Author: Alec Sugar
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2nd Floor Music: Live Music for the Whole Family
Is there a way to enjoy live music without spending a late night in some dark, smoky bar? 2nd Floor Music thinks so. They schedule family-friendly events that conflict with children’s playdates rather than bedtime. A canvas tarp covers tables and chairs on artificial turf laid over a paved parking lot. A row of children… Read more
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The Hypnotic Spell of João Camarero
You know you’re a big deal when your opening acts are Brazil’s Minister of Culture and its Ambassador to China. Building on recent milestones like Brazil’s granting of visa-free entrance to Chinese tourists, Sino-Brazilian relations continue to warm through musical and cultural exchanges. “Today’s performance is extra special, because it transcends the boundaries of music… Read more
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Suburban Swing Escape: A Day at the Defactto Jazz & Art Life Fest
Day 4 of the Defactto Jazz & Art Life Fest featured swing-dancing adults and frolicking children, people kicking off their flip-flops to enjoy microbrews and kebabs on the grass, and musical acts hailing from as near as Beijing and as far as Hungary. Surveying the brightly lit scene under a blue afternoon sky, it was… Read more
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Los Amigos de Pekín
Want jazz you can dance to and a touch of salsa in the land of beef noodles? Throw on your guayabera, grab a hot date, and check out Los Amigos at Beijing’s East Shore Jazz Café. Arrive on Chinese rather than Latin American time, though, or you’ll be watching over dancing heads through the doorway.… Read more
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Hutong Jazz: The Music of Billie Holiday & Lester Young
Hutongs are an iconic feature of old Beijing. These grey-brick courtyard homes have long lost their residential appeal from lack of modern amenities like private bathrooms; instead, the narrow cobblestone alleys are packed with bars, cafés, and live music venues. The Jianghu Bar offers blues, funk, jazz, and other styles on rotating nights of the… Read more
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Jazz for Five: Zhang Zhuoran’s Quartet at Smoke Bar
With an audience of five—the bartender at Beijing’s Smoke Bar, the drummer’s girlfriend buried in her laptop, and three stray listeners—Zhang Zhuoran’s quartet played two long sets as if the room were packed. Jazz has always been about the interaction between musicians, whether or not anyone is there to hear the tree fall. Bassist Zhang… Read more
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Celebrating 100 Years of Miles Davis
The nonchalant bassline of “So What” sauntered out of the gate, initiating a call-and-response with the horns, and the Blue Note China Jazz Orchestra leaned into the opening notes of a Miles Davis centennial tribute in Beijing. The sixteen-piece ensemble – four trumpets, three trombones, five saxophones, a pianist, guitarist, bassist, and drummer – was… Read more
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Nieve Connects with Clichés
“A sold-out rap concert in Beijing, by an American rapper I’ve never heard of?” I snagged an extra ticket to find out what the hype was about. The floor of the Blue Note had been cleared of its usual dining tables for standing room only. Young people pressed together from the stage to the back… Read more
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Shi Yuji’s Quartet Lights Up the Night @ East Shore Live Jazz Café
Does music come from within or do we pull it from the air around us? When summoning a piece, Shi Yuji closed his eyes and swayed, snapping his fingers and quietly breathing to an inaudible beat. The music took shape before it was heard, like a ski lift the quartet was waiting to hop on… Read more
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Seamus Blake’s Thoughts on Music
On a late afternoon in Beijing’s trendy Houhai neighborhood, families pushed ice sleds across a frozen pond. Inside the East Shore Live Jazz Cafe across from the pond, Canadian tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake was holding court. Blake is focusing on the music of jazz great Eddie Harris for this tour. The title of his new… Read more