Shanghai’s Music History & Jazz Scene - Past and Present - A night time walk

Old Shanghai was the uncontested Jazz capital of Asia, where musicians from the world over tested their musical mettle to the delight of enthusiastic audiences. In the colorful cabarets and sepia-lit dance halls of Old Shanghai, Jazz music set a background score to a world of mobsters, adventurers and sing-song girls. This is a walk for music lovers where Shanghai Flaneur Andrew Field will talk about the history of modern and contemporary classical and jazz music in Shanghai. We begin with the Russian influence in Old Shanghai, discuss the rise of the modern music conservatory, and pay homage to the composer of the Chinese national anthem, visiting these sites and monuments along the way. Then we will visit two jazz and blues clubs that have paved the way for a jazz and blues scene in Shanghai: the Cotton Club and the JZ Club.

Expert: Andrew Field is a scholar of Modern Chinese History and Culture, with a focus on Shanghai. He currently serves as the Director of Boston University Study Abroad Programs in Shanghai. Andrew has written two books on the history of Shanghai's nightlife cultures, Shanghai's Dancing World (2010) and Shanghai Nightscapes (soon to be published). He has been living in Shanghai since the 1990s, with the exception of a five-year teaching stint in Sydney Australia where he taught Chinese History for UNSW.

Time and meeting point: 20:00–22:30 at Pushkin monument at the intersection of Fenyang Road, Yueyang Road, Dongping Road and Taojiang Road

Costs: RMB 300 p.p., RMB 250 for 2nd person, RMB 180 for students (30RMB p.p. entrance fees into the clubs are not included)

Number of Participants: max 16.

Registration at publicwalks(at)shanghai-flaneur.com or call 1381 892 2040.