International Jazz Musicians Flock to Shanghai: 1920s–1930s
This chapter discusses the presence of foreign jazz musicians in China between the 1920s and the 1930s. According to bassist Da Ren Zheng, the rise of the dance halls led to the prominence of a large number of foreign, i.e., Western, jazz musicians. There were around fifty to sixty establishments in total. All these dance halls needed to hire jazz bands to accompany social dances, but at that time in Shanghai there were almost no Chinese jazz musicians; hence, a great number of foreign jazz musicians were contracted to play in Shanghai. The large-scale dance hall jazz bands were made up of around ten to fifteen people, and even small-size dance halls had five or six members. In a few years, more than 500 foreign musicians had surged into the Shanghai concessions. This huge contingent played jazz music day and night so that the entertainment life of Shanghai people was influenced unconsciously.