Solitary Bird

Shanghai-based jazz vocalist and erhu player perform arrangements by American jazz pianist on Chinese folk songs and originals. based in Shanghai, China, this group of musicians, led by American jazz pianist, Steve Sweeting, explores folk melodies from many different regions of China. Sweeting, who has lived in China for over five years, arranged or composed all the work on this CD. His ideas bring an energetic urban spirit and a deep sense of jazz harmony and rhythm to a set of disparate and often haunting Chinese tunes. Singer, Coco Zhao, originally from Hunan Province, is a lyricist, a poet, a vocalist, an improviser and a perfomer of generous spontaneity and risk-taking individuality emerging amidst a culture that doesn't always rush to reward those qualities. Jeremy Moyer, a Canadian who has long made his home in China, plays erhu, banjo and a variety of percussion on the CD. We are exposed from the opening strains of "Solitary Bird" to a novel sort of musical archaeology as the music moves from the simplicity of solo erhu to the understated vocal of the village, to the rich density of a modern jazz piano ballad. In "Alamuhan" from the Tulufan region of Xinjiang and Uighur group, we hear a traditional song and dance number for couples now with a new modal groove. "A Qing Ge Ge" and "Ao Bao Meeting," are compelling love songs from Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia respectively with fresh rhythmic settings that range from minimalist ostinato to jazz rock. In the peaceful shepherd's ballad, "Mu Ge" sung by vocalist and muse, Yue Yan, there are echoes of Bill Evans majestic work on "Some Other Time." The three Sweeting/Zhao originals included in this collection of jazz arrangements of classic folk songs helps achieve a sense of balance and complement that anchors us in a time and place that could only be in Shanghai in 2011. Genre: Jazz: World Fusion Release Date: 2011