All That Chinese Jazz

Beijing - It's hot in the small auditorium at Beijing's Contemporary Music Academy, and the hundred or so students gathered for the master class shift uneasily in their seats, trying to concentrate. A young tenor player is blowing over a blues progression, earnestly reworking licks he's memorized from Charlie Parker and John Coltrane albums. His face is set in a frown of nervous concentration, and though his sound is solid enough, his fingers move over the keys too tensely to be smooth.

Yannick Rieu listens with eyes shut and head bowed.

“Let's try that again," he says as the tune comes to a close. “This time, don't be afraid of making a mistake."

Rieu is a quiet character, gently serious but fiercely passionate. The process of working through a translator clearly frustrates him, and his hands move in exaggerated gestures of encouragement. That universal of wordless communication, the thumbs-up.

Eventually, inevitably, he returns to music. “Let's play together. Let's really listen to what the other is playing."

For nearly three decades, Rieu's distinct saxophone sound - dark, broad, gritty - and intricate, tender compositions have earned him a faithful international audience and the deep respect of his peers. He's a thinker as well as a player, one of Quebec's most profound musical children.