The jazz all-stars they are not, but the people gathering at the inconspicuous offices of the Dizzy Jazz Band (
This Friday, Dizzy Jazz Band will be performing at Taipei's Chungshan Hall, one of its irregular public performances that draw a growing body of fans who simply find them irresistible. "When we first formed, our public performances were attended mostly by friends of band members, but now there are many who regard themselves as part of the Dizzy community," said the avuncular Jeff Ken (
PHOTO: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES
Ken has few illusions that Dizzy is going to be rivaling big-name imported acts anytime soon but takes pride in the warmth and enthusiasm that Dizzy has been able to maintain over so many years. "Everyone is here because they want to be here, he said. It is not like we make much money at it." But then money is not what it is about -- it's all about the music and the camaraderie.
PHOTO: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES
"Pretty much everything we make goes back into maintaining this place," Ken said. While the office is somewhat ramshackle, the basement recording studio and rehearsal area is an invaluable resource for Taiwan's hard-pressed jazz musicians.
It all started with eight musicians who'd just finished their national service and wanted somewhere to practice. From this eight-man combo, whose occasional performances proved relatively popular, support grew and now Dizzy fields two big bands, a youth band, a Latin band and a jazz combo. It is remarkable in being one of the only amateur big bands able to play major venues, and even more remarkable for the emphasis it places on training and creating an environment for jazz music. Public performances are the exception rather than the rule. "But naturally we want to show people what we have achieved," Ken said.
PHOTO: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES
Dizzy is made up of people from all walks of life. Predictably there are a large number of music teachers, and but there are also businessmen, marketing executives, engineers, a scuba-diving instructor and even a Taoist priest-in-training. There are even a number of professional musicians.
The atmosphere in the rehearsal room is serious. A sales executive surnamed Lin conducts. There is occasional backchat about the interpretation of the music, then the practice continues after partial consensus. "We don't like to enforce an interpretation too much," Ken said with a wry smile. Jazz for him and other band members is very much about personal expression, and space is allowed for people to do what they want.
"It might not always be quite right," Ken said, "but it has its own logic. The music itself provides enough of a framework." Fondly looking at a board covered with the photographs of 20 years of performances and rehearsals, Ken pointed out many who are professional musicians. Speaking of one he said: "He always complains when he comes to play with us. So I told him he needn't come if he didn't like it. But now and again he still comes back."
While he never uses the word "family," the association is all-too-evident. Children leave home to make their own way, even mock at their loving parents, who are nevertheless always there for them.
Probably the best known of the groups to break away from Dizzy is Metamorphosis (變形蟲爵士樂團), which became one of the first bands in Taiwan to release a commercial jazz album in August 2001. "They wanted to go their own way," Ken said, choosing small-format improvisational work over the more regimented big band-style favored by Dizzy.
"But our players are not just a cell within a bigger organism. The conductor might point out this or that, but if they want to do it their own way, there is not much we can do about it."
While it might be too tolerant for some, Dizzy probably wouldn't be quite the same organization without its rather eccentric attitude to big band music. "It is part of the reason we have survived so long," Ken said, and it would be hard to deny that the world of jazz in Taiwan would be a much poorer place without the Dizzy Jazz Band. "You cannot say you have really done jazz in Taipei unless you have spent a little time with us," said Ken.
What: Dizzy Jazz Band
When: Today 7:30pm
Where: Chungshan Hall, Taipei
Tickets: NT$400 to NT$1,000 are available through Fnac, Kingstone and Sensio bookstores, the CKS Cultural Center and at the door.
On the net: Detailed information about the Dizzy Jazz Band can be found at http: //www.dizzy.org.tw
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