Once a jazz great, always a jazzgreat: a musical mecca is revived
Print Edition
JAZZ was a high note of the cultural scene of Shanghai in the 1930s, and today it is enjoying even greater status in the city.
In 2005, Shanghai Jazz Festival was born, mostly in a limited venue for jazz musicians to hold jam sessions. In the past decade, the event, now called the JZ Festival, has evolved into the largest jazz festival in China.
The festival this year, between April 30 and May 2, had the Jing’an Temple area brimming with music. Jing’an Park was the main stage. Children and elderly, Chinese and foreigners, financiers and street cleaners — all gathered on the lawn for outdoor jazz performances.
“It’s the power of music that creates a la la land,” said music critic Wang Xinhai. “Music is positive. Jazz is the most imaginative genre of them all. It exudes a sense of freedom and joy.”
This year’s festival was held under the theme “Sharing Music and Love.” The main poster for the event was painted by an autistic child.
Yan Su, a writer for the JZ Post, wandered through attendees. He said he was surprised to meet an elderly couple who were not just random passers-by. They attend the festival every year.
“We have come every year except once when we were out of Shanghai,” said Chen Laihua, 73. “Some years we even brought a tent to shelter from the scorching sunshine.”
Chen and his wife Dai Lihua, 70, said they first came to like Jazz during their youth. For many, it is music that evokes nostalgic memories.
“People always said that they saw the prosperity of Old Shanghai in us,” said 94-year-old Zheng Deren, who organized the famous Shanghai Old Jazz Band at the Peace Hotel.
His happiest time, he said, was when he was playing with the Jimmy King Band, the first all-Chinese jazz band, named after the jazz icon who founded it in 1947. Zheng played double bass with the band at the Paramount from 1947 to 1952. At that time, Shanghai was considered the jazz capital of Asia.
“We were very popular,” Zheng recalled. “I met many superstars of the genre at that time, like singers Zhou Xuan, Wu Yingyin and Li Xianglan, and Shirley Yamaguchi. We all became good friends. We played, we danced, we drank coffee together.”
The son of a seasonal worker at a British shipping firm, Zheng originally planned to become a writer or journalist. Everything changed when his father disappeared at sea during the war in the Pacific in the 1940s.
To support two young sisters and two young brothers, Zheng left school at the age of 18. He started playing with a band at the Cosmo Club, where he fell in love with jazz. He likened the genre to the improvisation of life.
“The soul of jazz is the beat,” he said. “It’s so free. It comes from within, without any rules.”
Jazz originated in the African-American community of New Orleans. Its music expressed the emotions of the people.
“Jazz is the only music genre that closely links and reflects social vicissitudes,” said music critic Wang.
Modern versions and fusions reflect the melting pot that is Shanghai.
Like Zheng, Huang Jianyi also made jazz his career by chance.
“After I graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1997, I was asked to play for a jazz band,” Huang said. “I agreed because I love jazz. Usually, a jazz band just needs one bass. But at that time, we had two. Why? Because we were the only jazz band, and the second bass player had nowhere else to go.”
Today, there is plenty of room for all musicians.
“We don’t need to offer hefty pay to attract players,” Huang said. “Shanghai offers large, enthusiastic audiences.”
He admitted that many listeners like the music without really understanding it.
“That’s fine,” he said. “It’s a good starting point. It’s like a nuclear bomb with huge fallout.”
Jazz culture is now immersed in the soul of Shanghai.
“Many people tell me that the quality of our jazz festival almost equals that of legendary foreigner counterparts,” Huang said. “It’s true. Shanghai is regarded as China’s jazz mecca.”
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