An hour before the first band is set to take the stage for JZ Club’s farewell concerts, a line has already formed outside on Fuxing Lu. Upstairs in his plush rooftop private office, laoban Ren Yuqing smiles appreciatively. “It’s a good feeling,” he says. “It shows that what we did in the last 12 years was right.”
A former bass player for Mainland’s original rocker Cui Jian, Ren opened JZ Club in 2004 back when “the average young person in the city would have a hard time telling you what jazz was.”
Now, JZ’s vast empire includes venues from Guangzhou to Wuhan, with its eponymous festival an October holiday tradition. The venue has served as a valuable incubator for local jazz talent, with popular singer Coco Zhao praising it as “a great homebase for all the musicians where they can mingle, catch up and jam.”
Since announcing their surprising closure in April, the club has been packed with people wanting one last moment at what has become a Shanghai institution. Although there’s a heavy end-of-an-era vibe during the farewell concerts, Ren is firmly looking towards the future.
He confirms that they have already secured a location for the new JZ Club, with an eye on an end of summer opening. “It will be close to this area (former French Concession),” he promises. “We aren’t moving to the Bund. We want to make something that’s easy for people to get to.”
Although they’re bringing the outdoor JZ Club sign, the warm lighting and other decorations to the new place so “people will remember the old venue,” Ren is excited about the possibilities of the club’s next iteration.
“This beautiful building has so many memories,” he notes, "but JZ is a live music brand, so our new venue will improve the experience for watching a concert.”
“The space will be much bigger and just one floor. It’s designed to be a live concert hall so people can really experience the music. We’re also making the bar more accessible and welcoming so that people can drink and hang out easily.”
The ability to accommodate larger crowds means the next JZ Club can book bigger international artists. “Last week, (former 21 Guns and accomplished jazz drummer) Mike Sturgis called me around 3am saying he really wanted to come play,” Ren laughs.
In the meantime, the vibrant local music community for which JZ Club served as a hub will perform at their other venues like Wooden Box and JZ Latino. Local favorites like Jonas Seetoh and Jade Lee will perform at Xingguo Lu jazz lounge Heyday, thanks to an arrangement between both enterprises. JZ’s Red Town venue On Stage will handle international acts, with Ren teasing the return of acclaimed guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel on June 20-21. 
They’re also collaborating with the Sennheiser Shanghai Concert Hall for this month’s JZ Summer Nights concert series. The impressive bill features 20-time Grammy winning jazz guitarist Pat Metheny (June 4), acclaimed English vocalist Tina May (June 10), virtuoso saxophonist Igor Butman (June 17) and pop singer Shunza backed by Shanghai based jazz-funk group Red Grove Project (June 24).
Ren is especially excited by the Chinese debut of Butman, whom he praises as a giant in Russia’s jazz scene. “He’s the leader of the Moscow Jazz Big Band and his music level is so high,” Ren raves. “It’s going to be a big show to connect the Russian jazz scene with the Chinese jazz scene, because there’s so much that can be done together.”
Cross-cultural jazz collaborations have become an increasingly important mandate in JZ’s universe. April’s JZ Spring festival opened with a concert teaming award-winning Norwegian trumpeter Gast Waltzing with Shanghai-based favorite Li Xiaochuan.
In August, JZ will be sending musicians Lawrence Ku, Coco Zhao and A-Bu to Europe to perform at the Antibes and Umbrio jazz festivals.
Local live fixtures have also been busy in the studio preparing releases through JZ’s record label. Ren calls Coco Zhao’s upcoming album with the JZ Big Band All-Stars “something very special.”
“The album is really global and speaks a world language because it’s a big band,” Ren says. “It’s a really amazing album, but we don’t want to rush the release. If you want to cook something good, you have to pay attention and give it time.”
With ambitions of building a national circuit with 20 to 30 venues across China, Ren sees endless possibilities for the country’s jazz future. He cites 17-year-old Montreux Jazz Festival Award-winning pianist A-Bu and 13-year-old saxophonist C.C. Lee as the leaders of China’s next generation of jazz.
“Sometimes it’s unbelievable,” he says of JZ’s growth. “Some people think jazz can only be a small thing in China, but 15 years ago, people said the same thing about wine.”
All images by Jan Shen & 东莫村
JZ Summer Nights Series
June 4: Pat Metheny
The 20-time Grammy Award winner returns to Shanghai after headlining a recent JZ Festival. The iconic jazz guitarist performs with Antonio Sanchez, Linda Oh, Gwilym Simcock for a concert that dips into Metheny's legendary discography that incorporates everything from post-bop to Latin jazz.
June 4, 7pm, RMB180-1,280. Sennheiser Shanghai Concert Hall, tickets.
June 10: Tina May
The award-winning singer may be based in the UK but she's been having a pronounced influence on Shanghai's ascending jazz scene. Singers Jonas Seetoh and Jade Lee studied with her at the famed Royal Welsh College of Music. In addition to this concert, May will be holding a masterclass for students at the JZ School.
June 10, 7pm, RMB180-1,280. Sennheiser Shanghai Concert Hall, tickets.
June 17: Igor Butman Quartet
As leader of the Moscow Jazz Big Band, Butman has established himself as one of Russia's premier saxophonists. The St. Petersburg born virtuoso holds dual citizenship in the US and Russian Federation, serving as one of the most vocal proponents of his country's rich jazz scene.
June 17, 7pm, RMB180-1,280. Sennheiser Shanghai Concert Hall, tickets.
June 24: Shunza and Red Groove Project
The Golden Melody Award-winning singer-songwriter has built a global following thanks to her ballads and albums released in Mandarin, Japanese, English and French. However, Shunza never sounds more funky when she teams up with frequent collaborator Lawrence Ku, and his 10-piece Red Groove Project, who have established themelves as one of the most dancetastic groups in Shanghai with a sound that mixes everything from funk to reggae.
June 24, 7pm, RMB180-1,280. Sennheiser Shanghai Concert Hall, tickets.
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