One thing that has really struck me in Changsha is the way many of the music scenes we take for granted in the west are still very much in their infancy here. Changsha may be known as China’s “entertainment city”, but that’s mainly because of its thriving TV industry – the Hunan capital is renowned for churning out popular, mass-market shows such as The Voice.
When it comes to music, though – in particular the less mainstream genres – it can be a struggle getting things off the ground. For instance, when I went to check out local hip-hop group C-Block on my second night here, my main contact in Changsha, Li Ren, explained some of the problems music promoters face: “C-Block had originally had a show booked in another place, but they sold so many tickets that it was cancelled by the police department.
“Venues are under really strict scrutiny from the culture department as well as the police. They don’t see that what we are promoting is trying to enrich our people’s lives. They just think about the crowds and how you’re trying to sell them drinks to make money. So the owners of venues such as 46 Live House or Red Live House, they do it only for the love of music. They could just open a regular bar to make money, but instead they book bands and take the risk of the police coming along to close them down.”
Another problem is the struggle to introduce new and challenging forms of music to a public who are simply not used to it, which is very much the case with Changsha’s emerging jazz scene. Jazz has been played in China since the 1930s but the country under Mao largely lost touch with the genre. Nowadays there are healthy jazz scenes in Beijing and Shanghai, but in a mid-sized city (for China) such as Changsha, live jazz music has been played only for the past few years.
The fact that live jazz is here at all is largely down to two men: jazz drummer Funky, who has played shows across the world, and his business partner Mr Chen. Together, they opened up the first jazz club in Changsha six years ago, called Foyou (“For you”), before going on to set up the city’s international jazz festival, which is now in its fifth year. But it hasn’t been easy.
“With the public, there is a misunderstanding about the concept of jazz,” explains Mr Chen when I meet him at the venue he runs, Red Live House. “I think their understanding of jazz stays in the 1930s. But we live in a modern era, so I feel the people should listen to modern jazz.”
Financing events such as the festival is a huge struggle, given the government has so far proved unwilling to offer support. “Changsha international jazz festival is the only festival supported by private enterprise alone, without any support from the government or other funds,” Mr Chen says. “All the private sponsorship [we do get] is limited. Given the experience of the last five years, I would say my feeling for the next five years is a hopeless one … but I will continue doing this anyway.”
If his outlook seems somewhat pessimistic, Mr Chen should take heart from what his festival has achieved in such a short time. The second year, in 2011, saw it move from Foyou to the large grand theatre and attract some big names through Funky’s contacts (“We were losing money, but it made fame for the organisation”). The festival now attracts an audience of thousands and has won respect around the city. By last year’s fourth event, Mr Chen had opened Red Live House, and the festival featured the first local jazz act, Easy Band. (Those following these blogs will remember that Easy Band were the backing group for Sam Genders’s debut performance in Changsha.)
All of which brings us to another problem: maintaining local relationships. Easy Band have not been booked for this year’s fifth festival and, aggrieved at their exclusion, have since refused to play at Red Live House. When I spoke to them, they talked about not receiving enough money for their performance the previous year (they claim to have received just ¥300, roughly £30), and they felt strongly enough that when they stepped in as Genders’s backing band, they insisted he move his show from Red Live House to 46 Live House across town.
For his part, Mr Chen says it was “special” to have a local band playing the festival last year, and that he doesn’t fully understand the disagreement. “I don’t think it’s a big deal and we should not be stressful about it,” he says. However, a bit of probing reveals that he’s not entirely against sticking the knife in: “I do think their quality has not improved since last year. They’re not working hard to improve their artistic ability.”
• The Musicians in China Residencies programme is a partnership project between the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations, and the PRS for Music Foundation.
