Dubbed “the boy Billie Holiday,” Coco Zhao performs an intimate set of original works and Shanghai jazz favorites in conjunction with special exhibition Shanghai. Jazz thrived in Shanghai’s colorful cabarets and dance halls during the '20s and '30s. Suppressed during the Cultural Revolution, it has enjoyed a renaissance thanks to a new generation of young jazz musicians. Zhao cross-pollinates Mandarin vocals with the distinct sounds of contemporary American jazz; a unique heritage (both parents were in traditional Chinese opera) is infused his with youthful interpretations. Zhao’s distinctive style transcends cultures, as evidenced by his sensational reception at the 2007 Montreal Jazz Festival and his performance at the Kennedy Center.