Weeks Thoughts

Didn’t get around to write last week. 

The band is starting to develop a lot more as a group. It’s a shame that it will be finishing soon. We did manage to get a few extra weeks in October as the next band needed more time to get the paperwork done.

Last jam session we had a bit of a miscommunication as a guy came up wanting to play an original song (of course nobody knew the song). He finished one, then started another. Selim and Guillaume weren’t happy, and there was a bit of an argument. It’s really just a misunderstanding about what it is. A jam session or an open mic.I personally would have just given him the stage to perform the song if he insisted on playing an original. 

But a jazz jam session should definitely not allow original songs or popular music. There are other open mics for that kind of stuff. And at the moment in Shanghai there isn’t really a place that does a good jazz jam session. JZ club does sometimes but it starts at 1:30am and it’s not consistent anymore.

We had some nice musicians come in that night. A Russian trumpet player, who was very respectful and a great player too. He was here with a classical group performing in China that week. June aisles came with some people he knew from his Uni in Holland. They were also here for a world music tour.

…..

I had a couple of slots at the JZ festival yesterday. Both gypsy jazz projects. We opened up the swing stage at 12:30 which the main stage next to us were doing a late sound check. It was really close but we just got on with it. But once the next act started, we had to stop. It was hip hop and just too loud. We did manage to get through most of the set.

The sound from the neighbouring stage wasn’t the only issue this festival. They decided to have it out near Disneyland which is still Shanghai, but about 30km away. And the tickets were expensive, and there were pretty much no vegetarian options for food. Musicians didn’t get any meals, and weren’t allowed to go to the festival to watch if you weren’t playing that day. Im sure the main artists like Marcus Miller, Jacob Collier, Layla Hathaway or Earth Wind and Fire didn’t haven problems though. Just the local musicians.

They were running late on the main stage so we had to be pushed back about an hour or so. Wouldn’t have been a problem but I had to run back to the House of Blues and Jazz. I ended up being half an hour late, but there wasn’t much I could do about ti. It was jam night anyway so, no one really noticed. 

I caught Marcus Millers band which was great. Such a clean bass sound. I’d love to know who does live sound for him. It stays fat, but nothing buzzes…. Just clean.

Our last set was fun. This weekend was the moon festival, so we had almost a full moon looking at us from across the stage. We were playing the same time as Jacob Collier so we didn’t have a massive crowd, but the group of people watching were all really into the music and having a good time. It makes such a difference to your playing. The audience really can lift you up if you can somehow capture some of that energy.