Firelight Chats Ep026 | Django Jamming w/Denis Chang

Firelight Chats

In this early morning episode of Firelight Chats, Denis Chang strummed his way to the Spacelab to jam with Kane & Mocha by the fireside. The trio improvise about everything from growing up in Canada, attending a French school, discovering music, learning about Django Reinhardt, becoming obsessed with gypsy jazz, training with Sinti in a caravan, language learning & acquisition, performing & teaching around the world, to philosophical questions about the importance of understanding culture when engaging in artistic pursuits.

Denis also shares stories about initiating a successful protest to change restrictive policies towards taking musical instruments onto the Taiwan MRT system, launching a new jam session format at Taipei Blue Note, and what he thinks about Taiwan's music scene, young musicians, and the system that subsumes and often shapes them. At the end, they play a spirited Firelightning Round and the episode closes with a full jazzy track from his band.

Denis Chang is originally from Montreal, Canada, born to Taiwanese parents who fled an authoritarian regime. A professional musician and Taiwan Gold Card holder, he is currently living in Japan on an Artist Visa. He will be returning to Taiwan in October of this year to perform at the Taipei Gypsy Jazz Festival with his band, Duved and his Transatlantic Five.