Results tagged “jazzclubs”

JZ Club has started hosting concerts at the Shanghai Center Theater (the one in the Portman Ritz-Carlton building) and the next one is tomorrow (Friday, that is). This show is featuring Bob James, the smooth jazz pianist who recently recorded his album "Angels of Shanghai" here in town with a number of local traditional intrumentalists. There's more information about the project on Bob James' website.

In fact TTing has already been open for nearly four months, but has yet to do a formal grand opening. Like any fledgling business in Shanghai, it's their first year so they're still struggling, but slowly the place is building a following — not just for the jazz-pop band performing in the main room but also for the pool tables and VIP nightclub vibe happening downstairs.

Lin Dongfu and Song Lan have spent an extra-long time (and extra-huge amount of money) making the new space just right, using the same wood paneling decoration concept as the last place—in fact much of the paneling came directly from the old building. They have 2 levels again, but this time the second level has a whole section where you can look down onto the band. They had to rebuild the frame holding up the second level, as the original framework was rickety and unreliable. They have replaced all the windows and installed a central gas heating system so as not to have to use air conditioners blowing air to heat the place in winter. The stage is just big enough for a normal-sized band, certainly larger than the last one but in a bit of a strange shape we think. It's an even square, but because it's facing both into the bar area in one direction as well as the main music listening seating area, no one side can be considered the front. Instead, the front seems to be the corner that faces both the seating area and the bar area. We'll just see how the shape works out once people start playing on it.