Shanghai Bund Investment (Group) Co., Ltd. (BIG) and Jazz at Lincoln Center announce their joint development of Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai in the historic Bund district. The announcement was made at the groundbreaking ceremony of The Central, a high-end, mixed-use development by BIG, scheduled for completion and operation in 2016. Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC), led by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, will program Jazz concerts at The Central, and through this development, residents and visitors of Shanghai alike will enjoy a night of great Jazz music in one of Shanghai’s premier retail properties against the backdrop of a revitalized Bund. Also, people of all ages will learn about Jazz – the music, and its contemporary relevance – through JALC’s many Jazz education programs.
China’s history with Jazz traces back almost to the origin of the music, and it started in cosmopolitan Shanghai. “During the early 1900’s, some of the most famous Jazz clubs in the east were located in the Bund, hosting some of the finest Jazz musicians at the time,” says Zhou Haiying, Chairman of the Shanghai Bund Investment Group. “Today, as we redevelop the historical Bund area, it is entirely appropriate that we work with Jazz at Lincoln Center to re-invigorate world-class Jazz in the Bund, recalling a marvelous aspect of Shanghai’s rich history and culture.”
The dialogue between BIG and JALC began in 2012 when BIG was planning The Central project, located on East Nanjing Road, just one block from the Bund waterfront. Situated in a prime, iconic location, The Central will contain high-end shops, performing arts venues, and a boutique hotel. “As we renovate these historical buildings into a first-class destination for commerce, leisure, culture, and art, we hope to preserve the heritage of the Bund, all while promoting and celebrating today’s lifestyle,” added Zhou. “Jazz is an important part of the Bund legacy. Jazz at Lincoln Center is helping us maintain that legacy by bringing timeless, authentic Jazz to people of all ages and cultures.”
“At Jazz at Lincoln Center, we take seriously our mission to entertain, enrich and expand a global audience for jazz through performance, education and advocacy,” says Robert J. Appel, Chairman of the Board, Jazz at Lincoln Center. “This project accomplishes all three. Shanghai is an exciting, relevant and vital cosmopolitan hub, and has an authentic, direct connection to America’s native music of Jazz. It is an honor for us to bring Jazz to the Bund and we look forward to a long and successful collaboration with the Bund Investment Group.”
Scheduled to open in mid-2016, the Jazz club will be similar in character to JALC’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at its home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, in New York City, where sensational acoustics and an intimate club setting, with great food and drink, are framed visually by a classic backdrop of a great world city – for Dizzy’s, it’s Central Park and for Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, it will be the Bund waterfront. The development of The Central and the opening of Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai add to the Bund and Nanjing Road as the epicenter of commerce, leisure, and culture in Shanghai.
Shanghai Bund Investment Group and Jazz at Lincoln Center intend to conclude the partnership agreement after the groundbreaking ceremony and continue planning for their joint development of the venue, with a focus on the first year’s programming schedule, strategic relationships with local education organizations and schools, and corporate sponsorship partners.
