I’ve just finished up 3 consecutive nights of great jazz in Shanghai, China. The first of those nights was at the House of Blues and Jazz (158 Mao Ming Nan Lu but moving soon) and the last two at JZ Club (46 Fu Xing Xi Lu). I also paid a daytime visit to the Blues Room after figuring out that I wouldn’t be able to make it by at night when the music was on.
Sunday nights is jam session night at the House of Blues and Jazz. The band was the same as last week. They play I think through December and then are off to whatever comes next for them. They played the first set and then opened it up for guests in the second and third sets. Once again, the music was great. This week, JQ Whitcomb, trumpeter and operator of the Shanghai Jazz Scene blog came and sat in. We’ve been acquainted for a while now (maybe more than a year?) but this was our first opportunity to play together. They called Cherokee, but at a tempo something shy of train wreck for my less-than-polished chops. Was fun for me, and hopefully for them too.
Monday night was EJ Parker and friends at JZ Club. EJ has surrounded himself with some outstanding musicians. I’m not 100% sure who the regular drummer is but Charles Foldesh from the band at the House of Blues and Jazz was covering on his day off (poor guy working 7 days a week). EJ, of course, did a fine job on the bass as always. Rounding out the band was Lawrence Ku on guitar and Sean Higgins on Piano. I’ve heard Lawrence several times before and he’s always great, but this is the first full evening I’ve heard of Sean. With a band like this it’s impossible to say who stole the show, but Sean sure impressed the heck out of me (and everyone else at our table). Charles and the rest of the band were kind enough to invite me to join them for a couple of tunes. It was especially enjoyable to play A Child Is Born, by Thad Jones (even in 4… ;).
Tuesday afternoon I wandered down to the Blues Room. It’s on Tong Ren Lu near Nanjing Xi Lu. Tong Ren is just west of the Ritz Carlton and the club is just south of Nanjing. Happy hour there runs from 3pm to 9pm and the special was 2 for 1 drinks. They have an admirable beer selection including Chimay, Stella, Leffe, some American Micros (Rogue, Brooklyn, etc.) and the usual Carlsberg, Tsingtao, etc. They also serve food which it appears is a 24/7 operation. It’s southern (U.S…. not Chinese) style stuff. I had pulled pork BBQ with pan fried green beans, fried green tomatoes and corn bread. I hesitate to say anything bad about the place, but the fried green tomatoes really left a lot to be desired, having had them done right lots of times. Even so, the rest of the meal was great (the corn bread and green beans really shined) and the price was very reasonable. This is one of the few venues primarily dedicated to live music that I’ve been to that is worth going to even when the music isn’t live.
Finally, Tuesday night I took in an evening of Alec Haavik at JZ Club. Alec’s group is excellent. With him is Lawrence Ku on guitar, Tinho Pereira on bass, Chris Trzcinski on drums, and unfortunately two guys whose names I can’t for the life of me remember. The Pianist is from Norway (I think) and the percussionist is from Brazil. They did a mix of the familiar and some originals. It’s more edgy, funk / rock / contemporary / fusion kinda stuff and a lot of it is both very creative and very musical. Rhythmically, it’s hard to beat the bass / drum / percussion combo with Tinho anchoring things down on bass. There’s obviously a great combination of good playing and good chemistry between Chris, Tinho, and the percussionist.
The third set was kinda an all out jam. I wound up playing the entire set (thank you Chris… and everyone else ;). We did a variety of tunes with a variety of guest musicians, leaning towards Brazilian and Salsa stylistically. There was a singer from Norway (I think Wind is his name), another singer, and a sax player, Simon, from Shanghai (he’s quite good). There’s some great talent in Shanghai and it was a pleasure to be amongst it. It’s as fun to play with these guys as it is to listen to them!
Only one problem… I’m not sure when I’ll be back. But as I told them, somehow, some time, I’ll be back…
V-