The world in a song
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Chinese vocalist Gong Linna. |
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Wang Li will perform kouxian during the festival. |
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The Gotan Project perhaps best represents this year's theme of "heritage." Photos: Courtesy of Lin Jian |
Since the first event in 2008, World Music Shanghai has been delighting music lovers in the city on an annual basis. From May 21 to 25, 10 international acts and four homegrown outfits, will be performing in Zhongshan Park as well as at a number of universities in Shanghai.
"This year, the theme is 'heritage,'" Lin Jian, the general director of World Music Shanghai told the Global Times. "But it's not only world music acts with their distinctive cultural backgrounds and styles that will be on show; just as importantly, the festival will highlight the ongoing relevance of traditional and folk music in a contemporary setting, and will hopefully show that these genres can be accessible to urban audiences."
Three to tango
Among the international line-up, the Gotan Project perhaps best represents this year's theme. The project is made up of three French electronic musicians and three authentic Tango musicians from Argentina (Gotan is an anagram of tango), who came together in Paris in the 1990s. The Argentinians have discovered in tango - and other traditional genres such as milonga and chacarera - music which has similar elements to electro sounds. And at the same time, their distinctive musical approach has been to put emotion back at the heart of electro, which they have previously described as being "too machine-like." In 2007, the Gotan Project won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music.
The renowned African musical duo from Mali, Amadou and Mariam, will also appear at this year's event. With Amadou Bagayoko on guitar and vocals and Mariam Doumbia on vocals, their music features traditional Mali sounds with the addition of rock guitars, Syrian violins, Cuban trumpets, Egyptian ney (type of flute), and Indian tablas (drums).
The couple grew up listening to Pink Floyd and claim they have been heavily influenced by Western rock music. In 2009 they performed at a benefit concert with Pink Floyd legend Dave Gilmour and also appeared on U2's 360° Tour in South Africa this February. Last year the married couple, who are both blind, also played at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in honor of Barack Obama, and appeared at FIFA's kick-off celebration for 2010's World Cup.
Among the Chinese performers the vocalist Gong Linna is well-known for her impressive transformation of traditional vocal sounds into contemporary musical forms. As a student of classical songs from the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC), as well as an avid researcher of local folk songs, Gong has consistenly sought to broaden her unique singing technique. One of her songs, "Tan Te" has recently become an Internet sensation, with people all over China imitating her animated style and facial expressions.
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