Tomorrow night, one of Beijing’s biggest bands, Carsick Cars, plays Mao Livehouse. We caught up with lead singer Zhang Shouwang ahead of the gig

Many people say Carsick Cars is China’s best rock band right now. What makes them think you’re the best?
I don’t think we’re the best Chinese rock band. PK14 is much better and much more important. We’re just part of a group of musicians who like experimenting and making music.

Your musical influences are… ?
Lou Reed and Velvet Underground, and composers Steve Reich and John Adams. Yang Haisong of PK14 and Zu Zhou are also very important. They changed my ideas of music and opened a very big door for Beijing musicians, and of course without Cui Jian it’s hard to think that Chinese rock could be so developed.

Why does New York music culture influence you so much?
All cultures inspire me, but the ideas and sounds of New York are something that as a Beijinger I can feel very strongly about. Beijing and New York are having a conversation that I can understand.

What can people who have never seen you before expect from your performance tomorrow night?
Probably a lot of noise and many people in the audience wearing black clothes.

Local bassist, sideman extraordinaire, and all around upright kinda guy

photo by Elsa Zhao

A bassist is the guy you don’t necessarily notice when you first walk into a jazz band performance. But as the music continues, his presence becomes more and more pronounced. It’s his reliable bassline that carries the song from beginning to end, ties solo to solo, and infects you with that bounce that manifests as imperceptible heel-tapping under the table and blossoms into all out hip-swinging on the dancefloor before you know it. Good-natured and subtly fashion conscious, Shanghai’s very own EJ Parker holds up that bass banner with pride. Born Eugene Joseph, EJ grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and took on the upright bass at fifteen. He performed at many of the top clubs in town throughout high school and won a scholarship to attend the Dana School of Music after graduation, where he majored in jazz performance and toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

One sunny afternoon at the Blue Frog in Xujiahui, EJ and I talked about moving to Shanghai five years ago and what it’s like to be a bassist. Other than as the band leader of The Iron Legion (performs Monday nights at JZ Club), you’ll find EJ on the stage throughout the week as a sideman for the JZ All Star Big Band, Coco Zhao and Possicobilities, and the Lawrence Ku Trio, to name a few. If you ever get a chance to chat with EJ, you’re sure to come away with the same impression that I had after our interview. With a well-developed sense of humor and penchant for the quirkier elements of life, EJ’s the upright kinda guy that you’d invite along on your all-night adventures around town and still want to hang out with the next day. Check out EJ at the JZ Music Festival with the JZ All Star Big Band, Possicobilities and The Red Groove Project.

Theo Croker: Trumpeter, Composer and All-Around Cool Cat

photo by Rick Purcell

If you’ve never seen Theo Croker before, he’s a pretty easy one to spot. He’s the one with the trumpet by his side at all times. The neat dreadlocks and mischievous glint in his eye are also dead giveaways. Having grown up in the U.S. in a musically oriented family, Theo was introduced to the world of jazz and the blues at a young age. He picked up the trumpet at eleven and has been a virtuoso ever since, recording his first album at 20 (The Fundamentals) and his second at 22 (In The Tradition). When in Shanghai, he’s often found on stage perfecting his art at JZ, Cotton Club, or the House of Blues and Jazz. Catch him this week at Sound Blue for the start of a new Friday gig (lasting for the next three weeks, Aug 28-Sep 11), performing as part of the house quartet.

I sat down to talk with Theo over Crazy Iced Teas and beers at Mesa Manifesto. It was an early happy hour for me as I waited for the man to arrive. Our interview was delayed by the bane of many a foreigner’s existence here in Shanghai – a visit to the Pudong visa office gone long. Add to that a short-lived thunderstorm/downpour that brings traffic to a whimper and I’m on my second Iced Tea when an apologetic Theo arrives. After ordering a Hoegaarden and settling down, he gave me an idea of what it’s like to live for music, thoughts on the jazz scene in Shanghai and the music he’s played and written.

A chat with the local saxophonist, composer and all-around professor of havoc

photo by Jenn Chan Lyman

The first time I saw Alec Haavik (‘Hoe-vick’, Norwegian pronunciation) on stage at JZ was one of the moments when I really fell in love with live jazz. If you’ve seen him on stage, you’ll know what I mean. Charismatic and wacky, you can barely tell Alec apart from his saxophone when he’s whizzing around on stage, shaking his crazy shock of hair to the beat. He’s got an energy that not only infects the audience, but his fellow players as well. You can find Alec at JZ on Thursday nights with his Friction Seven, as well as on Tuesday and Saturday nights playing with J.Q. Whitcomb and the JZ Big Band, respectively. During the JZ Music Festival, he'll be performing several functions, including backing (as part of the JZ All-Star Big Band) headliner Dee Dee Bridgewater at the Yunfeng Theater, serving as the MC for the Jazz Stage at Century Park and making appearances at the festival's afterparty jam sessions at the JZ Club.

Over pita, hummus and a cooper’s teriyaki salad, Alec and I chatted at Element Fresh for a couple of hours, taking a tour of musical theory and journeying to Haavik’s sub-surface. Minds out of the gutter now, dear readers. Full of heart and spirit, Alec’s personable-ness translates offstage as he talks about his family and influences. I was also lucky to hear him sing many animated excerpts of his music. He’s a committed Shanghai-er and calls this fair city his home. He's also, as he mentioned during our interview, "made of music." After this journey into the mind of Haavik, I think it's fair to say that yes, he truly is.

Local guitarist, principal, and all-around mellow kinda guy is not too cool for school.

photo by Huang Xi

A pillar of the Shanghai jazz scene, Lawrence Ku is one of those artists that you might call a musician’s musician. Down-to-earth and I suspect somewhat shy, Lawrence isn’t one to toot his own horn (or guitar) and make a big splash as he walks into the room. His sunny California upbringing shines in a mellow kind of way, rather than a ‘smiley face emblazoned on tie-dye T-shirt’ kind of way. Lawrence first came to China to study Mandarin in Beijing after college and has been back and forth from the States ever since. He settled in Shanghai with his family in 2005 and describes his Mandarin as “semi-fluent”. Other than performing and composing, he’s also been quite active as a teacher (MIDI School in Beijing and Beijing Contemporary Music Institute) and is currently the Principal of the JZ School.

Over a glass of Reisling (me) and a carrot apple juice (him), we sat down for a quiet chat at Globus Wine in Ferguson Lane. In an unassuming voice garnished with his dry sense of humor, Lawrence discusses his influences, his compositions, and sheds a bit of light on his dark side. A regular at JZ, he graces the stage on Tuesdays with JQ Whitcomb, Thursdays with Alec Haavik’s Friction Seven, and Saturdays with Nicholas Bouloukos and the JZ Big Band. As of this summer, he can also be found on Saturdays from 6:30-9:30pm at the Factory’s Jazz Supper Sessions. Lawrence is looking forward to performing in the JZ Big Band with Dee Dee Bridgewater at the JZ Music Festival, as well as in his own group, the Red Groove Project (a local funk jazz collective, also featuring Whitcomb and Haavik, among others).