.  And as a bonus, they’ve added keyboardist Todd Marston to the mix this time, who arrived this week to give Sam some extra chordal support.  Sam is a solid guitarist, but having a keyboardist should leave him a bit more space to focus on the vocals sometimes.  I have to get back down there soon to check them out as a quartet, because I’m guessing that it has compounded the greatness of this already amazing group.

Sam and his band play the hell out of blues, rock, funk, and soul, but I might be leaving something out because they are pretty darn versatile.  If you’re lucky, you might be able to get Jordan to show off his mad freestyle skills, for example.  And don’t be surprised if they bust into some reggae grooves or drum n’ bass.  And I believe there’s plenty of original music getting performed by these guys, though they don’t hesitate to pay homage to the greats of these genres.

The group is doing a 3-month contract I believe, finishing out the end of the year before something else happens in there.  When I went to hear them early last week, there were at least a few dozen people in there, so I guess that means the new location of the club is starting to catch on pretty well.  Not to mention they’re hiring groups that really know how to get the crowd going, like Sam Hooper and the hard-working showman who just finished his contract, Carlton J. Smith.  Hooper’s band has quite a different sound than his predecessor Carlton, but both have been invited back to the House multiple times so they’re all doing something right.

They are also keeping the Sunday night jam session tradition alive, so bring your axe down on Sunday if you like to play funk, soul, blues, jazz or something else you can jam with other people on!

This past weekend, the Shanghai Jazz Festival held in Jing’an park for the first time was an overwhelming success, with tickets selling out for each of the three days. Enough hype was created to make the entire thing a highly desirable destination, with hundreds being turned away at the gates expecting to be able to buy tickets on the day of. Luckily, the water stage offered some free music for the unlucky souls who weren’t able to get into the main festival grounds, with bands playing all afternoon Saturday and Sunday.

The water stage had a great mix of styles, as did the entire festival; generally it featured smaller groups and locally-based favorites like Abraham Carmona, Coco Zhao, Erica Li, and perennial visitors from Japan–the band called YAA (Yokohama Artists Association).

Of course it was the main stage’s eclectic mix of local and foreign jazz, funk, blues, rock, and pop groups that managed to draw such massive crowds all weekend, and listeners stayed around even through the (luckily short-lived) rainstorm Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s hot and humid weather didn’t keep anyone away either, and in the evenings the temperature was ideal.

Highlights

Friday night’s opening ceremony was just that, the symbolic gesture of cooperation with the JingAn district to put the entire thing together. The bands that night played short sets, with just a few tunes from Rolf Becker’s JZ All-star Big Band before and after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, a few tunes from the Shanghai Latin Project, and then a longer set from Tian Square, a Beijing jazz group. But of course, the main draw Friday night was Gilles Peterson’s DJ set, which didn’t disappoint. He got the crowd dancing through his hour-long set, and it felt too short when it ended. I guess it’s always good to leave everyone wanting more.

Saturday was packed full of shows, and the rain only managed to interrupt the water stage’s schedule. I’m sure I missed some great bands during the time I was playing on the water stage Saturday afternoon, so please leave comments if you caught the bands on the main stage at that time. That would have been the Rhythm Junks, Xiao Juan, and Tuan Jie Hu Groove.

I did get to hear Bai Tian’s sextet start the day off on the main stage, which was excellent. Bai Tian, or Mark Bai, has been establishing himself in town as quite a skilled composer and arranger in recent years, and his set at the festival got the day started right in spite of the quick but heavy rain that hit during his set. That evening, after the 3 bands I missed, I witnessed Joanna Wang hypnotizing the packed field of fans with her gorgeous singing before Incognito rocked the house with their funky soul grooves. Incognito’s show was probably the most fun I had all weekend. But it didn’t end there, because the after party at JZ club saw plenty of musicians jamming together late into the night. After Andy Hunter and I got the show started with one sextet set, Alec Haavik and Toby Mak continued with another set which segued into a crazy jam. I saw some musicians from the Rhythm Junks jamming, as well as most of Alexandre Cunha’s band at one point (who played at the festival the following day) and then later on most of Incognito played a few long, rocking funky jams. That pretty much capped the evening, however I couldn’t keep my eyes open to stay any longer but I believe more jamming ensued subsequently. There was also a killer trumpet player jamming with them at the end, a woman who must have been playing with a band whose set I missed because I didn’t recognize her from any of the sets I saw. Anyone know who that was?

Sunday was generally a bit louder, though it started with a low-key set from Lawrence Ku’s guitar trio. Things got rolling when Sugar Mama and Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges each did a half set with Greg Smith and the Cotton Club band, doing some rockin’ down home blues. Zhang Ling’s band from Beijing followed with an even more rocking set, and then things turned a fresh direction when Alexandre Cunha’s band came on with their tight, rhythmic Brazilian jazz. Cunha’s group was my favorite among those who played on Sunday, perhaps because it was such a nice contrast to all the other groups that played that day. Li Quan, a local favorite, followed with some better-than-average jazz-pop songs before Laura Fygi did her festival-closing set backed up by the JZ all-star big band led by Rolf Becker. She brought down the house with her solid voice, voluptuous dancing, and suggestive commentary. I have seen her perform at other events to a CD backing track and always been disappointed, but she really was fantastic with the live big band. That band creates some intense energy onstage.

Now what?

As great as the festival was, there were plenty of problems. Since most of them were small, it didn’t detract much from the overall great vibe; however I hope that they manage to set up some ways to receive feedback about it so that many of the issues are resolved for next year’s event. As I understand it, this year was really a sort of test year for the Jing’an district government to see how it went so they can perhaps increase the scale for coming years.

I’ve already put together a list of suggestions I’d like to give them to improve for next year, including things like selling food inside the festival grounds (or at least letting you re-enter the gate to buy the food outside!  To their credit, they did in fact finally allow re-entry on Sunday), not running out of beer at the drink stand, more trash cans around the field, etc.  If you have suggestions, leave them in a comment and I’ll pass them on to the right people also!

The Core at Glamour Bar

First of all, I made it down to the bund to listen to The Core on their final night in Shanghai a few nights ago. It was an enjoyable show, one of the few jazz groups that is perhaps a perfect fit for the Glamour Bar in terms of both style and the sound filling the space effectively. As I mentioned in the post before this, they were channeling John Coltrane’s second quartet sound, and hearing them live it was apparent that they draw quite a lot of inspiration from that particular group and its members in many ways. But thankfully they do so while maintaining their own individuality, creating their own unique group sound as well. But the influence of the members of Coltrane’s most famous quartet is unmistakable in most of these players, with a strong dose of McCoy Tyner apparent in the pianist’s sound, Elvin Jones’ characteristic fullness in the drummer’s playing, and of course late-era Coltrane in the saxophonist’s quick vibrato and powerful tone. So for me the general effect was that the melodies of songs were quite original and the arrangements interesting, and then the solo sections had the effect of Coltrane’s spirit entering the room. It was intense!

I think it fit the club because the Glamour Bar tends to have great attendance for things like this, whether edgy avant-garde or other jazz groups, yet oftentimes people who come might only listen for a short while and talk the rest of the time. Of course, the hard core jazz listeners usually turn up on time, while the socialites come a bit later, so the prime listening time for all these shows is the first set before too many people are talking. However, this group was a good fit for the social tendencies of its audience that day because they had the raw power to reach all corners of the room no matter how loud the conversation level was.

The music itself was lots of fun to listen to, with a nice amount of tunes in odd time signatures (they opened the show with the tune in 7 that I heard on their website) and a few with characteristically Scandinavian harmonies (lots of major triads changing in quick succession). The players all have mad skills and are well-rooted in the jazz tradition (especially the tradition of Coltrane’s second classic quartet–did I mention that already?) while also expressing something unique and interesting individually.  So I was glad I went.

Lawrence Ku trio at the Oriental

I’d be cheating if I said I went to hear Lawrence Ku’s trio at the Oriental Arts Center yesterday afternoon, so I won’t claim that I did. However, I heard from others that it was a good show, featuring Shanghai’s favorite Australian drummer Nicholas McBride and bassist Peter Scherr who is up from Hong Kong for a few shows. They played a program of mostly Thelonious Monk tunes. Did you happen to catch the show? Liked it? Hated it? Leave a comment!

ETH Big Band at JZ last night

A few different things have been happening at JZ in the absence of some of the regular bands who play Sundays and Mondays while the regular players are on tour in North America. Coco Zhao’s band is playing a few shows in Canada and the States, so his regular Sunday night slot has been filled this week by a student big band from an institute of technology from Switzerland (ETH). The regular Monday night band is usually run by EJ Parker, who plays in Coco’s band. Replacing that group has been a band run by trumpeter Theo Croker playing lots of great original music. Anyway, back to the topic at hand–the ETH big band.

What struck me first about this band was the strength of their lead trumpeter. Also their percussionist was pretty great. The arrangements the band played were mostly pretty modern-sounding and interesting, I didn’t recognize most of what they played. Generally speaking, this was a pretty solid band, but some of the members were not as solid as others, which made it clear that it was a student band. Still nice to listen to anyway.

I’ve listened to sound samples from their website, and the music is all impressive. Definite references to Coltrane (they’re definitely channeling the second quartet in the tune I’m listening to now) but not in a copycat way, but rather in an energetic way, which I have a feeling is going to make their live show amazing.

RMB 50
Wed May 7, 9pm
Glamour Bar: 5 on the Bund, 6F
(021) 6350 9988, 6329 3751

The two mainly performed pieces from their album twotet/deuxtet including Wash Away (inspired by a dream in which Chopin meets Ray Charles), Huevos Verdes Y Jamon (a springy tune with a Latin feel featuring percussive cello playing), Sniffinâ?? Around, and Spirit Dance.

One listener I interviewed felt that Matt Brubeck (who is actually American, but is now based in Toronto) had an uncanny resemblance to Samuel Beckett.  However it is unverifiable currently due to the lack of pictures online of Beckett in his youth.

Three point strike is playing three days every week: Thursday (from 10pm to 1am), Friday and Saturday (11pm to 2am), and I believe they have ditched the Southern soul food menu and are serving the same food as the City Diner upstairs.

The Blues Room. 146 Tongren Lu.

Live music now every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

For the hour-plus long first set, the trio (made up of Burnett, Chris Trzcinski on drums, and E.J. Parker on bass) was joined by Alec Haavik on tenor and soprano saxophones. I missed the first couple of tunes, but got to hear the last 4 or 5 in the set, which were nearly all original tunes of Burnett’s. His own compositions ranged in styles from straight-ahead jazz to funky rock and 12-tone free stuff.  He also played or sang the occasional jazz standard.

Peppered throughout the night were songs from original jazz suites of his, the â??Creation Jazz Suiteâ? and the â??Planet Suiteâ?, which included a number of pieces named for various planets. A tune from the “Creation Jazz Suite” called “Heaven”, which was the one I joined the group on, was a 12-tone piece that was quite “out-there”, a listening challenge posed to the audience. I also heard “Neptune”, which was a fantastic tune played by the trio alone. There were plenty of other great tunes I also got to hear that I didn’t remember the names of.

He also was joined by the great Flamenco guitarist/vocalist Abraham Carmona for 2 tunes, one or both of which were compositions of Abraham’s own. Abraham sang and played guitar for one that was a sort of Flamenco-style rumba, and the other he was featured on vocals only–a passionate, fun Argentine-style Tango.

The illustrious Coco Zhao came up to finish the second set with the group, doing the old Shanghai classic “?????” (I want your love) in the great arrangement from Coco’s own album “Dream Situation“.

Unfortunately, I had to leave after the second set, but I understand they played some more original tunes in the third set.  Were you there?  Leave a comment about we missed.