I selected the jazz standard “The Old Tea House” performed by a group called John Huie and the Clear Wind Band. John Huie is an Australian musician and arranger who moved to Hong Kong and eventually Shanghai to study world music. Jazz in China was very popular back in the 1920’s when Chinese jazz standards were being written and performed in the U.S. and China. However, when China became a communist state, most jazz music and dancing was banned and left behind. In the last 20 years jazz has been making a comeback in China and John Huie was inspired to start a big band jazz group of local talent to re-record the Chinese jazz classics from the “old days”. The result was John Huie and the Clear Wind Band and their album “Shanghai Jazz – Musical Seductions From China’s Age of Decadence.” 

The instrumentation of the band includes bass, clarinet, bass clarinet, drum set, guitar, piano, tenor sax, trombone, trumpet, pipa, and violin. The band also has a trio of vocalists who do not sing in this number.

I chose this piece because it is just amazing. First, I find the light history of Chinese jazz to be very interesting, and I think it’s really fortunate that John Huie started this project. Other than that, the piece itself has a catchy melody, and fast shuffle beat that makes you want to dance. Plus, the musicianship is advanced and the solo artists are very talented. The trumpet part in this piece is everything I want a trumpet to sound like, I’m in love with it! Finally, I think they blended the pipa into this song the perfect amount where it’s not a jazz song with pipa but truly a Chinese jazz chart.

The YouTube video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SY_iZMpVII

P.S. If you love big band jazz like I do and you loved this song, you can also enjoy a Shanghai Jazz vocal piece called “The Love You Can’t Get” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVTUunPlERg&list=PLJr1yxUd5Ls3XE6epLlxN9LdydGA8m_UM