That Generalissimo Swing

So the band changed from Cuba (古巴) to Kupa (鼓霸), and though the Chinese characters and Romanized spellings were different, the mandarin pronunciation stayed virtually the same.

In addition to playing for Chiang Kai-shek, the group became famous in Taiwan, producing records and playing for upscale crowds of GIs on leave first in the Korean War, then in the Vietnam War.

In 1962 Kupa became the house band at Taipei's swanky Ambassador Hotel, a gig that lasted 27 years. They continued to play for presidents. Hsieh says they've played for Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), but none of them bestowed the same level of favor as Chiang Kai-shek did.

"He was the one who always wanted to hear us play. We were his favorite," said Hsieh.

Chiang died in 1975 and as the big band era faded in Taiwan, the band's stature shifted into the kitschy world of television variety shows and public ceremonies. They found themselves sitting in for numbers on all three of Taiwan's terrestrial TV stations and gigging at the odd wedding or social engagement. In 1992, Hsieh Teng-hui was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Melody Awards for contributions to pop music.

Then, as Kupa continued to play on in lesser venues ? and they kept playing mostly because playing music was just what they did ? the pendulum swung back and Taiwan got more serious about appreciating its history.

In the Taipei city government, this meant cultural projects and urban renewal. Both were combined in the renovation of Taipei's Red House, an octagonal brick market built in 1908 that enjoyed subsequent lives as a theater and porn cinema before finally succumbing to neglect. In July 2002, Taipei City reopened the Red House as a cultural space, and a few months later Hsieh got a call from the city's culture bureau.

"The Red House is supposed to combine old and new, so they found us," he said.

The first Kupa performance at the Red House was last October and was supposed to be a one-off. But an overwhelming reception has now made the band a monthly fixture.

Hsieh says he's found new fans that he didn't know were there.

"There are a lot of older people who know us from before, but there are also young people, and they'll say, `Kupa is just too cool' ? they talk like that nowadays."

So tomorrow night, Kupa will return with its 1950s Benny Goodman swing and big band classics, which will be about half the set. The other half will be a new genre that Kupa is creating to meet a surging demand for swing versions of old Taiwanese and mandarin melodies.

"It's something new for us too," he said. "But people like it."

Kupa plays tomorrow night at 8pm at the Red House Theater (紅樓), located at 10 Chengtu Rd., Taipei (台北市成都路10號). Admission is NT$600. Sunday at 6:30pm, Kupa plays a free concert in Keelung in the plaza in front of the Keelung Culture Center (基隆市文化中心).