Part of Esplanade's Huayi Festival also includes a show by instrumental jazz fusion band from Taiwan- 絲竹空 (Sizhukong). The girlfriends initiated the outing, and I went along. Not this huge fan of jazz. But occasionally, I really don't mind listening to it. Better than twee-pop. No vocals - fantastic. The girlfriends bought me this ticket as a birthday treat. Yay.
I knew nothing about their music or their three albums. I'm familiar with Peng Yuwen (彭郁雯), but not the rest. As usual, had to furiously google about them so as not to appear totally dumb at the concert. I was curious about their classical instruments and how they would interpret their brand of fusion jazz through these old-new sounds.
They played mostly original compositions and a couple of covers. 12 songs over 1.5 hours. I like that. Original melodies add so much dimension to the band's identity and growth. The composition and arrangements were impressive. Enjoyed《市集》'Marketplace', a piece that brought to life the bustling sounds of Taiwan's famed night markets. I like strolling through them to feel the vibes and observe the humans more than any excitement about its food. Also, the three movements of 'Waterfront, Bleak Bird, Bathing in the Stream' 《水畔、寒鴉、嬉水》, which was inspired by an old Chaozhou traditional guzheng tune. Chen Chih Ling (陳芷翎) was simply mesmerising on her chosen instruments of ruan (阮) and liu qin (柳琴).
The Chinese flutes took the lead in many of the songs. Huang Chih Ping (黃治評) was a virtuoso on his chosen instruments of the dizi (笛子) and the xiao (簫). Bassist Yeh Chun Lin (葉俊麟) apparently majored in the cello at college, but he was completely at home with the electric bass. Rather awesome. The one song that had some sort of vocals was the Hakka song, not the famous folk song of 'To Rain' 《天公落水》, but something fun to do with Old Ho selling a goose. It went something like, “老何堵著老羅，老何賣籮買鵝，老羅賣鵝買籮，鵝換籮，籮換鵝”, and the instruments just played out the tones of the dialect. Pretty humorous, although I didn't understand a word of the spoken dialect.
Ooh! On the same night that the SSO (Joshua Tan conducts; Shane Thio on piano and Ng Pei-Sian on cello) did their Pops concert covering Joe Hisaishi, 《絲竹空》 also covered a piece by the celebrated composer. They covered- 'Merry-Go-Round of Life' (theme from Howl's Moving Castle). I like! What a lovely interpretation. The main melody was taken by the erhu. That has never been my favorite instrument. But that night, Alex Wu (吳政君) totally rocked it. It was such an enjoyable concert. Brilliant musicians. Peng Yuwen's magic and flair showed through with all the arrangements Sizhukong made of the various covers, and many originals. Was riveted. So glad I saw them!
I knew nothing about their music or their three albums. I'm familiar with Peng Yuwen (彭郁雯), but not the rest. As usual, had to furiously google about them so as not to appear totally dumb at the concert. I was curious about their classical instruments and how they would interpret their brand of fusion jazz through these old-new sounds.
They played mostly original compositions and a couple of covers. 12 songs over 1.5 hours. I like that. Original melodies add so much dimension to the band's identity and growth. The composition and arrangements were impressive. Enjoyed《市集》'Marketplace', a piece that brought to life the bustling sounds of Taiwan's famed night markets. I like strolling through them to feel the vibes and observe the humans more than any excitement about its food. Also, the three movements of 'Waterfront, Bleak Bird, Bathing in the Stream' 《水畔、寒鴉、嬉水》, which was inspired by an old Chaozhou traditional guzheng tune. Chen Chih Ling (陳芷翎) was simply mesmerising on her chosen instruments of ruan (阮) and liu qin (柳琴).
The Chinese flutes took the lead in many of the songs. Huang Chih Ping (黃治評) was a virtuoso on his chosen instruments of the dizi (笛子) and the xiao (簫). Bassist Yeh Chun Lin (葉俊麟) apparently majored in the cello at college, but he was completely at home with the electric bass. Rather awesome. The one song that had some sort of vocals was the Hakka song, not the famous folk song of 'To Rain' 《天公落水》, but something fun to do with Old Ho selling a goose. It went something like, “老何堵著老羅，老何賣籮買鵝，老羅賣鵝買籮，鵝換籮，籮換鵝”, and the instruments just played out the tones of the dialect. Pretty humorous, although I didn't understand a word of the spoken dialect.
Ooh! On the same night that the SSO (Joshua Tan conducts; Shane Thio on piano and Ng Pei-Sian on cello) did their Pops concert covering Joe Hisaishi, 《絲竹空》 also covered a piece by the celebrated composer. They covered- 'Merry-Go-Round of Life' (theme from Howl's Moving Castle). I like! What a lovely interpretation. The main melody was taken by the erhu. That has never been my favorite instrument. But that night, Alex Wu (吳政君) totally rocked it. It was such an enjoyable concert. Brilliant musicians. Peng Yuwen's magic and flair showed through with all the arrangements Sizhukong made of the various covers, and many originals. Was riveted. So glad I saw them!
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