First a Trickle, Then a Flood: Jazz Musicians Perform in China from All Over

Abstract

This chapter discusses the arrival of foreign jazz musicians in China. Mao's demise in 1976, which led to the reemergence of China as part of the world community in the last quarter of the twentieth century, together with the influence of electronic and transportation technologies in the second half of the twentieth century, had a direct impact on the rejuvenation of jazz in China, especially in Shanghai and Beijing. It provided opportunities for jazz musicians from all over the world to perform in China. The locus of this activity, at least in the beginning, was Shanghai and the opportunity fell to African American bassist and horn player Willie Ruff.