When musicologist and writer Mu Qian stumbled across local musicians playing in rural Makit County in Xinjiang, not only was he treated to a taste of music rarely heard outside provincial borders, but also to three days of singing and feasting. “They were very, very hospitable,” he says, in what is almost certainly an understatement.
Treks like this are common for Mu, who spends much of his spare time traversing the far reaches of China with his humble MD recorder in search of ethnic minority musicians to record. He connects them with Beijing’s urban music scene via his Pentatonic Workshop, a non-profit organization he runs with partner Leon Lee. The group focuses on preserving the traditional music of Asia and the Asian diaspora, and looks to lock their sounds on CDs or videotape live performances to preserve for posterity. An example would be the Dong, an ethnic group that spreads throughout China’s Guizhou, Hunan and Guangxi provinces. They sing a capella, rare for China (where traditionally singing is usually accompanied by instruments and often lacks harmony). Dong music, which takes its cue from natural sounds like cicadas singing, is “beautiful,” says Mu, “especially if you go to the area to hear it.”
But for those who can’t pick up and go to China’s hinterlands to hear the real thing, the Pentatonic Workshop stages shows ranging from traditional Kazakh music to a mix of traditional Indonesian and Chinese styles from Chinese-American Alex Dea. The Workshop continually looks to merge old and new, most often at the expense of Mu’s own pocketbook. “If I can produce a CD for (the musicians), it can help them materially, and through this maybe we can preserve this music,” he says. This becomes especially important as rural youth flock to the cities, often leaving traditions, and traditional music, behind them.
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words and photo by Laura Fitch