Jing Xi Li

I’m Jing Xi Li — a jazz drummer from Hong Kong, based in Shanghai, and a student at Shanghai American School (Puxi). Between drums, keys, bass, and ukulele, I’ve had the privilege of studying at Berklee’s Aspire Five-Week Program on scholarship and performing with the AMIS Jazz Honor Big Band.

I started Eastern Standards because China’s jazz scene is growing faster than its story is being told. Clubs, festivals, and a new generation of players are rising across the country, yet almost no formal record exists of the history and culture that carried this music here — and of how it became ours. So I’m building that record myself: one conversation, one jam session at a time.

My mission is to bring these stories to the global jazz community, learn from the elders and builders who crossed oceans and decades for this music, and watch it adapt, evolve, and become our own.