Keeping warm with free jazz

The nondescript square in front of Taipei City hall is not where one would usually choose to spend a Friday evening. But if there ever were a good reason to do so it would have to be the series of free jazz concerts being held there each Friday over the next five weeks.

Jazz is something of a rare pleasure in Taipei -- a generous figure places the market share for jazz albums in Taiwan at about 2 percent. There are few clubs where the music is played and the musicians in the genre, while often excellent and fanatical, are far from numerous. So, the open-air concerts at city hall, which will gather some of the country's brightest jazz talents, as well as several foreign musicians, are a real treat.

The concerts are likely to be small-scale affairs with the star at three of the shows being Rich Huang (黃瑞豐), the so-called Drum King of Taiwan. Other musicians to hit the stage will be John van Deursen, a Canadian expat living in Taiwan since 1986, Andy Mollard of the US on piano and the 20-person national jazz ensemble called the Taiwan Regional Jazz Group.

Partly due to their irrepressible love of the music and partly due to their low numbers, the players hop about from ensemble to ensemble, in many cases playing on more than one date, which should give an idea of the impressive range of many local musicians.

Collectively called the "Sunshine Jazz Banquet" (陽光Jazz饗宴), the feast metaphor aptly conveys that they will offer a huge array of styles from within the expansive realm of jazz.

The concerts are an admirable attempt by the Taipei Musician Occupation Union and the city government's Bureau of Cultural Affairs to bring jazz to a larger public that may not have the stomach for the smoky atmosphere nor hefty minimum charges of most jazz bars.

To add a family and artsy community spirit to the event, the organizers will install works by local artists at the venue to be enjoyed over free promotional cups of coffee. The coffee and artwork will likely be of average quality, but at least the coffee will be warm and in paper cups that keep chilled digits warm. The music, of course, promises to be excellent.

Outdoor jazz concerts during the summer months at Ta-an Forest Park's amphitheater have proven wildly popular, but conditions weather-wise are slightly less predictable on the barren wind-blown square in January. The spirit of the event is nonetheless there and who knows, a warm front may sweep in from Tahiti. In case one does not, invest in some ear muffs and enjoy some great music for free.