In the 1920s, jazz was alive and swinging in the cabarets and nightclubs of Shanghai where American big band sounds melded with Chinese folk melodies. The love of jazz and a mutual interest in the melding of musical languages led to the first presentation of ‘Jasmine Jazz’ in Vancouver in 2014. Jazmine Jazz features Jirong Huang on erhu, Sarah Yusha Tan on guzheng and Zhongxi Wu on sheng and suona with Arnt Arntzen on banjo and vocals, Jodi Proznick on bass and Bruce Henczel on percussion. The Ensemble returns again and again to an unusual and exquisite interplay between traditional Chinese and jazz instruments. And each time, the music grows in depth and scope.

In 2022, Jasmine Jazz features the same three musicians of the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble with some of the city’s finest jazz musicians and composers: Jodi Proznick on bass, Bill Coon on guitar and James Danderfer on clarinets.

Jasmine Jazz is about musical conversations and an east meets west experience, full of beauty, harmony and mutual respect. The repertoire is a beautiful mix of songs pulled from jazz and traditional Chinese folk music and original composition by members of the ensemble.

Website: www.vancouverchinesemusic.ca
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