Opened by Nobuki Kuwahara four years ago off an alley in Taipei’s Da-an District (大安區), Jazz Spot Swing is a tiny bar with just five tables and six bar stools that has become an after-work haven for Japanese expats and Taiwanese jazz-lovers in the know.
“Jazz is very popular in Japan because of the American military presence after World War II,” explains regular Sugimoto Masakazu, who plays the trombone. “Then, the recent movie Swing Girls created a new craze for jazz.”
Kuwahara often invites customers who are musicians to go up to the venue’s performance space and play, a practice that eventually prompted a group of regulars, including Masakazu, to form a band.
Because all of the musicians have daytime jobs, they call themselves the Champagne Zoo Band because the word “champagne” is almost a homophone for the Chinese word shangbanzu (上班族), or “working professional.”
“In Japan, you could never find a bar like this where you can just go up and play,” gushes the wife of band member Satoshi Takagi. “It’s fantastic!”
The Champagne Zoo Band takes
on a free-wheeling form as a group.
Each night from Monday to Sunday, whichever band member who happens to have time can stop by the bar and play. If no band member arrives on any given night, Kuwahara, the proprietor, plays piano alone.
The band plays American jazz standards and bossa nova. Sometimes they also adapt Taiwanese or Japanese folk songs such as Moon’s Desert (月之沙漠).
Inoue Yamami, the only woman in the group, was elected to be the band leader. “They chose me so that there wouldn’t be any fighting,” quips Yamami, a vivacious performer who giggles, snaps her fingers, sways and jumps around while the other musicians play.
Yamami also arranges the set lists. For Mid-Autumn Festival they played songs with the word “moon” in their titles, such as Blue Moon, Moon River and Fly Me to the Moon.
“Right now we have about 15 band members but it’s always evolving,” says Yamami. “We are always accepting new members.”
Even though they rarely have time to rehearse, the band members have developed chemistry.
“We just show up and improvise,” says Masakazu. “Sometimes we fail. Most of the time we get it right.”
During a recent performance, the saxophone player sat on the back of a wicker chair to ad lib for a few minutes, then glanced at the cellist, who took the cue and did his own ad lib segment.
“Interaction is very important,” says Masakazu. “Small venues are ideal because it’s more intimate. There are conversations and eye contact.”
Jazz Spot Swing has made a name for itself among Japanese expats, and many of the Japanese jazz bands that come to Taipei drop by the bar to perform for free. In March this year, backup band members for famed bossa nova singer Lisa Ono showed up and played until 1am.
“The owner could make a lot of money if he chose to open a karaoke bar in the Linsen North Road (林森北路) area,” said Akina Ishizuka, who joined the Champagne Zoo Band five months ago. “Instead he chose to open a jazz bar.”
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