A SAXOPHONE PLAYER invited to jam with a Beijing jazz band suggested his favourite tune: The Moment by Kenny G. The band politely declined. His next suggestion? Right Here Waiting for You by Richard Marx. 'People [in Beijing] who think they like jazz usually don't know what it is,' says Beijing-based Bulgarian vocalist Diliana Georgieva. 'They listen to Kenny G and they say, 'I love jazz!'' Kenny G may be the name most Beijingers associate with jazz, but this isn't to say that the capital's jazz scene is hooked on lift music. There are plenty of musicians who are pushing the boundaries, and know the difference between pop and bop. During the two decades since local musicians first found jazz - most were introduced via the cassette collections of foreign friends - the local scene has had its share of ups and downs. Beijing may not be experiencing another of its golden years, but the capital is still swinging. Jazz has always been a tough sell in Beijing, which lacks - more than many other cities - a culture of musical education and a general interest in new music. Georgieva says she's has noticed more people coming out to jazz venues, but 'few people come for the music itself'. 'There's a feeling of distance from the audience, in general,' says US guitarist Lawrence Ku, a Beijing resident since 1997. 'It's as if we have to fight to be listened to. 'If they don't know the words, they don't want to hear it,' says Liu Yuan, a saxophonist and manager of CD Jazz Cafe, of Beijing's rising middle class - the group on which everything from democratic change to musical revolution depends. Liu, who has played in mainland rock trailblazer Cui Jian's band since 1989, opened the original CD Cafe in 1996. The bar became the headquarters not only of his jazz band, but also of Beijing's burgeoning jazz scene. '[In the mid-1990s], the CD Cafe was the only place in town,' says Ningxia-born pianist Xia Jia, who performed there regularly in its heyday. 'There were always tonnes of people there.' The Beijing International Jazz Festival gave the scene a boost. From 1993 to 1999, and again in 2001, the festival hosted some of the world's best performers. It looked as if the festival might become an annual tradition, and the CD Cafe - the site of post-festival jam sessions - looked set to continue riding the wave. But 2001's attempt at reviving the tradition proved to be the end. CD Cafe went the way of the festival. 'Jazz just wasn't paying the bills,' says Liu. In 2001, it became a rock and cover-band venue. By 2003 it was a dance club. It's a familiar story. Inner Affair, a den-of-iniquity style club near the Sanlitun bar district, pulled the plug after an experiment with jazz that lasted several months. 'It didn't work,' says one staff member. 'Customers didn't like it.' The club's new plan? House music. In the summer of 2002, Liu re-opened CD Jazz Cafe, which, despite its shortcomings - it does little promotion and the Liu Yuan Quintet's all-standards set hasn't changed in years - remains Beijing's jazz joint. Apart from Liu's band, which plays every Friday and Saturday, the club hosts the Ah-Q Jazz Arkestra, an international assortment of Beijing's top players, every Thursday - a move that has increased the club's popularity. But Ah-Q's trombonist, American Matt Roberts, says the band faces tough challenges in setting up gigs and disinterest when discussing potential programmes with local schools. Challengers to CD Jazz Cafe's crown are lining up. 'There's no real jazz club in Beijing,' says Liu Tiezhu, manager of Pagoda, a venue that hosts live jazz twice a week. 'We want to become that club.' She says she's never heard of CD Jazz Cafe. 'There isn't much of a sense of community,' says Ku of his fellow musicians, but this could apply to those on both sides of the stage. However, there's a lot of experimentation around town. Georgieva regularly performs with co-composer and pianist Christophe Lier, incorporating into their works Bulgarian scales and singing style. Roberts and Ku are also composing, but the scene isn't driven only by foreigners. Xia says Ku 'represents more than anyone else what Chinese jazz might be or become'. Xia's initial foray into classical conducting lasted only two years after he was enrolled at Beijing's prestigious Central Conservatory in 1993. 'Once I started playing jazz, I dropped out,' he says. After spending three of the past five years at the Eastman Music School in Rochester, New York, he received his Bachelor of Music last May. With bassist Zhang Hui and drummer Huang Haitao - among Beijing's best musicians - he's now backing US singer-trumpet player Idrees six nights a week at the Kerry Centre Hotel's swanky lounge, Centro. 'It's not my ideal gig,' he says. 'But I'm learning a lot. We're playing songs that I've never done before. And there are always a lot of people in the room.' Xia says the scene has come a long way, despite its shortcomings. For one, he says, he'd never have been offered a chance last year to record a CD, or the educational video he did in August 2003. 'Local musicians have a new outlook, and want to do new things,' he says. 'Lawrence [Ku] and [saxophonist] Jin Hao have websites. They want to get online education started. Back in 2001, we weren't thinking much beyond where we could play.' As Beijing's doors open wider, more musicians - mostly jazz players - are coming from overseas, and there have been some acclaimed performers at that: Royal Hartigan (US), Pierre Favre (Switzerland), Sean McCleod (Australia) and Nils Landgren (Sweden) are among those who've visited to perform and teach during the past year. Local musicians are also finding opportunities for study abroad and those who can't get overseas are benefiting from those that have. Drummer Izumi Koga, a long-time Beijing resident, is head of the jazz department at the Contemporary Music Institute, and Xia and Ku - among others - also teach. Musicianship isn't what worries most. Georgieva says she's concerned that, in Beijing, jazz is more marketing than music: 'Someone wants to hire a jazz band because, in his mind, jazz is a Kenny G-type of music that's associated with whiskey and cigars. The only thing I'm afraid of is that listening to jazz might turn into a fashion, completely disconnected from the music. That scares me.' CD Jazz Cafe, nearthe Agricultural Exhibition Centre, East Third Ring Road, Chaoyang, Beijing. Inquiries: 010 6506 8288; Pagoda, 1 Sanlitun Beixiaojie, Chaoyang. Inquiries: 010 6460 2077; Centro, 1/F Kerry Centre Hotel, 1 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang. Inquiries: 010 6561 8833