Concert Program
Four world-acclaimed traditional jazz musicians, Cynthia Sayer & Her Joyride Band, presented a delightful program of traditional music from the United States to thousands of Chinese audiences in different cities and venues as jazz bars, classical music hall, and university theater!
Audiences are brought on a musical journey that includes the hot swinging sounds of big city speakeasies and jazz joints, foot-stomping barn dances, lonely cowboys on the range, and rockin’ southern swamp parties with Hot Jazz, Western Swing, Bluegrass, Blues, and more!
“Cynthia Sayer is a rarity; a woman who plays banjo with drive and virtuosity.”
— THE NEW YORK TIMES
"A dazzling evening, a capacity crowd... Nobody wanted it to end."
— GUARDIAN NEWS (England)
Education Program
The musicians of Joyride Band, Cynthia Sayer, Dennis Lichtman, Mauro Battisti and Larry Eagle are not only top musicians in the world, but also experienced teachers who give workshops and masterclasses on their tours around the world.
These four artists introduced jazz to classical music students and traditional Chinese music students who have no trainings in improvisations. They also worked with community-based amateur band and performed together! Many attendees were surprised to learn by how use their traditional Chinese instruments to can improvisations and swings!
Social Benefit Program
Cynthia Sayer and Joyride Band presented free Children’s Concerts to 1,500+ underprivileged children at 3 schools for children from migrant workers’ families in suburbs of Beijing.
For most of the students, it was their first time to listen to the jazz music, watch a live show of a band, or to see a banjo (most of kids called Banjo "guitar"). To the musicians, the most touching moments were when the students came up to us after the concerts, with great curiosity in their eyes and took the courage to ask us, “will you come back next time?”
Tour Calendar
Oct. 28, HangzhouXihu Blooms Music Festival
Oct. 30, ShanghaiShanghai Jiaotong University
Nov. 1, ShanghaiSchool of Music, Shanghai University
Nov. 3, GuangzhouGuangdong Times Museum
Nov. 4, Guangzhou JZ Club
Nov. 7, ShenzhenShenzhen School of the Arts
Nov. 8, ShenzhenLavo Jazz Bar
Nov. 10, Beijing La Plantation
Nov. 12, Beijing Beijing Chaoyang Bowen Experimental School (Supported by Beijing Sun Future Foundation )
Nov. 13, XushuiFushan Village Primary School (Supported by Beijing Sun Future Foundation )
Nov.14, BeijingDandelion Middle School (Supported by Ullens Center for Contemporary Art)
Nov. 15, BeijingBeijing Midi School of Music
Words from Ping Pong
The drummer of the Joyride Band, Larry Eagle, is a two times Grammy Award winning musician and has traveled worldwide to perform. During one of the interviews Larry told us what makes it different to perform in China: the audience come to the concert with great curiosity and an open mind. In America and many other places, early jazz may have its image as an “old-fashioned” music style, but in China, it is fresh and novel, and the audience are open -- for us (the jazz musicians) the best gift is an open-minded audience.Ping Pong have also learned from the true spirit of jazz -- for every song in jazz, no matter how many times we’ve heard it, we find something new at each concert; for every encounter with an audience, our artists share a performance that help us to discover a broader world, and each time it enable us to deepen the conversations that build the bridges between different cultures.
We’d also like to thank our friends, program partners, sponsors and presenters who have supported us and made this tour possible. This year we had included many more education events that bring performances to the underprivileged populations in China. Ping Pong Productions will keep working on the same direction in our future education programs, as part of mission to Bring China and the World Together through the Performing Arts.
Ping Pong Productions
Please visit PPP WeChat Official Account
know more about Cynthia Sayer
and Joyride Band 2018 China tour!
