Catshanghai

Denmark’s Mais Uma have been performing some shows at Shanghai’s JZ Club (46 Fuxing Xi Lu) since April 13th, which ends tomorrow night (April 29th). The video above shows Mais Uma at JZ last night performing Tao Feliz (So Happy). The song is taken from their excellent album ‘Caminho Do Norte’.

We have not been big fans of Latin jazz, because we find it too loose and frothy. However, Mais Uma performed two excellent sets of Brazilian jazz last night, which has forced us to reconsider. Jenny summed up everything she liked about them. Carsten was quiet and sensitive on the piano. Morten’s bass sound was very open. Janus was wild on the drums. Pelle was a bit mysterious on the sax and flute. The musicians had their own personalities, but gelled together as a team. We were really impressed with Mai’s vocals. She sang with a lot of emotion, but she still sounded tight and controlled like another musical instrument that tied everything together.

We liked the way Mais Uma made an old genre fresh and new, although they started to sound a little laboured by the middle of the third set. Maybe we were also a little jaded by this time.

Anyway, two enjoyable jazz shows in one weekend is challenging my preconception that Shanghai jazz shows are conservative and predictable. I should also take another look at Latin and Brazilian jazz instead of dismissing them as glibly as I have in the past.

Links: Mais Uma’s Website, JZ, Singing in the Chen