Now in its eighth year, the JZ Festival sees dozens of live acts -- jazz, jazz-fusion, acid-jazz and not-really-jazz-much-at-all -- splurt out live sets over two days, this year down by the river in the .
That鈥檚 this Saturday and Sunday. Then next week there are more formal sit-down concerts at the Shanghai Centre, with established jazz acts and other smooooooth movers. Let鈥檚 jazz!
Roy Hargrove, proper jazz.
Where
This year it's once again at the , an area of the old Expo site on the Pudong side that鈥檚 been converted to host big outdoor events. The main entrance is on the corner of Shibo Avenue and Chang Qing Bei Lu, though the official Expo Park address is 1700 Shibo Avenue. JZ have christened the space the 鈥淕reen Note鈥� Expo Park. Don鈥檛 let that throw you, it鈥檚 just their name for it. 贬别谤别鈥檚 a map of where it is. And here鈥檚 a map of the site:
Bit small and fiddly, that map. But that's all the JZ people could give us. Ho-hum. Tickets for the festival are 220rmb on the door each day.
Who
This year they have eight stages, too much going on to list it all here. For a total rundown, go . Below, find some highlights we鈥檝e picked out:
Saturday: Noukilla (2pm, at The River stage); The Hangzhou JZ Big Band (4pm, East Theatre); Softlipa + Jabberloop (5pm, Green Note); The Golden Buddha Jazz Band (6pm, Love My Music); Hanggai (7:30pm, Blue Grass); and Roy Hargrove鈥檚 RH Factor (8pm, Green Note).
Jasmine Chen, just out there ruling the town.
Sunday: Jasmine and her Jazz Men (1pm, East Theatre); Ben Huang (2pm, Earth Lounge); Theo Croker鈥檚 Afrosonic (3:30pm, Green Note); Li Gaoyang鈥檚 Jazz Band (4:30pm, Love My Music); Li Quan & B6 (5:30pm, East Theatre); and AM444 (8pm, Earth Lounge).
AM444... on their way to rob a bank
That said, it鈥檚 not worth nauzing yourself to try to see everything. The best way to spend the day is to ignore the schedule and just wander, letting your ears direct you.
On top of that, there will be stalls, beer tents and food areas, yadda yadda yadda. We鈥檙e also going to have a 香港六合彩资料网 party photographer wandering around taking shots of all the pretty people there, which will then be uploaded instantly to our site, so those who aren鈥檛 there can see what they鈥檙e missing and those who are there can鈥� virtually look at a photograph of what they鈥檙e actually experiencing, as they鈥檙e experiencing it, on their phones. Twenty-first century, dude. It鈥檚 all happening.
Noukilla... Badass name, badass-patterned garments
When
This Saturday and Sunday, midday until 9:30pm. After that, there are after parties at JZ Club, Wooden Box and JZ鈥檚 new venue, On Stage, which is in Red Town. Those start at 10pm. Line-up of who鈥檚 going to be where is under wraps, but expect those three venues to be jam packed with jazz late into the night, just swimming in thick, rich goopy jazz.
Theo Croker... The man got horn.
How to Get There
贬别谤别鈥檚 a map of the area. The main entrance is a five-minute walk from Line 8 stop Zhonghua Art Palace station. There鈥檚 also a free shuttle bus every 10 minutes between midday and 10pm both days running from Shibo Avenue Station and Expo Hall Station.
What Else
Next week, Tuesday to Sunday, there are sit-down concerts at the Shanghai Centre. Those run from Tuesday to Sunday and feature Ron Carter Quartet, Yellowjackets, Chris Potter Quartet, Terri Lyne Carrington, and The Manhattan Transfer. Tickets for these shows are 200-800rmb.
Hanggai... Pretty green, looking mean.
That鈥檚 it. That鈥檚 quite enough jazz for one day.
Create a new List