It’s the time of year when Nanjing gets ready to welcome musicians from all over the world, for the now-legendary Nanjing International Jazz Festival, to be held from 11 to 24 October, in Nanjing and a host of other locations across Jiangsu Province.
Now recognised as a resounding cultural business card for both Nanjing and Jiangsu, for 17 years, nearly 100 bands from 20 countries and regions have visited to perform at the festival. In all, there have been over 300 performances, watched by more than 600,000 people, in squares, theatres, college campuses, bars and restaurants.
This year’s opening ceremony, at which all bands perform, is set for 11 October, at 7.15pm in the Nanjing Culture & Art Centre on Changjiang Lu. The full line up hail from Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Africa, Germany, the USA and China. While the complete 2019 introduction to each band can be found at the end of this article, the story behind the festival provides audiences with a greater depth of appreciation for the annual celebration of musi-scapes.
In 2002, when he was music director for the Jiangsu Provincial Culture Centre, Er Hu player, Dong Jinming, boldly proposed the idea of a jazz festival, a time when world music was not universally accepted by Chinese people. Yet, his creativity was supported by the local government and the Cultural Centre. Dong and the festival have since shared the same fate for more than 10 years. Helping him to make the festival a reality was Nanjing’s first foreign model worker, holding a “1st May Labour Medal” and “4th May Outstanding Youth Medal”, Helmut Güsten, a popular and much-respected figure in the Nanjing international community.
In 2003, the festival’s scale was reduced due to the SARS crisis, but from the following year, it went from strength to strength. A notable landmark was the 2009 expansion into into universities and colleges. In 2010, the festival was included in the Nanjing’s World Historical and Cultural City Expo, while the following year, it became tagged with the somewhat cumbersome strap line “Shared Joy in Jiangsu”, together with other activities sponsored by the Jiangsu government press office.
In more recent years, the festival’s atmosphere has also spread its wings province-wide, to the cities of Suzhou, Wuxi, Lianyungang, Huai’an, Yancheng, Nantong, Changzhou and Taizhou.
Evil Empire Orchestra
Making a welcome return to the festival after their debut last year is Belgium’s Evil Empire Orchestra, presenting their wild crossover of psychedelic, soul, jazz and garage funk. The eight-piece has earned its place in the music world, a unique place where dirty soul meets the psychedelic. It’s irresistible.
Sprinkle Blizzard
Hailing from Austria, Belgium, Ukraine and Poland, Sprinkle Blizzard serve up dance music comprising traditional melodies and their own compositions, represented by a vast repertoire consisting of French mazurkas, waltzes, Scottisches, bourees, chappeloises, cercles Circassiens, Scandinavian polskas and Breton an dros (folk dance), to name but a few!
Fiston
A brand new quintet of professional musicians, based in Brussels. All five studied or study Jazz music at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Think folk music made more spicy with knowledge of jazz harmony. Balkan influences therein too.
Bloom Ticket
Band from Vyborg, Russia, whose style is mixing minimalistic jazzy sounds with a touch of experimental electronic in a soft, lounge-like atmosphere. Their repertoire consists of popular songs’ covers with occasional jazz standards and original songs. You read correctly; Russian Lounge.
University of Missouri – St. Louis Jazz Combo
Combo comprising of students who are part of the UMSL Jazz Ensemble, who have shared the stage with such world-renowned artists as Count Basic.
Wild Strings Trio
Born in 2014 in Ljubiana, Slovenia, the Wild Strings Trio is a collaboration between Slovakian jazz violinist, Petra Onderutova; French classical cellist, Toby Kuhn; and Slovenian guitarist, Aleksander Kuzmic.
V.O.P Music Jazz Band
Homegrown China-Africa, V.O.P Music Jazz Band, plays an eclectic mix of jazz, blues, funk and pop. Acclaimed for their effortless way of switching between French chansons, American jazz standards, ballads, soul, Brazilian Bossanova and Chinese folk music, each have been adapted adapted to their own unique jazz style.
Lateback
A four-piece from Munich, Germany, that wins over their audience with nonchalance and sensitivity. Influenced by the New Jazz School Munich (Neue Jazzschool München), Lateback creates a radiant sound, interpreting pop numbers with elements of funk, Latin and jazz.
Jiangsu JTA Jazz Orchestra
Founded in 2015, the Jiangsu JTA Jazz Orchestra is affiliated to the Trumpet Professional Committee of the Jiangsu Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and consists of 17 professional music performers from philharmonic societies or music schools in Jiangsu. A variety of music styles are to be found in their performances, such as jazz, swing, blues, pop and recomposed Chinese jazz.
