Coco Zhao & Jazzlab

The much-heralded jazz vocalist and instrumentalist Coco Zhao from China performs original jazz compositions in his native language. Zhao’s music is intelligent, and his vocals are haunting, cool, and soulful. Like the great singer Jimmy Scott, Zhao’s voice is high and feminine with a wistful quality. Born in 1977 in a small town in Hunan province in central China, the son of two traditional Chinese-opera musicians, he studied oboe and composition at the Music Conservatory of Shanghai. In 1994 he started performing solo in Shanghai bars and clubs and became fascinated with jazz. In ’97, Coco had the great honour of collaborating with the legendary jazz singer Betty Carter at the International Jazz Festival in Shanghai. Since then he has performed around the world. His latest CD, Dream Situation (Effendi), interprets old Shanghai tunes through jazz and fusion arrangements. AllAboutJazz.com calls it “one of this year’s true gems.” Zhao is joined by violinist Peng Fei and Jazzlab, an ensemble that features some of the top musicians/composers from Quebec’s jazz label Effendi — Rémi Bolduc, Frank Lozano, Alexandre Cöté saxophones, Joe Sullivan trumpet, Richard Gagnon trombone, John Roney piano, Isaiah Ceccarelli drums, Alain Bédard bass. You don’t want to miss these performances.