Coordinating rehearsal time is another hurdle.
The band contains more than 20 musicians, averaging 25 years of age, between 18 and 40. The have all kinds of professional and music backgrounds.
For the past year, they have rehearsed for seven hours every Saturday, from 3pm to 10pm, no matter what happens, in addition to personal practice at home.
One third of the band members are university students, not all from music conservatories. A third are professional musicians who have to earn money after rehearsals on Saturday nights, the busiest nights for jazz bars. The rest have full-time jobs that have nothing to do with music - policemen, bankers, lawyers and designers - for whom overtime is common and weekends are precious.
Speaking of the name, RJ (Real and Jazz), conductor Qian says, "Jazz is the medium and real is the reality we face. The name implies our challenges to maintain the band in general and for each one member, the gap and balance between reality and jazz."
Qian, also known as Michael Kern, returned to Shanghai last April after studying jazz for eight years in Austria.
He simply wanted to survive by doing what he likes - playing jazz. He started teaching saxophone at international schools and music organizations and also played with the locally famous JZ Big Band.
Print
Save