In case you haven't heard, the multiple Grammy®-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma, is celebrating his 30th anniversary recording with Sony Music through the release of Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside the Box, a deluxe limited-numbered box set of his recorded legacy. Comprised of 88 discs of original album releases and an additional two discs of bonus material, 30 Years Outside the Box is … [Read more...] about (Letter from Brian James) Celebrating Yo-Yo Ma: A World Class Musician
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That which connects panda and ancient Chinese musicians, plus the morin khurr
Panda loves bamboo, and so did ancient Chinese musicians. Here is an image of a ceramic xiao (箫) player excavated from an Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) tomb in Sichuan province (also home to pandas). The dizi (笛子) is held horizontally. Both are made of bamboo. What do you get when you add the Mongolian morin khurr to the mix? Here is a composition involving these … [Read more...] about That which connects panda and ancient Chinese musicians, plus the morin khurr
Chinese Rock n' Roll!
We've done some posts on China and Taiwan music in the past, but those were about the general music scene. Today I'd like to feature two videos created by Brendan Madden, who lives in Qingdao, is a teacher and member of the band Dama Llamas, and keeps up with the scene in northern China. I'll also feature a few other bands you might not know, and some comments about where I … [Read more...] about Chinese Rock n' Roll!
People of the world unite?!
Here is a light topic. Since last year's parody song "Say a word in heart", singing songs in a foreign language -- if you can call it that -- has been raised to a totally new level. You've probably even heard the stomach-churning subsequent parodies of "Shanghai beach", "Spicy girl", and even the Peking Opera standard "Su san qi jie", but alas this genre has mercifully run its … [Read more...] about People of the world unite?!
Yellow River in Beijing
Let's have a quick flashback to a happier time, when all of us thought 2008 would be a simple year full of celebration. Below is the Chinese piano prodigy Lang Lang, performing the Yellow River Piano Concerto on Tiananmen Square. The date is 08/08/07, one full year before the start of the Beijing Olympics. … [Read more...] about Yellow River in Beijing