Kevin Sun

NB: Saxophone gearhead post ahead. Read at your potential boredom or enthrallment. Paul Dupré 3-Star Conservatoire Tenor Mouthpiece Saxophonists are serious about their gear in Beijing. I've had the pleasure of hanging out at my friend Mayong's shop, Sheng Lan, on Xin Jie Kou road, where both sides of the street are jam-packed with instrument stores; Mayong is widely recognized as the main go-to place for professional jazz saxophonists and woodwind players, and his shop is one of few here that focuses on carrying high-end vintage instruments. People sure love their Selmer Mark VIs here, although I've noticed that SBAs are starting to gain more traction as tastes move toward darker, more old-school sounds.  One of Mayong's employees, Liu Yang, is into vintage Martin altos and recently bought a Martin tenor that came with a number of obscure mouthpieces, including the above "Paul Dupré Conservatoire" white plastic mouthpiece, originally marked as a ...

The first saxophone that I learned to play on was a Chinese alto saxophone that cost around the ballpark of a couple of hundred dollars US. It had Tai Shan  engraved on the bell, most likely referring to the famous mountain , and it took me a few years to realize that the entire left hand spatula set-up was completely defective: there was no way to close the low B or Bb keys, which was why I always had so much trouble with the low notes.  My parents bought the saxophone for me on a trip to Beijing, but I hadn't checked out any jazz in the city until these past two weeks, when I went on a short family vacation. New York-based saxophone player Sean Nowell put me in contact with a few musicians behind the Great Firewall, and vocalist Jess Meider tipped me off to all the places I ended up checking out in Beijing. Here's what I saw: 江湖 Jiang Hu Bar This is a venue that features all sorts of music, but Tuesday nights are the jazz jam session. That night, the set list ...