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Wisps of smoke and fiery flashes of heat escape from the sonic cauldron
of Min Xiao-Fen’s Asian Trio, at once ancient and timeless.
An entranced audience at New York’s downtown performance space The Kitchen
ingests a feast of harmoniously contrasting musical dishes where flavors
blend and blur, ranging from cool pointillism to tangy ornate embellishment
and everything in between. On Min’s ever-adaptable palate, whispering
acoustics give way to deep-fried electronics, and slashing, sour howls can
segue into red-hot thrash improv.
“I like to cook, and I like arts, painting, calligraphy - this is all
connected with my music,” says Min, who was drawn to the four stringed pipa,
it seems, for more than just musical reasons. “When you cook, you add
something flavored to the improvisation, too.”
While writing Chinese calligraphy, she also gets inspiration and ideas.
“There are many styles - especially the Running Script, with eight standard
strokes starting with points in different touches. Part of the ink is
concentrating, and part of the ink is spreading in different directions,
slowly changing the patterns and shading layer by layer.
Together they are making a harmony - music is just like that.” |
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For Min, “the pipa is an international instrument with no limits.” Whereas
traditional Chinese music rarely crosses the line, Min’s tonal expeditions
soar brazenly beyond it, dancing between hypnotic lullabies and razor shards
of crackling tension. Min’s soft precision draws you into her world, on her
terms: she paints hillside plum blossoms and sprays butterfly bullets and
misty drops in distant pools, her cascading textures seductively jarring.
The Asian Trio is led by Min on pipa, vocals and electronics, and features
Okkyung Lee on cello, and Satoshi Takeishi on percussion and electronics.
Min’s vocal style is especially striking: you’ll hear whispers and squeals,
mutated demons and hungry ghosts - one moment a little girl, a wizened sage
the next.
Return Of The Dragon is a DVD commissioned and released in 2007 by
The Kitchen, and early next year, Arts Nova /High Two will release the
trio’s newly recorded album.
Min’s other working group is the Blue Pipa
Trio, who made a studio recording in May, with Steve Salerno (guitar) and
Dean Johnson (acoustic bass). Blending jazz and bluegrass with Chinese folk
styles, they play Min’s original compositions and interpret standards,
leaving out the electronics for a more gentle, pulsing feel.
American
bluegrass and southern Chinese music, in fact, are linked rhythmically and
melodically; both forms rely heavily on 4/4 rhythms and the pentatonic
scale. “In an ensemble, we all play the same melody,” Min explains, “but
each instrument can play its own ornamentation. Also, a lot of Chinese music
resembles the blues, simply because of the pentatonic scale.” Of course,
there are differences. “Bluegrass style includes a lot of improvisation;
Chinese folk music doesn’t, but we do have ornamentation.”
Min Xiao-Fen is a
master of the pipa, and a living bridge between classical and modern eras
and cultural hemispheres, harmonizing disciplined introspection with a
whirlwind of sound. She started at age 10 under the guidance of her father,
Min Ji-Qian, also a pipa master, and after years of exams and academy
training, she became a soloist with the Nanjing Traditional Music Orchestra.
“When I was young, I had almost no time to play,” she recalls. “Now I’m
glad.”
She remained in the orchestra for 10 years, touring and playing
essentially the same repertoire. After 20 years as a professional musician
in China, she had grown increasingly stifled by the routine, which prompted
a move to San Francisco in 1992. “I felt like a little fish swimming to the
big ocean,” Min says. “Just swim and see what’s going to happen.” She was
exposed to abstract music-combinations of Eastern and Western instruments,
minimal melody, and shifting tempos, meters and scales. “I had a lot of
culture shock. I almost gave up.” Fortunately, the Chinese community was
extremely supportive - the composers Chen Yi and Zhou Long in particular.
“It
took me a little while (to get into improvising).
For the first six years, I didn’t enjoy it 100
percent.
Now I’m 100 percent sure I love it!”
Min’s first brush with improvisation turned out to be a disaster - “I never
forgot that moment,” she says. Composer-trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith had
invited her to join his group for a concert in San Francisco. Smith’s score
indicated notes but no tempo, and she tried to follow faithfully. When he
suddenly switched gears and nodded for her to jam, “I almost had a heart
attack,” she says, laughing. “I totally lost the whole piece.”
Undeterred,
Min felt the magnetic pull of New York City. “Even in China, everyone knows
New York is a center for arts, and especially for music,” she says. “After I
received my green card [for extraordinary ability in the arts], I decided to
move to New York in 1996. I knew it would be a risk, but worth a try.” Six
months later, John Zorn caught her half-trad, half-modern concert at the
Knitting Factory. She didn’t know who he was, but soon realized his
influence when he introduced her to many local musicians. “John changed my
career. He’s one of my heroes.”
Zorn suggested a collaboration with guitar-improv
godfather Derek Bailey; Min played along with his albums for a week and
agreed to try. The duo recorded for three hours straight - blithely blissful
sounds, conjuring images of hang-gliding over canyons, spelunking in dark
caverns or doing somersaults through wildflower meadows. Min was astounded
when Bailey broke a string and kept playing, using it to scratch and rattle.
They recorded two acclaimed albums-Viper and Flying Dragons - with Zorn
producing. “Derek was always smiling,” Min recalls. (Bailey passed away in
late 2005.)
Zorn’s Avant and Tzadik labels have been home to several of Min’s albums,
including two film scores of Zorn’s. She has also teamed up with Marc Ribot,
Leroy Jenkins, Randy Weston, Ned Rothenberg (on a live DVD recorded for
Roulette TV in New York), and more recently, her old friend Wadada Leo
Smith. Years after her initial encounter with Smith, Min says she is “much
more confident.”
In 2003, she created Blue Pipa, Inc. to “present music
without boundaries” - the company offers multiple programs annually, and
this year commissioned Carl Stone’s Ghost Karaoke project. Also this year,
Min performed with tabla master Samir Chatterjee and koto player Masayo
Ishigure in concert with mime artist Yass
Hakoshima. “I always enjoy working with dancers,” Min says. “My music is
connected easily with each pause, phrase and gesture.”
And in an encounter
with stardom far more pop than avant-classical, Min was invited by Björk to
join the sessions for “I See Who You Are,” from her 2007 album Volta,
placing her in elite company with such artists as Timbaland, Konono No.1 and
Toumani Diabaté. “Björk is a kind, thoughtful, intelligent, energetic, and
strong person,” Min says reverently. “She respected me and gave freedom to
her musicians, and always offered encouragement.” Min later performed with
Björk at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and The Apollo
Theater.
In the musical landscape of Min Xiao-Fen, the inks of different
cultures run together and form new patterns, new languages. While she visits
China frequently, and appreciates the traditional music even more today
(next year, she brings her father to the U.S. for a project based on Nanjing),
she plans to bring her new sound to a younger Chinese generation when she
performs in Nanjing this October. Of course, she still loves New York for
its freedom, and expands her sonic palette by drawing on its energy. “New
York City changed my life and my career,” she says, noting that she was
cautious at first when it came to learning the invented language of
improvised music. “It took me a little while. For the first six years, I
didn’t enjoy it 100 percent. Now I’m 100 percent sure I love it!”
By
CHARLES BLASS
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