Brown Sugar

Let me tell you about the Brown Sugar Jazz club. We finally made it there yesterday evening, after about two years saying that we will. It could be that two years of anticipation gave me time to develop an unreasonable expectation, but despite the excellent food, and great live music, I was disappointed. Why, I hear you ask - I'll tell you...

I suppose the most important element of a jazz club has to be the jazz, right? Well they didn't fail there, the band showed up around 9.30 and proceded to play some excellent Latin Jazz, people danced, some very well, and entusiastically, and the food was good; yet somehow there was no atmosphere. Jazz clubs are nothing without atmosphere. Good jazz clubs have a special feeling; they should be relaxed, come-as-you-are places where bank managers and stock brokers sit down with taxi drivers and street cleaners, all equal under the jazz umbrella. And that ladies and gentlemen just aint happening at Brown Sugar, Taipei. It's not bad exactly, it's just not "right".

It's expensive, which makes it elitist and rather formal. It's a restaurant, which is fine, but there's no walk-in bar, which means people can't just spill in from the street. The waiters are stilted and swoop like birds of prey the moment they see an empty plate on your table. I hate that, waiters should only come near me when I raise my eyebrow to them. It also appears to be a pick up joint for desperate men attempting to unwrap naive Taiwanese women. I sat behind a French guy that I heard explaining to his date how he loves his wife and is passionate about his girlfriend, though neither appear to understand him. An American guy was prowling tables in a way I found rather disturbing. This may simply be a cultural problem I have.

My advice is this; if you happen to be in Taipei and you want to hear some good jazz and twirl someone round a dance floor, go there if you're feeling rich. If you want atmosphere, you're better off going home with a CD and a bottle.