Results for "Shanghai"

Fred Hersch: Alive... And Kicking

by Jiaowei Hu
September 6, 2023

Few musicians have shaped jazz with such elegant, instinctive, and intimate variations as Fred Hersch. Constantly. Over four decades, life's ups and downs have not stopped him from coming back, time and again, to performing live. No word other than “alive" can be more suitable for the pianist, and it is no coincidence that he chose ...

Voision Xi: Lost For Words, Found In Sounds

by Jiaowei Hu
March 5, 2023

Voision Xi has been taking steps from behind the scenes to centre stage. Starting out as a program coordinator at China's multi-faceted jazz business company JZ Music, she has swiftly risen to be one of the most active jazz vocalists in the country. Warmth and the simplest joy can be found in her singing, with no ...

Jun Xiao: Atypical Airship

by Jiaowei Hu
December 1, 2022

Jazz in China may be little known, but jny: Shanghai-based composer and guitarist Jun Xiao is no doubt among the earliest to shape the landscape. His sophomore effort Atypical Airship (Blue Note/Universal Music China, 2022) visualizes the personal astro-Arcadia, blurs genre lines and especially blends jazz dynamics with rock form, breaks limitations of his musical identity, ...

That Slow Boat to China: How American Jazz Steamed Into Asia

by Arthur R George
March 3, 2021

A kind of jazz was already waiting in Asia when American players arrived in the 1920s, close to a hundred years ago. However, it was imitative and incomplete, lacked authenticity and live performers from the U.S. Those ingredients became imported by musicians who had played with the likes of Joseph “King" Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, ...

Half Reopen To Food Delivery: Jazz Headwinds In China

by Jiaowei Hu
April 28, 2020

The festive electronic music pours out of the Vietnamese restaurant across the square, welcoming back its customers, already at two-thirds volume compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. Su Yan frowned: “It looks like hiring a DJ does help the business. But what can we jazz clubs do with DJs?" As the Director of Publicity ...

Can Jazz Survive COVID-19? China Has Tested the Waters

by Jiaowei Hu
March 22, 2020

In the coming weeks, Frank Sinatra's line “I wanna wake up in a city that doesn't sleep" from “New York, New York" may not strike a chord. On March 17, the epicenter of jazz ground to a halt. By the decree of governmental enforcement, all jazz venues in jny: New York City announced closures ...

Charles Foldesh

Charles Foldesh: Drums

A native of Prescott, Arizona (USA), Charles Foldesh began playing drums at age ten. Since then, he has obtained a long list of accomplishments. A recipient of the John Coltrane Scholarship, Charles received his Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies and Performance from the renowned Oberlin Conservatory of Music, under the instruction of jazz legend Billy Hart.

Charles has toured the Eastern United States as well as parts of South America and Asia. He often performs with internationally recognized artists and has shared the stage with the likes of Marcus Belgrave, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gary Bartz, Claude Black, Joey DeFrancesco, George Benson, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, John Clayton, Bryan Lynch, and Claudio Roditi. Charles has appeared at such festivals as the Texas International Jazz Festival, the Art Tatum Jazz Heritage Festival, the Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Festival, the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Shanghai (JZ) International Jazz Festival (China), and the LaPataia International Jazz Festival (Uruguay).

Jose Herrera

Born: January 5, 1971

Venezuelan born musician, who started his professional career at the age of 16 in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Piano & Keyboard player, arranger, composer , and singer. Moved to Aruba in 1990, where he worked as a solo piano player, for one year at the Bushiri hotel and the Paradise beach village. He played in grand acoustic pianos, by himself, no other musicians, no electronics appliances. In 1991 he moved to Holland where he performed with three bands, playing all around music (jazz, pop, salsa, merengue) in several important cities, well known hotels and festivals. He stayed in Holland for a year and then moved around Europe, traveling to Italy, there he attended a summer festival workshop invited by the Berklee college of music

Ralston van der Schyff

Born: July 9, 1976

Introducing one of South Africa's finest musicians, jazz pianist and entertainer Ralston van der Schyff has developed his own unique style of piano playing. His reputation for panache and sophistication is echoed by many audiences who have enjoyed listening to him play. Throughout his 31 years of playing the piano, Ralston has learnt how to produce just the right sound that is easy on the ear. Beneath his selection of rich jazz harmony and improvisation, lie subtle nuances of classical melodies and patterns, transforming each song into an inspiring musical journey. First taught by his father at age around 7, he then went on to pursue formal classical training at the Battswood College of Music in 1986 at the age of 10 through till 1994

Aaron Parks: Finding the Way to Little Big

by Jiaowei Hu
November 18, 2019

"Always beginning. Often perplexed. Drawn to beauty and to the absurd. I play piano, write songs, and take pictures of doors with my phone. A bit odd." So is the pianist's own account on his website, written in a few scribbled sentences. About a decade ago, Aaron Parks created much of a stir through his debut ...