Monday, October 15, 2012

Taichung Jazz Festival 2012

The Ramblers are heading south this Saturday, October 20, to perform at the Taichung Jazz Festival.

We'll be appearing in a parade at 1:30 and on the J2 Stage at 4 P.M. If you've never been to this event, it's free and held on Civil Boulevard near Sogo. You can find directions and a map here.

There will be many great acts from the 20th to the 28th, including the Ellis Marsalis Trio with Jason Marsalis on the evening of the 28th.


This is a gig we've wanted to do for a long time, and we're glad to finally have the chance. This won't be our first trip to Taichung. We played at the first Blues Bash and also at the club 89K in November 2005. 
At 89K

The first Blues Bash was a warm-spirited but freezing cold inauguration to D.C. Rapier's more-than-annual celebration of the Blues. That year, Joanna Connor and Peter "Bonzo" Radvanyi, founder of the Dobrofestival in Trnava, Slovakia, were the headliners. David went out to Trnava to perform at the Dobrofestival in 2006.
Peter "Bonzo" Radvanyi
Memorable events for us at the first BSOT Bash were having our set interrupted by Taichung's mayor and (Sandy's old boss) Jason Hu, and the sight of flaming 50-gallon drums surrounded by musicians and fans trying to warm their hands in the courtyard of Tiger City Mall.


We made another journey to the Central City to play at Luv Stock in 2010. That was an unforgettable event for so many reasons, not the least of which were Landis picking us up at the HSR station in his redneck jeep, a homemade airplane buzzing the former amusement park where the event was held, and the audience standing in an empty swimming pool in front of the stage.


If you're making plans for this weekend, come to the 10th annual Taichung Jazz Festival this Saturday.