Among all the bars located along Houhai Lake, East Shore live jazz bar seems a bit different. As one of the two bars in Beijing specializing in live jazz music, it has already developed a loyal customer base since opening in 2007.
Jazz music, or blue notes, is not exactly popular in Beijing, according to Fischer Lee, East Shore's manager. But the city's jazz fans know where to go on the weekends, when famous jazz bands perform live at East Shore.
One of those bands is called Quattrology. As a 10-year veteran of the Beijing jazz scene, Quattrology vocalist Jessica Meider has witnessed its growth. "To look at the jazz scene in Beijing today and think of what was happening here musically 25 to 30 years ago, it's been amazing growth," she said.
Beijing and Shanghai are regarded as the host cities in China for jazz music, and both local and foreign musicians have blended traditional jazz music with Chinese elements.
The World Unity Jazz Ensemble (WUJE) used the erhu, a two-stringed fiddle and Chinese traditional musical instrument, on their latest album, Hollow Reed. After Beijing succeeded in bidding for the 2008 Olympics, WUJE co-founders Phil Morrison and Keith Williams wanted to express how they felt, Morrison said in an interview with China Daily. Their song "Beijing Hao Yun (Good Luck Beijing) features the guzheng (21-stringed or 25 stringed plucked Chinese musical instrument) and the Chinese flute. "The message of the song is so positive and it recognizes the international spirit of the Games," Morrison said.
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