Testing ground

For singer Yuan Yawei, who attended the event for the eighth time, performing at the festival is akin to a homecoming, as it has witnessed her growth from novice musician to a rising star.

"I am a fan of jazz," says Yuan. "Ren gave me the chance to sing on the stage eight years ago when few people knew me. The stage here always fills me with awe and respect, which urges me to really put on a great performance."

There's no doubt that JZ Music has solidified the jazz community in Shanghai by providing legions of music enthusiasts with a platform to display their talents and communicate with people of the same musical tastes. Moreover, it has been reaching out to young jazz lovers and educating them at the JZ school since 2006.

Yuan Yijie, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, has played classical guitar for 10 years, but decided to go in a different direction after becoming intrigued by jazz.

He started doing full-time courses at JZ school last year to help make the transition from playing classical music to jazz.

"Playing jazz relaxes me, while performing classical is just the opposite," says the 28-year-old.

He adds that he likes the joyful atmosphere of playing jazz in a band as it requires improvisation and collaborative exchanges among members

"JZ offers me opportunities to perform on stage," says Yuan.

"I can find and address problems in rehearsals, learning how to collaborate with my peers and to better play in a jazz band."

Wu Zhanxu, 21, a senior from Tianjin Conservatory of Music, used the JZ school as a springboard to reach his dream university, the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in the United States.

Now an electric guitar player, he's trying to find his favorite sub-genre of jazz music and continue to learn it at the conservatory in Boston next year.

Wu once joined a four-week summer camp run by the JZ school to get an overview of the jazz music genre. And this year, when he could spend time to study the music form, he chose to enroll as a full-time student at the school.

"Jazz is a language for me," says Wu. "I learned to expand my 'vocabulary' and then express my thoughts using the existing chords to improvise."

At this year's festival, Wu staged a performance with his band, for which 24-year-old Long Yutong serves as the lead vocalist.