Getting bonded
Only a few months later Gu and Qian by chance encountered a band comprised of graduates and former school band members from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and East China University of Political Science and Law. "We were touched by their passion and commitment to jazz, even though they are not professional musicians," Gu says.
They joined, and were followed by more professional musicians, who turned the band semi-professional. To make time for the fixed, long rehearsal on Saturdays, Qian quit JZ Big Band and stopped teaching on Saturdays, though that income was important.
Qian is far from the only one sacrificing personal time and income for the band, which is purely a labor of love. Professional players steadfastly help less experienced musicians, though they could be making money at hotels and bars. Newly weds and young parents in the band are fortunate their families support them, allowing them to rehearse for long hours.
"Since it's so difficult to get a rehearsal place and get everyone together, we all value the precious practice time," Qian says.
"We don't ever want to sacrifice rehearsal time to get more performances. In fact, we have held a few review sessions and realized we have performed a bit too much in the last half year."
By playing too much, he means two performances every month for the last four months.
The band has won champions in two competitions and played in various venues around the city.
The band will play for an hour at the JZ Festival Shanghai tomorrow before going into undisturbed rehearsal.
"We've never set a grand goal of accomplishing a certain number of performances or winning a certain number of competitions a year," Qian says. "We just want to play together, which already isn't easy in the busy city of Shanghai."
By Yao Minji (Shanghai Daily)
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