Quote:
Originally Posted by yvanleterrible
Say Mogui! What's the Chinese take on Jazz? Are there any clubs there?
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Yes there are jazz clubs, but not in our city. In general Chinese people enjoy western music, but many of them don't distinguish between say, Norah Jones and Reba McIntyre. They don't usually have a wide enough experience of our musical genres to distinguish between them.
There are many talented musicians here. When you take music lessons here you progress through ten levels. By level ten you can read sheet music competently. I have a nurse friend who plays piano, and I am able to get her to play for me occasionally. We just find a bar or restaurant where the piano is not in use. She sits and plays. No permission is apparently required. She does ragtime, Eric Satie, and more -- very pleasant.
The other night my wife and I were walking home from her sister's and we happened upon a musical group playing together under a shelter in a park. The music was Chinese classical. There were five erhu players
a cello, a four-stringed lute-like instrument, a Chinese side-blown flute and something that is almost exactly like our hammered dulcimer. A lady sang beautifully.
The music was complex and the musicians read their parts from sheet music held on stands. Apparently they were friends who just gathered to play together for fun.
When I met my wife I was surprised at her eclectic taste in western music. She had an extensive collection of CDs and older tapes. To my great delight much of it was new to me. I have introduced her to many jazz vocalists like Diana Kraal and others. She even seems to like my Thelonius Monk and others of that era.
There is nothing native to China that resembles jazz. There is classical and Chinese opera. There are great varieties of ethnic music which is exotic and very exciting. China has vast quantities of pop music which is available on TV at any time. It is performed on elaborate stage sets. China has her stars and many of them are world-class quality. Coming to China was, for me, a whole new world of music.