Jazzman to give Beijing swing

By Kevin Jones
March 14, 2002

THE Olympic Games in China may be six years away but Sydney jazz drummer John Morrison is on a mission to make sure Beijing swings like never before for the big event.

Morrison, looking surprisingly fresh and relaxed despite just returning from a tour of Europe with his trumpet-playing brother James' quartet, flies out on Saturday to spend a week in the Chinese capital coaching a 17-piece big band in the elusive art of swinging.

And if he has his way it will only be the beginning of a fruitful partnership with China's musicians.

No doubt there will be gasps of surprise from the audience when they see an Australian, dressed in a red zoot suit, leading and conducting a Chinese swing band from the drum chair in the luxurious Beijing Hotel next Thursday.

But it's a sight they may have to get used to. Morrison hopes to tour China with his 16-piece big band Swing City and, through education and recordings, raise the music's profile on what he calls "jazz's final frontier".

Although he has only three days to knock into shape a big band he has only heard on tape "muscling" through some arrangements, he is not daunted by the task.

"But there's only one way I'll be able to communicate – through music," he says.

He pauses, then laughs as he continues; "I can't speak Mandarin and the musicians, all of them locals, can't speak English. Yes, I'll have an interpreter but most of the work will be done through sign language and musical notes.

"The musicians will have a fair bit of knowledge about jazz and swinging but how much I don't know. Listening to the tape, they seemed to be of a good standard individually but we'll probably look at some of the finer points of ensemble playing.

"I'll be taking charts from the book of my own big band for them to play and rehearse. It will be fun. We'll enjoy it."

Morrison will make full use of his time in Beijing to conduct jazz workshops at the hotel with local musicians helped by two young singers he is taking with him, Natalie Slade, 20, and Shannon Brown 17.