REVIVING AN OLD BEAT

JZ music, with its festival, night club and music school is quickly cementing Shanghai's position at the epicenter of China's growing jazz scene, Xing Wen reports.

It's the Autumn Equinox and a bright full moon hangs in the sky. Jazz instrumentalists serenade her with colorful riffs and rhythmic sounds, which reverberate through the air filled with the scent of fresh grass as women in vintage dresses practice swing dance moves with their male partners. That was the scene at a Shanghai campsite on Sept 23, which sought to reproduce the atmosphere of the Paramount Hall in the 1930s - when the American Jazz movement finally reached China and the music was frequently performed by bands in city nightclubs.

The party, which oozed nostalgia, was a snapshot of the 14th JZ Festival Shanghai, where audiences could enjoy the musical feast presented by jazz maestros from both home and abroad, including American saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Spanish trumpeter Andrea Motis, Chinese singer-songwriter Li Quan, and pop diva Yuan Yawei, who is well-known for her soulful, signature jazzy music.