Yes, it is true. The gorgeous bright orange lane house that has been the home of Shanghai’s jazz education nexus for most of the last two years will soon cease to be such, and the jazz school will move to a larger space in the same neighborhood. The new location, which is is still undergoing renovations, is located in a lane off Wukang rd near Hunan rd. It has more space than the current location, including more large rooms for ensemble classes, rehearsals, kids classes, and even a larger room for student concerts which will double as a dance studio.

There are beautiful green tree views from many of the windows, and the charm of the French Concession is just as strong as the old JZ School’s lane house. The new space will be open just in time for the fall semester to begin, and of course that will mean lots of great back-to-school packages and class offers.

The new location is Wu Kang Rd Lane 280 – No.12, which is between the Hunan Rd junction and Ferguson lane. A good reference point is the Elementary School on the corner of Wukang Rd and Lane 280. They’ve just torn down some old ugly buildings in front of it and renovated it.

For other news about new classes and events for fall 2008 at the school, check the school’s website.

Also, after Mike Stern finishes his show Saturday, the “In Between Band” will play one late set. This is a group that has been playing the pre-big band set for the last few Saturdays while Flamenco guitarist Abraham Carmona is off touring for one month. The group consists mostly of members of the JZ Latin Project, but rather than playing salsa for dancing like they do on Friday nights, this show is more oriented toward original Latin jazz. Abraham’s Flamenco-jazz group will return in two weeks to take over the early Saturday set again from June 14.

For all the musicians out there

Mike Stern will also give an hour-long master class earlier on Saturday, to answer questions about music and offer advice on playing and practicing, etc. This short session should be an interesting opportunity for musicians to learn what makes him tick. My guess is that the question he gets asked the most often is “What was it like to play with Miles Davis?” He’s probably sick of that one, so we’ll see if it gets asked…and what the answer will be if so.

The master class is 50RMB and will also be at JZ Club.

UPDATE: Erik Truffaz will also give a master class the day after his concert, it will be Friday at 6:30pm at JZ club, admission is free. Here are some more details on the facebook event listing.

to recap:

Erik Truffaz – Thurs May 29, 10pm at JZ Club, 46 w. fuxing rd – 100RMB

Erik Truffaz master class – Friday May 30, 6:30-7:30pmpm at JZ Club, 46 w. fuxing rd – free!

Mike Stern master class – Saturday May 31, 5pm-6pm at JZ Club, 46 w. fuxing rd – 50RMB

Mike Stern quartet concert – Saturday May 31, 10pm at JZ Club, 46 w. fuxing rd – 100RMB

In fact I went in a few weeks ago hoping to check out the band, which is led by former JZ all-star big band tenor saxophonist Tang Ying, but when I showed up I was told they had already finished for the evening.  I was incredulous, as it was barely eleven p.m. at the time, but apparently they play from 7-10 p.m. rather than trying to compete for listeners with the later-night jazz venues.  Fair enough.

So when I returned a few days ago at the appropriate hour, I was disappointed to miss the band’s show yet again–I was told the band is now only performing two nights a week due to the high musician overhead and low revenue situation the club is in.  So if you are ready to check them out, go on a Friday or Saturday night between 7 and 10 p.m.  On Fridays, the show features a female singer who has an eclectic style drawing on jazz, pop, and R&B.  On Saturdays, the show features the electro-jazz-pop-funk sounds of E-Groove, a group Tang Ying has played with for a few years already.

If you make it, let me know how it is in a comment here!  I do still intend to go hear them, I can’t go wrong the third time (hopefully).

TTing, next to Big Bamboo on Nanyang lu, near Xikang lu behind the Portman Ritz-Carlton.  Live music every Friday and Saturday from 7-10pm.

Here’s the entire schedule of Burnett’s clinics and performances:

March 23, 2008, 2:00pm: Jazz Piano Master Class at JZ School, 270 Wuyuan rd near Yongfu rd. Admission: free (but call 5403 6475 to reserve a seat beforehand)

March 24, 2008 10:00pm: JZ Club. Burnett Thompson, Pianist; EJ Parker, Bassist; Chris Trzcinski, Drums. Performing original works from the “Creation Jazz Suite” and the “Planet Suite”. Admission: free

March 30, 2008, 1300h Jazz Piano Master Class at JZ School, 270 Wuyuan rd near Yongfu rd. Admission: free (but call 5403 6475 to reserve a seat beforehand)

I got to check out part of jazz pianist Burnett Thompson‘s show last night at JZ Club, a trio night of fun standards that he played with EJ Parker and Chris Trczinski.  He also invited Coco Zhao to join the group for a couple of tunes from Coco’s album that the two of them had played together when Coco was in Washington D.C. last summer.  It was a nice couple of sets, and it was good to hear him again since the last time he was here.

I missed the beginning jazz piano workshop he gave over at the JZ School last Saturday, but he’ll give one more next weekend that I’ll try and hit–and you should too if you missed this last one too.  It’s free and I heard good things about it from some of the people who did attend.  Apparently in his master classes he uses drum equipment to get everyone involved continuously throughout the workshop, whether it’s on piano or drums or other stuff.  Sounds like lots of fun.

Next weekend’s free master class takes place on Sunday, January 27 from 2:00-3:30pm.

Similar to last time he was here, he’ll also be collaborating again in a performance with erhu soloist Ma Xiaohui and clarinetist Kiera Thompson on Jan 26, 2008 2:00 p.m. at the Oriental Arts Center in Pudong.

Here’s some more info about the improvisation workshops he’s giving over the next few weeks, as well as a special concert he will put on at the JZ Club next week.

Unfortunately, I was halfway to the concert before it occurred to me I should bring my camera. So I don’t have any pictures of the event myself, but I saw a few people snapping shots with cameras much nicer than mine anyway, so there should be a few popping up on the JZ School website within the next couple days. Also, another blogger posted their own set of pictures from the event as well, so you can check them out too.

I probably say this after every one of these concerts, but the JazzArt shows are always my favorite concerts in town. The vibe is always so nice in these great galleries to begin with, and then to have people show up who just want to listen to some excellent jazz on a Sunday afternoon makes it so special. Not to mention exceptional wine, and all for free! It all really conspires to create an atmosphere of utmost creativity for the musicians, so they really put their soul into it. It’s sad to know that they won’t continue every month, but at least next year will see the series start up again anew. It gives us something to look forward to next spring.

The latest news from the former Fuxing Jazz Festival is that it is going to take place up in Jing’an district at the New Factories on yuyao lu, and will be called the JZ Festival (???? in Chinese). It will feature many of Shanghai’s locally-based jazz groups including Coco and his band Possicobilities, Alec Haavik‘s Friction Five, and the JZ All-star big band. Also featured will be major Chinese rock stars Cui Jian and Xu Wei among others, as well as a number of Northern European groups (jazz and otherwise). The festival, put on by the JZ group, Jing’an government, the Jing’an tourism bureau, and the organizers of the NOTCH music festival, will take place over four full days, October 4-7.

A website has been put up in the last week or two giving details about the festival, including lineup of performers, a map of the area layout, ticket info, and lots of other information. It promises to be better organized than last year’s Fuxing festival, and hopefully will have better weather too.

JazzArt, as you probably have worked out by now, is a monthly jazz concert series held at a different gallery each month. They have become my favorite regular jazz event, not just because I’m involved with the planning and implementation but also because art galleries are fantastic places for jazz concerts in general. Also people who show up to these kind of concerts tend to really listen to the music, whereas in smoky bars at night many people come to chat, or conspicuously consume pricy bottles of booze, perhaps giving the occasional nod toward the music in the background when it happens to catch their attention. The JazzArt series has been wildly successful, much to the chagrin of the evil gallery owners who pulled out at the last minute of planning early this year. Drawing an estimated 250 people to last month’s show, we expect this month’s concert to pull in at least 300 to pack the 3rd floor of MOCA to the brim. So get there early in order to get a seat, there will only be about 100 chairs.

The show starts at 3pm, and is on Sunday, September 9 at MOCA- the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary art, located at People’s Square, 231 W. Nanjing rd. (People’s park gate 7). The concert will be held in the 3rd floor restaurant, so when you come in and they ask you for admission just tell them you’re there for the jazz concert and they’ll let you in free.

The sextet will feature most of the members of my regular sextet, including Lawrence Ku on guitar, Alec Haavik on sax, EJ Parker on bass, and the most recent addition Huang Jianyi. Lao Huang will be playing the Fender Rhodes he bought in the States before he moved back to Shanghai this spring…it sounds pristine! Since regular drummer Chris just left town for what will be a rather long chunk of time, replacing him for this Sunday’s concert will be Nicholas McBride on the drums.

In other news about the sextet’s regular Thursday shows at JZ Club, the next two Thursdays will see the band joined by Beijing drummer Xiao Dou, who has been swinging up a storm recently. After he heads back up to Beijing, Nicholas will take over the reins for the following weeks.

James has been writing some pretty amazing music this year, lots of creative stuff happening in that guy’s head. And the band executed it pretty darn well, too–these were not easy charts to read either. There was a good mix of rhythmic styles, in fact I only remember one or two times throughout the entire concert that they actually played a straight-ahead swing feel. The rest was all kinds of grooves, latin or straight-8th feels, and odd time signatures. Definitely enjoyable. It’s going to be a hard act to follow, since my band is going to be playing for the next month’s JazzArt concert over at MOCA in people’s square…