As Abigail Washburn shows us with her banjo and music, it’s actually really easy to connect with the Chinese and yet be so captivating. What an awesome soul!
When America throws her weight around with petty politics, she is squandering her privileged position to affect our world towards greater good. Judging from the audiences response, I guess I am encouraged her message is not lost. To the Americans who engage China and the world with a heart like Washburn, bless you.
YinYang says
Here is her 2011 Silk Road trip collaborating with Chinese musicians along the way:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8A4BE13075AAFBDF
YinYang says
Just finished watching the videos. Seeing her collaborate with the Chinese musicians reminds me of what Yo-yo Ma does. I guess I am very taken by her.
perspectivehere says
Lovely music. And this is intriguing:
“Her debut album, Song of the Travelling Daughter, was inspired by an eighth- century Chinese lyric, in which a mother unwinds the threads of a jumper she has knitted for her son, who has been lost at war. “I’m no ethnomusicologist,” Washburn says. “There is a connection between the five-note scale used both in traditional Chinese music and the blues, but I don’t really understand it. All I know is, whenever I play with Chinese musicians, we seem to belong to the same musical gene pool.”
Guo Du says
Bravo! Thanks for sharing.