MP3 Monday: Shanghai Jazz Festival 2009
By Morgan Short, Aug 3rd, 2009 | In Nightlife
MP3 Monday is a weekly SmartShanghai column, serving up mp3s from bands living and making music in China (or coming to China, or thinking about coming to China, or whatever). Right click on the links and choose "Save Link As..." to download 'em. Click play to rock 'em.
So jazz in Shanghai seems to be getting bigger and better every year -- or at least, that¡¯s the outsider¡¯s perspective -- and one indication of the growing interest in jazz music is the increase in scope and scale in the yearly JZ Shanghai International Jazz Festival.
The three-day festival pairs locally-based Shanghai talent with international headlining acts, and is the biggest jazz event of the year. Last year they had the festival at Jing¡¯an Park, and tickets were sold out with people being turned away from the gates on Friday and Saturday. In addition to the local heroes and international big jazz names, the festival offers a broader range of music, and hosts rock and pop bands, and DJ acts. One of the big draws from last year was funk/soul/jazz DJ Gilles Peterson.
Check out trumpeter J.Q. Whitcomb¡¯s recap of last year¡¯s festival on his blog here. Check out the SmSh photo gallery of the festival here and a gallery of the previous year¡¯s in Fuxing Park here.
So this year, the Shanghai International Jazz Festival is taking place on October 16, 17, 18 at the Yufeng Theater (Friday night) and in Century Park in Pudong (Saturday and Sunday). The festival kicks off with a Friday night concert at the Yufeng Theater by lovely Grammy-winning jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, and then runs from 1pm to 11 (ish) pm on Saturday and Sunday at three stages in Century Park. Although the emphasis is on jazz, festival organizers are casting a larger net with a wide range of acts performing on a jazz stage, a pop stage, and a DJ stage. International acts are coming from all over the place, including China, Japan, America, Israel, Denmark, Finland, and more. The international acts are just getting their paperwork in order now, but here¡¯s some MP3s from one of the early confirmations: Ibrahim Electric.
Ibrahim Electric - Splash
Ibrahim Electric - Funkorific
A three-piece from Copenhagen, the best thing about Ibrahim Electric (besides the outfits) is that they specify the type of organ the dude is playing on their MySpace: a Hammond B3. It¡¯s not just an organ, it¡¯s a Hammond B3. Check out that MySpace page here.
Expect a jazz-filled week in October. In addition to the festival proper, all kinds of tertiary jazz-related tomfoolery is going on as well -- a "preview concert" is planned at the Shanghai Times Square (Oct. 14-16) and the JZ School is planning something as well. Also, on those nights after the festival is over at Century Park, everyone¡¯s heading back to the JZ Club to keep the party raging into the morning hours.
Skiddly-dap-bo-dap-dip-dip-do! Jazz!
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FREE STUFF
Festival organizers have dropped off three promo copies of Ibrahim Electric¡¯s stuff at the SmartShanghai HQ. It¡¯s a little intro compilation comprised of stuff off their four releases, and also features the video for their track, "Blue Balls". Awesome.
Want us to drop one of these off at your house totally for free?
All the CDs have been claimed. Thanks to everyone who wrote in.
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