By Celine Song and Ned Kelly
From Old Shanghai and the Concession Era to Reform and Opening Up, via the Japanese Occupation, Civil War, birth of the People's Republic, Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, Lao Shanghairen was a series where we talk to ordinary citizens who lived through extraordinary times.
At the time of this 2011 interview, Bao Zhengzhen and Li Mingkang were 84 and 75 years old, respectively.
Bao Zhengzhen and Li Mingkang, the drummer and bass player in the Peace Hotel Jazz Band, are both Shanghainese born and bred. Bao seems to have been attracted to the after hours life from the start. “One of my strongest early memories about Shanghai are that all the bars and stages in the city were along Nanjing Lu, with a few more after you turn at the end along Xizang Zhong Lu - Daxin, MGM, Vienna, Guotai…” Bao begins reeling them off, and giving one the feeling he still remembers the names of every single one.
“My family lived in the French Concession at that time, beside the Jinjiang Hotel, he continues. “I had no idea what kind of people played in Peace Hotel in the old times, as we were not allowed to go into places like this.”
Bao and Li have known each other for nearly 60 years. “We first met as fellow members of the Orchestra of Shanghai Labors’ General Union, which was found in 1953. I played clarinet then,” say Bao. “We gave performances on behalf of the Shanghai Workers, but not actually for them. Workers at that time were not up to this sort of thing.”
They say that during the Cultural Revolution, the ornate decorations in the Dragon Phoenix Hall, the Chinese restaurant on the eighth floor of the hotel, were considered too “capitalistic,” and stuff in the hotel had to cover the walls and ceiling with newspaper to pass an inspection.
Playing music in a hotel or restaurant was impossible during those years, they say. The current incarnation of the Peace Hotel Jazz Band was formed in 1980, at the request of tourists who would complain about the absence of Jazz music in a city so famous for it.
“Opening Up was indeed a life-changing event for us musicians,” says Bao. “And of course we were an immediate success and soon the other big hotels began to copy us.” Li adds: “The band became the focus of the foreign media. People from all over the world came to Shanghai just to see us, including celebrities. And we were invited abroad.
“In modern society, there are more people willing to spend money getting back to the old times, history and sense of nostalgia. They seek comfort in the old Jazz,” continues Li. “We don’t like the new style, which is quite popular among young folks these days. It is just so different.”
They may not like modern music, but the boys in the band have moved with the times. “For the first decade, the members didn’t change at all. Now the band is more like a brand. We’ve got our own agent too - we’re no longer employees of the hotel.”
This article first appeared in the November 2011 issue of That's Shanghai.
0 User Comments