Tuesday, September 30, 2008

From Chongqing...



Right now I'm in a city about two hours from Chengdu called Chongqing. Although you've probably never heard of it, Chongqing is claimed to be the largest city in the world. Apparently after redrawing it's lines a bit there are now over 30 million people living in this megalopolis. It's pretty amazing that this place is just a 2 hour drive from my city of 11 million in Chengdu. The plan is to stay here for another day, with one more gig at a real estate convention, then back to Chengdu for a day before leaving for the USA (temporarily). I should be a bit busy this week but I'll try to post some pictures and stories from my current trip in the next couple days...

Saturday, September 27, 2008

A Different Kind of Gig...

Chengdu presents a very unique opportunity for foreign musicians- a special kind of gig, not so much concerned with music as it is image. Specifically, these gigs demand faces with western features.



Chengdu, a city of nearly 11 million people, has been undergoing massive real estate development for the past few years. If you find yourself in a tall building on a clear day you can see a myriad of construction sites scattered around the periphery of the city. To attract interest, these development companies host big PR events at hotels, clubs, and restaurants. The parties feature music, magic, comedy, and a performance that is basically a conglomerate of the three- the "Lao Wai [foreigner] Gig."

This show has few demands. We all must dress the same, must play along with a CD, play songs that are familiar to the audience, and arrive very early. What happens on stage is pretty much inconsequential. The pay for these gigs is about three times the typical jazz show, the performance time is half as short or less, and the food and drinks are usually provided free of charge as well. The only catch is the slight feeling of shame after it's all over.

Well today's gig was pretty typical, no big surprises. Our mission was to play our soothing sounds at the Parrot Club to coax some upper class individuals into buying a few villas. After a few tunes including "What a Wonderful World", "Sad Samba"(which actually was pretty sad), and a blues we were finished. Afterwards we were fortunate to watch an accordion playing story teller march in with a few toddlers, sit down on a couch, and bumble his way through a story that had no one's interest. I'm still not too clear how this performance is intended to get people to buy real estate. On our way out we got to enjoy a common perk at this type of gig- mingling with the models. After receiving our payment (almost enough to pay one months rent here) I would say today was a success!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Last Night's Gig

UPDATE: Obviously since we were playing I had to rely on other people to take pictures, unfortunatley the result is that I only have one worth posting. Here is the band, and check out the people in the window!



After living in Chengdu for about 6 months I have been fortunate to play a wide variety of gigs. However, last night's show was probably the most interesting and enjoyable thus far. Our band's drummer Xiao Wei 小伟 and pianist Larry 吕焱 are both teachers at the Sichuan Music Conservatory 四川音乐学院 about 45 minutes outside Chengdu. A good friend of Xiao Wei had recently opened a bar right outside the conservatory and invited the whole band to play a couple sets of jazz.

We departed from the conservatory's Chengdu branch on a bus that shuttles students between the two schools. The school, not too far from China's famous panda research and breeding center, is pretty isolated. The campus consists of a concert hall, a main building with offices and practice rooms, a large market, and a residential area with dormitories, some shopping, a few restaurants, and a couple bars. The place looked pretty depressing; extremely bland buildings, dark streets with neon lights from store fronts lighting the way, dust and dirt everywhere. Had there been a surrounding barb wire fence I would have easily mistaken the place for a P.O.W camp. From the looks on their faces however none of the students really seemd to mind their situation.

The bar we played at was packed full of students. Many people were standing in the back, and anyone sitting turned their seats to face the stage. The windows were also crowded with people on the outside, perhaps unwilling to pay the cover charge, trying to get a peek at us. After each song, and sometimes after individual solos, we were greeted with uproarious applause. I was even applauded for using Chinese and giving the classical and pop students a brief introduction to jazz. I think the atmosphere at the bar was better than any show I've played in the States or China. It was the first show I played that demanded an encore!

It's exciting to see our music get such a good reaction from the students at the conservatory. These students are really the future of the music scene here in the west of China. This was probably their first exposure to live jazz, or any jazz other than the Kenny G that somehow found its way to so many Chinese Mp3 collections. This was the first gig that really made me optimistic that a home for jazz and more creative and interesting music is possible here.

I'll post a couple pictures from our show soon...

-JK

New Blog!

Some of you may remember my last blog... It began during a very exciting time in my life, right after I started my new job sorting, ironing, and hanging curtains in a country home furnishing store. Every day I would rush home from work and immediately get on the computer to share with the world my fascinating life. A few weeks after it began somehow the blog failed. I think I just had too many stories to share and was overwhelmed by the burden of putting it all into print. Well, after nearly a 1 year hiatus, I have decided to resurrect my career as a blogger.

As you may know from word of mouth or the title of this blog I'm currently in China, making ends meet as a jazz musician (and as the son of two generous and loving parents. It was just Olympics time and the visa prices were insane...) I've decided to create this blog for a few reasons. 1) It should help put an end to the nagging I get from certain friends or family to update them about my travels. 2) It can serve as a memento when my time here is finally up. 3) It should become a major source of revenue in the future when I cover the site with Google ads. So please, tell all your friends.

In the future look to find posts about my gigs, my experience learning and using Mandarin, my thoughts on the Chinese culture, some pictures, music, and anything else I feel like posting. Enjoy, and God Bless!