Tag: China Jazz
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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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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