I Have Not Forgotten the Blog!

I just want to make a quick post before I go to sleep because I know it has been too long. These days I've been helping my good friends Will and Andrew get situated here in Chengdu. So far it has been great having them as recent additions to the band and to the city. Lately the group has been getting ready to make a quality recording which should help us land some interesting gigs in the future, possibly in distant cities. One particular goal is to make it to Hangzhou's (very close to Shanghai) JZ jazz club at some point this winter. These days the band has also been sorting out our schedule for Christmas. Apparently in China, Christmas is the time of year where every hotel, bar, every other entertainment venue wants live music- and are willing to stretch their budgets to pay for it. As the only jazz band in town we have already been getting a myriad of offers. The challenge now lies in making a schedule to play as many of these gigs as we can.

I must give a shout out to my pal Brent, that other foreigner saxophone guy in town. He recently held a great recital at the music conservatory. Brent, 你很帅。

To All My Chinese Readers

I've got a plan underway to open a sister site to Josh is in China, written in Mandarin. I think my skills are decent enough to put it together and maybe my kind roommate Larry can serve as my editor. It'll probably become a (slightly simplified) translation of this site with maybe a little more content/jazz band promotion/废话的作文。Stay tuned!!

Interesting Cultural Differences

Something I notice every time I get on the highway here is that the tollbooth workers are all extremely good looking girls. I thought this couldn't be a coincidence so recently I asked my taxi driver about it. He was actually surprised that I would question this phenomenon. He basically replied "Of course! These are the people welcoming you into the city. They have to be beautiful!" And apparently their salary is pretty good at about three or four times that of a typical retail job. I guess this kind of makes sense. If I-95 was like this it definitely would have made those Connecticut - Miami trips a bit more pleasant.

The Dawn of a New Era; Wedding Gig

Legendary guitarist Will Chapin made his Chengdu debut performance last night at Sui Di Music Cafe. Fighting through jet lag induced fatigue, Will left everything he had on stage, sending the caffeine hyped crowd into a frenzy. After honing his chops amongst the world's best in New York City, Will provides our jazz band, BossMa, with a new wealth of musical ideas and inspiration. With fellow musical mastermind Andrew Smiley joining the fray in the next two weeks BossMa is destined to achieve greatness. Adoring fans have already claimed that a new musical golden age is on the immediate horizon in this once sleepy Chinese city.

In other news the band played a fun gig at a foreigner/Chinese wedding today. The groom was the boss at one of our regular jazz spots. For me the highlight of the gig was definitely the hours dourves. After spending nearly a year in China, this was the first time I had ever had a good piece of cheese. Incredible. I'm salivating just thinking about it- despite the fact that I'm stuffed after a late night noodle run. The wedding was really enjoyable though. It seemed like the entire "lao wai" (foreigner) community came out for the party.

A quick history: In the past couple of decades all of Chengdu's older buildings were demolished to make way for modern architecture. The latest trend has been to revive the former style as the tourist industry has seen a wave of interest in traditional culture. The wedding was held in one of these new "old" plazas. The reception was quite an event. In a city where locals will turn their head at the sight of a single foreigner, onlookers were surprised to say the least as several bus loads of us arrived at the scene. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera, but try to conjure a mental image of a bunch of goofy old white guys, dressed up in elaborate Chinese suits, surrounded by beautiful Chinese women.

Musically the show went of without a hitch and the band was definitely well received. It was great playing for a slightly older, foreign audience that was even familiar with some of the tunes. Now after our big hit in the wedding scene there will hopefully be more of these gigs to come...

Weekend Update

After a busy week of gigs, catching up with Chengdu friends, and incessantly checking political news I relaxed to a nice home cooked meal last night with some buddies. The main course was lamb hot pot, with assorted vegetables, tofu, and, um, whole barbecued quails to accompany it. Everything was pretty tasty though, and what's better is my relief today knowing I did not come down with food poisoning after my first "risky" meal since arriving back in China.



This past weekend I learned China does in fact celebrate Halloween. Our band was kept busy playing several gigs a day, primarily for parties. And the holiday has been imported pretty well to Chengdu. I witnessed pumpkin carvings, costumes, scary music, didn't see any trick-or-treating though. Maybe it has something to do with the fear some Chinese have that in America adults take great pleasure in putting poison and razor blades in the candy before they hand it out.

Well next week should be a pretty exciting time. A new American president is elected, guitar legend Will Chapin arrives in Chengdu, and maybe my hanging clothes will finally be dry. Stay tuned to the blog for in-depth coverage of all this and more! Josh is in China!!