Chinese composer and guzheng master Wu Fei recently released a collaborative album with American banjo player Abigail Washburn. The recording, titled Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) was selected the number one world music album by the Transglobal World Music Chart.
We contacted wu Fei to learn more about her music, the guzheng and Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn.
Q: What are your fondest musical memories?
A: Too many to list them all.
– The first time I discovered that I could improvise when I was at Mills College in 2002. I felt liberated.
– When I sang many childhood folk songs to my husband during a taxi ride in Beijing about 10 years ago. We were still dating. He had been living in China for 15 years by that point, and had heard all those tunes before. He told me that he thought those melodies were really bad music (over produced by big Chinese gala TV shows or karaoke bar versions) until he heard me sing them. He was surprised that they were the same songs. He still keeps the phone recording from that taxi ride to this day 🙂
– Every time when I played with Fred Frith, I found myself going somewhere musically that I had never been. I always discovered myself in a brand new way. Pure magic. I always look forward to playing with him again.
– When I play in nature, the sounds of birds, wind, leaves, insects, water and all sorts of wild lives give me endless inspiration. I feel completely insignificant, and yet completely embraced by nature.
-When I learned how to sing some of the most known traditional Peking Opera repertoires. I have been a huge fan of Peking opera since I was a kid. I watched many great Peking Opera performers live and on TV. I was always blown away by their costumes, facial masks, dance, martial art, acrobat, singing, and the ensemble playing with them. There’s a massive amount of history and culture that have come along with this performance art form. When I was a child, I played a lot of “pretend” games that I was the lead Peking Opera performer. When I got to the conservatory where I finally got to learn the real deal from our opera professors, my childhood dream came true!
What was the first song or melody you learned?
I probably learned many songs or melodies from the radio and from my parents before I turned 5 when I started to learn the guzheng. I grew up in a very musical house. My father was constantly playing his sanxian (Chinese 3-string fretless lute) since I had memory. My mother told me that I danced all evening long in the backyard of our old home when I my father played his sanxian. I was 3 or 4. But I don’t remember that time. I do remember the first melody I learned on the guzheng from my first professor. I was 5 years old. It was called Happy Luosuo 《快乐的啰嗦 》. It’s a folk melody of the Yi people, an ethnic group in China. I didn’t know it was a Yi melody back then though. I thought it was a finger practice song.
What do you consider to be the essential elements of your music?
In terms of music forms, I use guzheng, singing, piano and percussion a lot in my music. I compose for many other instruments that are from different parts of the world, from western classical music to Balinese gamelan ensemble. In terms of cultural background, I’m originally from China. My music root is Chinese. In terms of characters or personality, I am unpredictable. I thrive on learning new things. I don’t even know what my next piece will sound like. So, the essential thing for me to make music is – I never know.
How did your musical ideas evolve over the years from your first album to your most recent recordings?
I never stayed in one genre throughout all the first recordings I’ve done so far. It wasn’t planned that way. I am naturally a curious person. I like all kinds of food. Music is the same way to me. I like all kinds of music that sound good to me and taught me new things. I wanted to stay “healthy” as a person, so I needed to take all the “nutrients.” Life experiences have given me a lot of perspectives about life. Making music is a direct reflection of what I experience in life. I’ve been playing music since I was 5. I don’t think about making music from a musical perspective any more. New life experiences or new “craving” for experiences led me to each new recording and project. My principle on taking on a new project is if I can truly learn something from doing that project. I love learning. It is really the one thing that makes me happy. Life is too short. I want to learn as much as possible before my life runs out.
When did you become interested in the guzheng? And tell us a little about its background.
It wasn’t my choice to learn the guzheng. My parents decided that I would become a musician when I was 2 years old. Then, when I turned 5, boom, a big guzheng showed up in my house. The next thing I knew, they found a professor for me to take weekly lessons. I always loved music. However, I hated practice when I was a kid. My minimum practice was 2 hours a day including weekends. The only time I didn’t have to practice was when I got sick. It had been a love-hate relationship between me and my guzheng until I discovered improvisation.
How long does it take to master the guzheng?
If you practice 2-3 hours a day (strictly everyday) when you are 5 years old, usually 4-5 years later, you can play pretty much all the conservatory repertoires at college level. That’s what happened to me and many of my peers from childhood who later became professional musicians.
Is the guzheng a difficult instrument to maintain and carry to concerts?
It’s not difficult to maintain a guzheng. I play everyday and tune my guzheng everyday. I haven’t had a chance to know what it would be like if a guzheng is not played for too long. Probably wouldn’t sound so good.
It is difficult to carry the guzheng to concerts due to its size. Flying is the worst since it’s too big to be a carry on. Airlines always charge me oversize fees. I have hard travel cases for my guzheng. I take all the bridges off when I fly. It’s certainly easier when I drive to gigs. I have a van that’s perfect to haul guzheng around.
Who makes your guzheng and do you have more than one?
A manufacture company called Tianyun 天韵 (Sound of Heaven) from Yangzhou city made all my guzhengs. I have 5 guzhengs in total. Yangzhou is a historically cultured city and has been famous for making traditional instruments in China for many centuries. Some of my favorite calligraphers, poets and painters from about 300-400 years ago were from Yangzhou, especially the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou 扬州八怪。One of my guzhengs has Zheng Banqiao 郑板桥 (one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou), my favorite painter’s painting and calligraphy carved on the instrument.
Did you experiment with the sounds of the guzheng?
For this record? or in general? The answer is yes to both.
You studied music in China and later in the USA. Did you find any major differences in the way music is taught in the two countries?
In the conservatories, not so different. Outside the music schools, music is taught quite differently between the US and China. Music is taught pretty much the same way in music schools and outside schools (private lessons) in China. It’s just that the levels that are taught in music schools are much more advanced than outside the music schools. In the US, the band culture is huge and it really shapes how many people learn and make music. In China, there is no band culture. There are bands in China. The number portion is too low compared to how most Chinese youth learn music to have any impact in the culture. Music is taught much more academically in China than in the US. Just look at how many Chinese concert pianists, violinists, cellists there are in the world, and how many rock bands in the US. That explains how music is taught in the two countries.
You have a new album titled Wu Fei and Abigail Washburn, a collaboration with American banjo player Abigail Washburn. How did you meet with Abigail and why were you interested in each other’s music?
We met in 2006 in Colorado. Abby was on a tour with a group called The Sparrow Quartet. We were introduced by a mutual friend who’s a folk musician in Colorado via email. She invited me to sit with them at a show they played near Boulder where I lived at that time. Abby and I clicked right away from our passion and respect for each other’s cultures. We stayed in touch even though we were both busy working on our solo careers. We knew our paths would join in the future somehow. Abby had a long relationship with China. She learned Chinese language in college and toured with her bands many times in China for over 10 years. When we met, I had been living in the US for many years learning music in America. There was a lot that we shared with each other culturally. That was a wonderful foundation to begin our collaboration with.
As I understand, both you and Abigail live in Nashville, Tennessee. Did this make things easier to collaborate?
Yes.
What led you to Nashville?
I moved to the US in 2000 for the first time as an undergraduate student. Before moving to the US, I was a composition student at China Conservatory of Music in Beijing. I am a curious person by nature. As a young college student from China, a country that was quite closed during many years of my youth, I had always been wanting to see the world since I was a kid when China was quickly opening up. I lived in the US from 2000-2010. I finished my undergraduate study at University of North Texas in Music Composition. And then I did my master’s degree in the same field at Mills College from 2002-2004. And then I moved to Colorado and taught music theory for a while at Naropa University in Boulder.
During my time in Colorado, I got my first solo record opportunity collaborating with Giovanni, that’s when I started going to Italy and the rest of Europe beginning in 2006. Then I moved to Brooklyn, New York in 2007 until 2010 when I decided to move back to my home city Beijing for a while. I lived in Beijing again from 2010-2015 because I fell in love with a man whom I married to later, and now is the father of my two children 🙂 In 2009, after living in the states for nearly 10 years, and touring in Europe quite a lot, I really wanted to have a new adventure, including to be with my parents again. I also wanted to learn more traditional Chinese art like operas & folk singing.
I met Abigail Washburn when I was living in Colorado, Abigail was in town as part of her tour. We clicked right away. We kept in touch throughout those years. She invited me to take part in her album City of Refuge in 2009. I flew to Nashville to record in the studio with her. That was my first trip to Nashville.
After becoming a mother of two while I was living in Beijing again from 2010-2015, I knew I wanted to move back to the US. One genre I really wanted to learn more was American folk music. Through working with Abigail, I was quickly introduced to a wonderful circle of very talented musicians who were based in Nashville. It was no brainer for me to want to move my family to Nashville. It did take a little convincing for my husband to like the idea though 🙂
We fell in love with the people in Nashville -warm, welcoming, and down-to-earth. Both my husband and I were raised in metropolitan cities (he’s from Johannesburg, South Africa and lived in Beijing for 20 years before moving to Nashville with me and our children.) We were tired of living in stressful big cities where people are rude and everything’s expensive. Now we are raising our children in a forest in west Nashville. We feel so happy!
Your musical projects are very eclectic, ranging from folk music and western classical to avant-garde and fusion. Is there a favorite musical genre?
I don’t have a favorite genre. I have many favorite artists, composers whose music is all over the place. I primarily listen to classical music from the east to west, and jazz would be the second. It’s relaxing and stimulating at the same time to my brain. It’s often for functional reasons. I get bored quickly if the music is too repetitive, or too predictable or staying in the same key a lot from one song to another.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you in terms of work and livelihood?
First of all, I am extremely saddened and worried by how the coronavirus has torn so many lives apart across the world, and we can’t see when it will end. I believe it has changed everyone’s life forever. All my musician friends’ concerts, events, recording sessions etc. have been cancelled including my own. I’ve been homeschooling my two small children since mid-March. Everything is on hold now. It is a scary time. We are in survival mode now feeling uncertain about the future and trying our best not to get sick or mentally ill. I am trying to stay positive for my family, meanwhile, trying to figure out other ways to generate income by creating music from home all on my own.
What have you been doing these days while there were orders in many countries to stay home?
I have started a work-from-home new project called Wu Fei’s Music Daily since May 3. So I compose and practice music everyday for about 3 hours, usually in the afternoon. I do yoga following YouTube early in the morning. I homeschool my two children -math, reading, piano and ear training. My parents live with us in Nashville. So we are even more cautious about staying home. I live in a forest, which I feel extremely lucky during the pandemic. Besides going to the grocery store and medications for my parents, we are pretty much home all the time. My children keep me busy.
In what ways are you promoting your music?
Everything is online now. I do most of the promoting on my social media sites.
If you could invite additional musicians or bands to collaborate with, who would it be?
Wish Nina Simone was alive. Mats Morgan Band from Sweden. Ahmad Jamal, Dolly Parton, Jacob Collier, Gabriel Prokofiev, Nyoman Winda with his Balinese gamelan ensemble.
What advice would you give to beginners, especially young women who are anxious and want to make music outside of pop and trendy music?
Practice a lot. Work hard. Stay focused on following your dreams. Good things don’t come easily. Be patient and be tough. The world is changing towards a better direction for equality for women. But, know that there is still a long way to go to achieve absolute equality. If you are reading this, you will still be paving the way for future women. So, be prepared for a lot of ups and downs in life. More importantly, be really good at what you want to do. If fame and money is what you want, then music is the wrong path. Arm yourselves with solid skills. The deeper the foundation you make, the higher the tower you will be built. There are no shortcuts. If you take shortcuts earlier, there will be longer ways waiting for you later in your life that will certainly be harder to overcome when you are much older. Fashion and trends come and go. They are distractions. The skills you learned, the knowledge you gained and the stronger muscles you build are with you forever.
Are there any additional future projects to share with us?
It’s hard to plan future projects when we are uncertain of what that future will be like. Besides Wu Fei’s Music Daily , I’m taking this time to get a lot of practice and composing done at home as the whole world is trying to find new norms and directions at this very moment. Online collaborations are in the make and I’d love to share them with the world when I feel they are ready. Meanwhile, stay safe everyone!ᐧ
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Wu Fei’s discography includes A Distant Youth (Forrest Hill Records, 2007), Yuan (Tzadik, 2008), Pluck (2011) and Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2020)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.