Of the hundreds of artist showcases that took place in Manhattan last week as part of the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) conference, none was more novel than that by jazz saxophonist Don Braden and trumpeter Mark Rapp. Their Braden-Rapp: The Music of Billy Strayhorn album project was performed at the Hong Kong-based fashion retailer Blanc de Chine’s Fifth Avenue flagship store in a Sunday brunch program that combined the store’s clothing line’s philosophy with jazz.
“At one point I thought to myself, this couldn’t be a more perfect pairing,” says Taryn Kraimer Scher, Blanc de Chine’s marketing and PR manager, USA. “There is something about the ease and simplicity of jazz–though truly complex–that is completely parallel to what Blanc de Chine represents.”
Blanc de Chine (the name is French for “white of China” and refers to white Chinese porcelain) is represented by the Chinese yuan character, notes Scher, “which means ‘source of the river’: It’s all about going back to our roots, our heritage, the simplicity, the source–though at the same time it is truly complex.”
The design house, Scher continues, “is the first Chinese luxury brand that has made a serious effort in transforming traditional Chinese culture and design into modern lifestyle and the world of haute couture.”
By teaming up with Braden-Rapp, she adds, “we felt there were so many similarities in the feelings inspired by their sounds and the feelings inspired by our clothing. We both seek to create a Zen-like feeling of serenity, grounded in true ease and simplicity. And just like their music, if people think that Blanc de Chine is just another clothing line, they are missing the whole point!”
On The Strayhorn Project’s CD cover, Rapp is wearing Blanc de Chine’s classic Mandarin collar suit, while Braden has on a Blanc de Chine tux.
“Having a band associated with a high-end fashion store gives the listener and the presenters of music an instant identification on what kind of music we are playing,” says Rapp’s manager Gail Boyd or Gail Boyd Artist Management. “Don Braden and Mark Rapp are elegant. Jazz is often used to sell high-end products on television, i.e., John Coltrane’s music and image selling luxury cars, Diana Krall selling Rolex watches. Having Don and Mark associated with Blanc de Chine is an extraordinary opportunity for us to brand the band on their debut CD. It gives us the visual to say, ‘We are classy, we are young, but we already represent the kind of class and elegance expected of jazz musicians by the general public–and we are so good that a luxury line like Blanc de Chine has already decided that we can represent them!’”
At various APAP panels following Braden-Rapp’s performance at Blanc de Chine, “our showcase was used as an example of a new way to present jazz,” says Boyd. “The showcase stood out because it was not held in a smoky jazz club, or a sterile hotel ballroom, but among elegant fashions with food and beverages served. The association with Blanc de Chine will continue to grow as they intend to use us in their fashion shows and other co-branding ideas. I am anxious to talk to them about giving our CD to their customers with a Blanc de Chine logo on it.”
The event was a first for the store, which has worked with the classical artists Dan Zhu, Xiayan Wang and Jenny Koh, but not a jazz act.
“And we’ve never done an event like that before, where we hosted a performance with a group that was not fashion/shopping specific,” says Scher of the APAP-related showcase.
It was also the first in-store event at Blanc de Chine designed expressly for the artists
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