JZ Club has welcomed performers from all over the world, but this will be the first time the downtown Jazz venue has played host to a group of musicians from Reunion Island.

On Wednesday, Meddy Gerville and his band will take to the club's stage as part of a China tour co-organized by the Alliance Française and the General Council of Reunion Island, in partnership with the Embassy of France in China and French Institute - Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Reunion Island, located in the Indian Ocean, is administered by France).

"We have a mix of people who arrived on the island from several continents. So we have inherited a multitude of cultures and a rich variety of music," Gerville said.

Traditional instruments

According to Gerville, Séga and Maloya are two typical, traditional styles of music on Reunion Island. "Séga is more of a mix of old European dance music - such as quadrille, polka and mazurka - and also African music," said Gerville.

"This makes for a rather conventional orchestration using drums, bass, guitar, accordion, keyboards, and percussion. Maloya was the music of slaves and uses more traditional instruments, such as the Roulèr (a barrel with a cow skin stretched across the top), a Kayanm (made of wood, plant seeds and sugar cane stalks) and other small percussion instruments," he added. 

Gerville's personal style is a mix of Séga, Maloya and Jazz. He studied Jazz in Paris for several years, and he uses the "rich, complex and harmonious sequences of Jazz combined with the complex rhythms of Maloya."

Gerville told the Global Times that, although this will be his first time in China, it will not be his first encounter with Chinese music. That came courtesy of a Chinese erhu musician called Guo Gan who he met during a musical festival on Reunion. 

"We played together during a jam session and that was my first real introduction to Chinese music," he said.

Date: September 19, 7:30 pm

Venue: JZ Club 爵士酒吧

Address: 46 Fuxing Road West 复兴西路46号

Admission: 50 yuan

Call 6431-0269 for details