[My Weekender] with Willow Nelson

Jazz, Blues, and Kungfu with Willow Nelson - May 16, 08

Willow Nelson is a professional saxophone player and a teacher at the JZ School.

Being a musician, my weekend is more like the start of my working week. But being in an occupation that essentially makes my "vacation my vocation," usually the places within which I work are places that I could enjoy in my leisure times.

On Friday afternoons I do Kungfu in People's Park with my teacher Wu Ma Gui. He is a very serious practitioner and has many great stories of training in People's Park, a time when many people practiced Kungfu and were eager to test their mettle upon one another in bloody show downs. Master Wu seems to omit any stories of him ever being beaten (if he has in fact ever been beaten) and most of the stories end with his opponent bloodied and in pain. Kungfu lessons are the living out my childhood fantasies that were fueled by badly dubbed Hong Kong Kungfu films and shows like Monkey Magic (an obscure dubbed Japanese version of the Monkey King that only Australians over 25 remember).

After Kungfu I usually go home and work on my music until it is time for dinner. I have a love for Chinese food and have a few places I end up going to all the time that are pretty standard fare but tasty nevertheless. My favorite Sichuan place is on Fuxing right near the corner of Maoming. I love the way they fry corn in egg and the fish in the oil is so good. The pepper corns would be great with a Shiraz, and I need to find out how to ask if BYOB is okay in Chinese. The advantage of this place is that you can specify for the food to not be too spicy if you are a little chilly shy. Near there is a Cantonese chain called Sweetie, on Maoming near Huaihai, that has great desserts that I have not been able to find anywhere else, such as the Mango Pudding in black rice -- so delicious and not too sweet.




Friday nights I work at the Blues Room, a place many people have trouble finding. It's the bar that's below City Diner on Tongren Lu near Nanjing. My band begins at 10pm. The Blues Room is my favorite room to play in Shanghai acoustically and for the layout of the room. Many of the clubs I play in Shanghai I need to use a microphone and often that can make the music lose some of its subtleties. At the Blues Room we can play more dynamically as we do not have to rely on an often deaf sound technician.

I play both Friday and Saturday night at the Blues Room from 10pm until 1am with vocalists and Thursday from 9pm to 12am as a trio. The music is always different; we have a core group of singers -- Eric Lee, Heidi Krenn, Gilbert X, Paul Kiely and Daryl X -- that rotate to give some variations in musical style and repertoire. I have made sure we avoid the standard Shanghai musical repertoire of "Fly Me to the Moon," "Wonderful World," and all the other songs you can find on a karaoke list. With Erica we do modern soul songs by artists such as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and Alicia Keys. With Gilbert Kuppusami we do some old soul songs by Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. With Daryl Strode it is the RnB of Donny Hathaway, Eric Clapton, and Johnny Guitar Watson. With Heidi Krenn we do a lot of the great jazz standards as sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Billie Holiday. And with Paul Kiely we do some jazz and blues in the styles of BB King, Mark Murphy, and Harry Connick.

My band that backs the singers at Blues Room alternates between Steinar Nickelsen from Norway and Sean Higgins from New York on the keys and on drums it alternates between Nick McBride from Sydney and Charlie Foldesh from New York. Shanghai's live music scene keeps getting better and better, and these players are an example of some of the highest quality players in town. I love playing with them. We have a lot of fun and people are starting to find out about the gig, word is spreading, and now we have a lot of regulars that are cool people to play for as well as the people who were surprised by the extent of the depravity further down the street and were looking for a cultural oasis to escape to. The food at Blues Room is simple and tasty, my pick is the west coast burger (has avocado on it) and the banana pancakes.

Saturday morning I like to go to Labella Café on Yongfu lu near Fuxing Lu for breakfast. Labella café is more reminiscent of the sort of cafés I would find back in Sydney or Melbourne in Australia. The owner Isabella has a flair for creating a nice atmosphere through her choice of décor, venue, staff, and most importantly the food is good. The omelette is great for breakfast and my favorite lunch there is the roast chicken. I'm getting hungry just typing this.

After breakfast I teach at JZ School. JZ School is a fantastic thing for Shanghai -- it's really creating a music community in the city, and there are people from a range of backgrounds, ages, and levels, all learning a range of musical styles. I teach the J Mood ensemble on Saturdays and then have a few students in the afternoon. I would suggest to anyone who wants to not only learn an instrument but become part of a community of interesting and creative people that JZ is really the only place that offers this for music in Shanghai that I am aware of.

Saturday night I am back at Blues Room, often I eat there but sometimes if I am not in the mood for Chinese food I go to Coconut Paradise on Fumin Lu for some nice Thai or across the road is Guyi Hunan restaurant that is very tasty. If I am still full from the Roast Chicken at Labella, I like to go to a little local place on Yongjia Lu near Xiangyang that does amazing duck soup with duck leg, blood cubes, and glass noodles -- only 10rmb, so tasty.

Sundays I get up for more Kungfu in People's Park (you never know when your family could be killed by gangsters without guns but mad Kungfu skills -- it's best to be prepared). Following my preparation for the ultimate battle between good and evil I like to go for back or foot massage at Sunrise Massage on Jiashan Lu near Yongkang lu. "Massage?" I hear you ask with raised eyebrows as you ponder the extra services you have heard rumor that are often offered in such venues to which I reply that I assure you that you are safe from offers of "massagie" at Sunrise Massage. When you hang a heavy metal instrument from your neck for hours each night you need the knots in your shoulders ironed out. Foot massage is also a great way to practice speaking Chinese, most of the people there love a chat and are stuck with you for an hour so they make an attempt to decipher your terrible pronunciation. Next door to this place is a great place for xiao long bao if you can get over feeling like the center of attention, not a lot of foreigners seem to eat there, maybe I should keep it a secret.

Sunday night, if I am not working, I like going to Enoteca and talking with friends whilst slowly "drinking in moderation." There is an Enoteca 2 now near Xintiandi which is not as full as Enoteca 1 usually is, there is a selection of reasonably priced wines and the atmosphere is quiet and conducive to conversation that is lubricated by each bottle of wine consumed. The great thing about being a musician is that you don't have to get up early the next day on Monday.

Don't you all wish that you practiced that clarinet a little harder when you were in primary school instead of having friends, a social life and good grades? I bet you are full of regrets as your driver takes you home from work to your large, quiet and comfortable house and you curl up next to your equally upwardly mobile and attractive spouse...