Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Wow, Chengdu Is Ready For Its Subway

For the past few years a subway system has been under construction here in Chengdu. It is projected to be completed by 2010 but this overwhelmingly crowded city is more than ready for it now.

With the cold, damp winter upon us, it seems like more people are leaving their bike locked up and their walking shoes off in favor of Chengdu's woefully insufficient public transportation. The result is that it's nearly impossible to find a taxi from about 5-7 pm, the buses are packed like sardine cans, and traffic moves at a sloth's pace.

Today I took the 92, a double-decker bus, right in the middle of the rush hour commute. It was not the romantic, London-style bus you may be imagining. The bus is old and decripid, spews fumes, and feels like it's ready to break down at any second. On both levels there is not nearly enough headroom to stand up straight for a person any taller than 5'7".

The protracted, fetid, agonizing ride led to a heated confrontation between some passengers; two couples. After one lady stepped on the shoe of another a verbal altercation ensued. After a few swears in the local Sichuan language were exchanged, everything seemed to settle down. A few minutes passed and then the women were at it again, this time more vehement. Suddenly punches were thrown, people were shoved, hair was pulled, and the bus just kept on plodding along. Finally a few passengers broke up the fight and formed a human barricade between the two couples.

While I'm sure I will miss the Pay-Per-View quality bouts right in front of me, I think I'm ready for this subway system. I really enjoyed the smooth metros of Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong, and I think it's exactly what this city of eleven million spicy food-eating, rice wine-drinking, slightly peevish inhabitants needs.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Back to Chongqing, Lao Wai Gig

This past weekend I spent two days and one night on a mountain about three hours outside of Chongqing. This performance (which is usually the case for the gigs I play outside the city) was a "Lao Wai Gig." As I have mentioned before on the blog, this is essentially a gig where the person hiring is only looking for foreign faces.

The event was very typical. The massive upscale real estate development was just in its beginning phases and the development company hosted a lavish party to entertain prospective buyers. Those who were interested were bussed in by the hundreds from Chongqing. The theme for this particular party (as you probably can gather from the photos) was Christmas and extravagance.

The main performance was the rock band that I traveled from Chengdu with; 红水, or Red Water. I sat in with their band for a few tunes, then was left on stage by myself with a Band-in-the-Box track playing to back me up. Unfortunately this crowd's taste in music proved to be a little less sophisticated than the typical Chengdu audience. Many patrons left, and some of those who remained called out requests for some (apparently) popular Kenny G originals. Sorry Chongqing, not my thing!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

New Year Plans

After our the slew of Christmas and New Years gigs the band is planning to take a little travel break, and maybe even play a few gigs a long the way. We have already spoken with the people at Hangzhou's JZ Jazz Club who have invited us to take the stage in mid-January. After that we may also get a chance jam with the folks at the Shanghai JZ, just an hour away by express train.

After our mini-tour of the east coast we will head back west to our piano player Larry's hometown in Xinjiang province. I forgot to ask him the name of the town but I believe it's pretty close to the Kazakhstan border. I don't envision a lot of opportunities to play jazz up there in the rural northwest but I'm sure it will be an incredible experience.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Rumor Mill; No Gig

I can't be too specific at this point, but our piano player Larry recently had a phone conversation with a good friend who happens to be the owner of a popular music bar in Shanghai. Apparently the video clip I recently posted sparked his interest in opening a bar here in Chengdu. Chengdu has never had an exclusively jazz themed bar, but I think a jazz bar opened under the name of this Shanghai venue would really generate some interest. And if the reception our band has been getting is any indication of Chengdu's willingness to embrace this kind of venue, I think the bar could really succeed.

On the other hand, today the band suffered a minor setback in our vision of spreading jazz across Chengdu. Last week we arranged to play a gig at some function (probably real estate related) this afternoon. Unfortunately after the agent heard our band at one of our shows he told us “我不懂你们的音乐。我觉得爵士乐不合适我们的现场。你们能不能玩儿听众听过的歌?” This translated means "I don't understand your music. I think jazz doesn't suit our venue. Can you play some songs that the audience has heard of?" And he asked us this after hearing us play Satin Doll, Fly Me to the Moon, and a few other obscenely overplayed jazz standards. So, unfortunately no gig today, but I guess we could use the break in anticipation of tomorrow's big recording session!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Finally I Have Some Media!


I also just created a new site where I'll be organizing any new video's, recordings, or pictures the band puts together. Check out http://lwjnmedia.blogspot.com/ to see a clip of the band playing some jazz at one of our regular spots Cafe Paname (巴黎咖啡). Much more to come in the near future I promise.

*UPDATE:
In the upper right corner I just added a little slide show of some miscellaneous pictures. You can click it to get a better a view.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

This Blog Mentioned on ChinaLawBlog.com?

I'm not quite sure how he found me but Dan at ChinaLawBlog.com wrote a post a few days ago about my observation regarding the toll booth workers here in Chengdu. While I only intended to poke fun at the situation Dan has provoked an interesting conversation in the comments section on his blog (although I think he may be confusing "sexism" with whatever the -ism is called regarding physical appearance.) Dan's opinion is that China does suffer from the problem of "sexism", yet to a lesser degree than some, even more highly developed nations such as Japan and Korea. Within his personal field of law he has noticed that "pretty women in China are favored more in employment than in the United States, but that women who do their jobs well (no matter what their looks) are taken seriously."

In a diversion from the jocular nature of my original post on the matter, I'd like to respond to this in a slightly more serious manner. As a young single adult male here in Chengdu I have made some casual observations about the phenomenon and it does seem like physical attractiveness plays a large factor, especially in the service sector. After living here for over a year I have noticed that particularly in the white collar sectors there is a real emphasis on looks. I also have a friend working for a big bank in Shanghai who has let me know (on more than on occasion, usually in the form of boasting) how attractive his co-workers are. In contrast, I see that women are much more willing to work in fields such as transportation, farming, construction, waste management, and other professions in which you would be hard pressed to find female laborers in Western countries. Dan says:

"If I had to rate China on a sexism scale among the countries I know best, it actually does fairly well. It is not as good as the United States, but it is considerably better than Korea and better than Japan as well."

However, I feel the complete dearth of female employees in blue-collar professions in the U.S. balances out the equation, especially when you factor in how many people are actually working in those sectors here in China.

Some Media Content Coming Soon!

These days the band is focusing on becoming a bit more professional. We've done a photo session, recorded some clips from one of our shows, and are now preparing to put together some good quality demo tracks. I should at least have pictures and video hosted on the blog by the beginning of next week. Check back soon!