Angels of Shanghai Project

The very special project I mentioned in my new newsletter is something I’ve been working on for almost a year. In August of 2003 I went to Shanghai to meet with representatives of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival who invited me to visit ahead of a possible appearance at the Festival.

My trip was sponsored by a Japanese producer, Koji Niwa, who was the first to encourage me to experiment with creating a new American Jazz/Chinese traditional music combination sound.

A meeting was set up with the most talented students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. They were simply astounding. The instruments they play have been around for literally centuries:

  • er-hu (a two-string violin);
  • pipa (similar to a lute);
  • guzheng (sort of a cross between a harp & a zither)
  • dizi, (different sized bamboo flutes).

These young people were totally receptive to the idea of improvising and adapting their playing to whatever music I presented them. I don’t believe I’ve ever worked with any musicians who impressed me so deeply, especially given the brief time we’ve had together. It’s been revelatory to see them open up to the spirit of American Jazz. Although originally I was only intending to use the trip as an audition and fact-finding trip, I immediately began to feel a special loyalty and commitment to the five young musicians who inspired me so much. I decided that I wanted to keep the same quintet throughout project and started to refer to them as my “Angels of Shanghai”.

During the first trip we did some simple recording. With no advance preparation, I decided to just improvise at the piano and see what would happen if I taught them some arrangements on the spot. There was a lot of sign language that day because I could not speak the Chinese language. I just smiled whenever they played something I liked. I did a lot of smiling that day!! We rehearsed a version of the theme from my score to “The Invention of Love”, and also Gershwin’s “Summertime”. Given the success and excitement generated by that initial visit, I returned this past March, this time accompanied good friends Harvey Mason & Ken Freeman. This time I did two days of recording in a great studio and came away with 3 tunes, plus some interesting possibilities for more new compositions. Yes, “Angela, Theme from ‘Taxi’ was one of the first tunes! This gave me a chance to show them something from my past. Coincidentally I was very surprised to discover that both my Taxi melody and the Summertime melody almost totally used the same pentatonic scale that is used in much of Chinese traditional music! The young musicians seemed to share my enthusiasm, and with Ken at the controls I was able to capture lots of great moments in high quality digital audio. My friend and colleague, Jack Lee, who now actually lives in Shanghai, was an invaluable help. He coordinated with the students, the Conservatory and the studio (and found a wonderful translator who not only spoke both languages perfectly, but is also a great musician and understood all the subtleties I was trying to convey.) I certainly couldn't have done any of this work without Jack. Fortunately, he has agreed to accept the responsibility of producer on the project.

I’m currently negotiating to put a record deal in place that will allow me to complete a full CD project and give everyone a chance to hear the special and innovative music we’ve recorded. And, eventually, a deal for a DVD as well. We’ve shot footage of both visits. (At the first introductory meeting I do look probably a bit too casual; spent several days in my traveling khaki shorts because all my luggage was lost somewhere between Traverse City and Shanghai!)

My dream is to ultimately have a world premiere concert of this music in China, with both the Angels of Shanghai and a small group of American jazz musicians. Of course I also hope to tour the U.S. with this ensemble as well.

It seems especially challenging and important to me that we as Americans get to know more about the Chinese culture, since all indications are that they will be increasingly more influential in the global economy and perhaps even dominant over the next few decades. I’m certainly not a crusader but I love seeing the universal power of music work its magic to cross borders even when political solutions seem impossible.

Watch this space for news of progress on this unique, exciting project!!