'Oldest jazz band' remains a constant in fast-modernizing Shanghai

"We were not able to play before the opening-up due to the political situation then," Li says, moments before going on stage once more in a red bow tie, crisp white shirt, pristine white blazer and black trousers.

That meant practicing at home in secret.

"Back then I would play at home a little bit and enjoy it by myself. I didn't play outside."

Jazz is more readily associated with New Orleans or New York than Shanghai, but the Chinese city has its own proud heritage in that regard that flickers on.

And the Peace Hotel, completed in 1929 and a prime example of Art Deco architecture on Shanghai's historic riverside Bund area, is in many ways central to it.

The bar where the "Old Jazz Band" now plays 365 nights of the year was originally an English-style pub and it retains that flavor with its bar stools, dark-wooden fittings and slightly musty feel.

During Shanghai's hard-partying 1930s heyday the bar became so well known for its jazz - which arrived in the city around that time with American musicians hired to play at nightclubs - that it became simply known as "The Jazz Bar".

During the turmoil of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), playing or even listening to jazz became a dangerous hobby.