At the end of September, JZ Club, one of the longest running and most active institutions in Shanghai music put on the JZ Jazz festival. On a rainy weekend, JingAn Park saw 3 days of great music from both China and the rest of the world. We caught up with festival organiser Mark Elliott during a tour of Europe and asked him a few questions about the realities of doing an outdoor festival here in Shanghai.
CMR: JZ’s was a great success from the outside looking in. How was it in reality?
The festival is still a baby at just 4 years old so if you could see what was going on behind the scenes you would probably be a little surprised. It was really a huge amount of effort by a relatively small team. This meant many hours of overtime, dramas, sweat, blood and tears sometimes too. The fact that is was perceived to be a great success is the most the team at JZ could have wished for – everyone worked so hard, and the musicians, stage team, publicity team and everyone involved really pulled it together in the last moments.
CMR: When we first spoke, we were told the capacity was 6000-8000. By the time the festival actually happened, it seemed like it was a sell out with only 1000 people in the paid area. What happened?
There were some safety concerns on the first night and we had to restrict the number of tickets available. The Friday audience and the atmosphere in the park was conducive to allowing more people in on day 2 and 3.
CMR: The lineup was eclectic. How did you feel the various artists were received and what was the best moment?
The biggest crowd turned out to see Joanna Wang, that’s for sure. My personal favorites were The Rhythm Junks this year, but generally it seems like the audience really wants to see variety and that is something we’ll try to continue in the future. The best moment for us behind the scenes was the closing song of Laura Fygi with the Rolf Becker All Star Big Band. The audience really got into the show and it was a highlight to end the festival.
CMR: Jing’An park was an interesting choice and we especially loved the stage next to the lake. How did it work for you guys?
It was very convenient to use the park in the middle of town, but the space was perhaps too crowded. To create a stronger festival atmosphere we’d like to have various areas to explore with different events going on, not only music but some interactive elements too.
CMR: What were the main things you learned from doing a festival in Shanghai in 2008?
Don’t do a festival when the Olympics are on! Haha! Actually we’re all a young team and are open to the future possibilities. What we really learnt was that if you put on a good performance schedule, people will love to come and enjoy. So I suppose we’re feeling quite ambitious now.
CMR: Will you be doing it again?
I can’t say too much at this stage, but we want to do it again and if we do, we’re hoping that people can come out to show the same fabulous support as in 2008!