The second day of the JZ Festival went well, with another bout of perfect weather and slightly cooler temperatures. The afternoon crowd was about the same as the first day, nearly filling up the relatively small amount of space in between the buildings at the New Factories where the concerts are being held. The musical pattern set on day one seemed to hold through the second day as well, which was: begin the day with some solid, swinging straight-ahead jazz; from there move into an eclectic mix of Scandinavian groups for the rest of the afternoon; then start the evening set with a local blockbuster group and finish it with some popular Chinese pop-rock. more ›

The NOTCH Nordic-China music festival kicked off last Wednesday at the Rojam disco with some electro-pop and other synthesizer-laden grooves. The second night of the festival, also at Rojam, featured more ambient effects-based groups and group improvisation. The final show of the festival took place last night at JZ Club, featuring a solo saxophone performance as well as an impressive violin-bass-drums trio. more ›

There's a lot of treats in store for jazz listeners over the next couple weeks, starting with the Juno award-winning David Braid sextet dropping into town on Saturday to play at JZ Club. Then the Norway-China ("NOTCH") music festival kicks off during the October holiday week, with concerts taking place at JZ aand Rojam. Most of the shows, including Bugge Wesseltoft (who played two years ago at JZ Club) will be at the Rojam disco on October 4 and 5, and will feature more electronic-based music. The part at JZ will just be one night, Oct. 6, and will feature two different jazz groups: the Ola Kvernberg Trio and Hakon Kornstad. more ›

The Halloween weekend is coming up, and the indie rock scene is here to answer Shanghailander cravings for unsigned talent with several shows lined up: more ›