Jazzing things up in China

Tim Berens, guitarist and banjo player with the Cincinnati Pops, is on the road in Shenzhen, China with Pops drummer Marc Wolfley and maestro Erich Kunzel. Kunzel recruited the two players for concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Shenzhen Philharmonic for most of November because, says Tim, "it is difficult to find Chinese rhythm section musicians who can play convincing 'feels' for American music, so he is bringing us along to provide the grooves that will drive the orchestra."

Here's today's mail:

"We are in Shenzhen, China right now, in the midst of rehearsals with the Shenzhen Philharmonic for a concert this Saturday night. "We" is Maestro Kunzel, Mrs. Kunzel, Marc Wolfley, Elin Chu (Erich's Asia Manager) and myself.

We arrived in Hong Kong last Thursday and played a rehearsal and a concert with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra on Friday. Hong Kong is a spectacular city -- I have never seen anything quite like it. The orchestra there is quite good and the concert went beautifully.

Shenzhen is only an hour away from Hong Kong, but as soon as we arrived, I knew we weren't in Kansas anymore. There is very little English spoken here, which makes Elin (a native Chinese speaker) invaluable. I am not sure how a tour like this could be done without a person who speaks the language and understands the culture fluently.

Shenzhen is filled with brand new, magnificent skyscrapers whose angles and colors dazzle, much like Shanghai, but only 20 years ago it was a small fishing village. The people here seem to be mostly transplants from other parts of China -- people who came here for work. Shenzhen is further evidence that capitalism is thriving in China. Ever since the CPO's trip last year, I have been telling every young person I know to learn to speak Chinese, and after this trip, I will continue. The growth here is astonishing.

I hope all is well back home. I do love travelling, but it will be nice to get back to the place where I understand the language and eat with a fork."