The Five Corners Quintet New Album Hot Corner

These guys are from Helsinki and play dance floor jazz. All About Jazz just reviewed their new album Hot Corner. You can read it here.

Remembering the Rat

It’s 2009! The Year of The Ox! Happy New Year! Looking back at 2008 aka the rat year, no one would say it’s in contention for Best Year Ever on a macro-level, but musically it was pretty decent. We started Layabozi which is Totally Awesome as you well know, and we dug good music. The heat also increased around the rock/indie rock/Yuyintang scene and The Shelter became the place for electronic dance music. I don’t understand the “underground” designation for those places except in the interior decorating sense, but it’s frequently applied to those places, so bravo for 2008: The Rise of Underground Music.

Alec Haavik at the Oriental Arts Center

Mahler once said that a symphony should be like the world, and Alec had similarly grand intentions for this concert.

A Playlist from Nicholas Bouloukos, Discerning American Gentleman

In addition to being a gentleman, Nicholas Bouloukos is a discerning American badass of the piano. He has performed all over Europe and Asia and has played with many great jazz artists including Stefon Harris, Nick Brignola, and Roy Hargrove. Currently his badassery is most frequently on display JZ Club’s much-maligned piano, with the Big [...]

Alec Haavik Interview Part 2!

After we completed part one of the interview (several months ago. You know how I roll) Alec suggested we do a follow-up as he had more to offer on some of the topics we had gotten into during part one before I realized that my minidisc recorder was busted. So here it is, a mere two weeks after promised. I’m getting better and better at this! It’s kind of long but, ducklings, you are not some short-attention-spanned MTV brats, no, you are the most sophisticated music lovers in the WORLD! Enjoy.

LYBZ: So you said you have some more ideas you are burning with desire to share, about the DVD markets, etc.?
AH: I’ve been thinking about the ingredients that make up a jazz scene, and some pretty amazing particulars in the case of Shanghai’s: one is the vacuum of western music that was here before, before western jazz players started coming. There’s a feeling of

The Long-Awaited Alec Haavik Interview: Part 1

Alec Haavik has been our Featured Artist here at Layabozi for some time, now. You probably already know all about his killin’ saxophone playing and composing already, and that his band plays most every Thursday at JZ Club, and that he also features in that fine institution’s Big Band, Blue Koi Collective, and others. This [...]

The Kandinsky Effect – Instant Kandinsky Review

[Warren Walker played at CJW Xintiandi in late 2006 and early 2007, during which time he was loved by audiences there and at various jam sessions around town for his musicianship, creativity, passionate extended solos, and some extras! He lives in Paris. --ed]
The first release of The Kandinsky Effect, is an energetic and honest [...]

Coco Zhao’s sundtrack “Wonder Town”

Coco comes from an art family; his parents were Chinese-opera artists. He naturally creates a familiar environment around jazz, he’s constantly acclaimed and highlighted by the Jazz world as the big star of jazz in Shanghai, he is the precious jazz voice of our big city.
Coco has been singing on Shanghai’s stages since the early [...]