George Benson and Al Jarreau this Saturday If you haven't heard about this concert yet, then you probably don't ride in taxis, watch TV, browse any of Shanghai's bigger magazines or websites, and don't have friends who are into this kind of music. Either that or you're really good at ignoring advertising and your friends. In any case, it's likely to be a good show since either of these two individually put on a great......

Concert promoting "The Color of Love" at twocities gallery this Friday We're big fans of the music Steve and Jasmine have done on this album, which we've had the privilege of listening to in pre-release form. All the music on there is fantastic, and it's a surprise that such simple instrumentation can still create the range of sounds they do on this recording. But also, as much as we dig the album, hearing their live......

These three fantastic jazz vocalists will do a unique performance this Saturday night at a venue we haven't been to yet, called Lounge 18 (18 on the bund, 4F, 18 Zhongshan Dong Lu, near Nanjing Lu). Coco says it's a fantastic space, which means it should be perfect for the magical evening the group has planned for Saturday. Joining the three singers will be Tinho Pereira, the extraordinary Brazilian bass player who joined Coco and......

These two jazz vocalists are among the best Shanghai has to offer, and their show this afternoon will see them accompanied by a very strong rhythm section as well. Part of a series of monthly jazz concerts put on by JZ Club at the Oriental Arts Center, the show will also feature pianist Steve Sweeting, bassist Tinho Pereira, and drummer Ronnie Williams. For more info and tickets: JZ Club Culture.sh.cn Smart Shanghai......

Friday night was the first of five nights of racy burlesque performances by the Atomic Bombshells at the Glamour Bar. It was the perfect cure for those "boring Olympic opening ceremony blues", at least until China's own Olympic team paraded onto the screen--at which point nothing could draw the crowd's attention away from the big screen. Luckily that won't be an issue for the remaining 4 nights of shows. The first three nights (including tonight......

It was our good friend Anna Jacyszyn's penultimate night singing at the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton 2nd floor jazz bar, so we went by last night to hear her. Little had we realized, the band is once again playing in their old haunt on the second floor that has been undergoing renovation for at least a few months (6 or more it seems). The bar was originally scheduled to reopen much earlier than now, but the......

These concerts keep getting better and better. The twocities in tune concerts have traditionally featured Steve Sweeting on piano joined by a vocalist, and the last one we heard with Jasmine Chen on vocals was off the hook. This time, Steve is going all-out and bringing in bass and drums to join him and vocalist Coco Zhao to make the final concert in the spring series a show-stopper. Playing bass will be Scott Dodd and......

They're not coming to play together, but rather in two separate shows happening this week. Swiss trumpeter Erik Truffaz is performing Thursday (tomorrow) at JZ Club with his band, and Saturday is Mike Stern's show. Each of them are bringing a quartet, ostensibly touring to promote new albums. Mike Stern's quartet consists of Bob Franceschini, Lincoln Goines, Lionel Cordew. Erik Truffaz is bringing Marcello Giuliani, Marc Erbetta, and Patrick Muller in his band. Both of......

Hopefully you'll catch this post in time to get down to Glamour tonight for Norwegian jazz band The Core. They played last night there already, and will do again tonight for their last show here in Shanghai. We'll be there tonight, as we had our own shows to play last night. We've listened to sound samples from their website, and the music is all impressive. Definite references to Coltrane (they're definitely channeling the second quartet......

Just a quick update on what's happening in the coming few weeks here in town. Once again, the Speakeasy party will be tonight (April 11) featuring Five Below with Marta Taylor on vocals at JG Bar, Jean George in 3 on the Bund, 4F with music from 11pm-2am. Free entry. This party, currently held every second Friday, is turning into a great hangout with more and more people dressing up in the 20s garb to......

Steve Sweeting knows how to bring creativity out of vocalists. Having worked with a number of local singers in Shanghai since he moved out here almost two years ago, he has produced a number of concerts and even a few albums already with many of Shanghai's best singers. His popular ongoing vocal-piano duo concert series at Twocities Gallery "Twocities in tune," has always been well-attended, as they tend to premier new music and ideas. Even......