YANG YING

Blurring Boundaries

(Wensar Records)

www.yangying-music.com

A gem is in our midst. Her name is Yang Ying, a transplant from China who currently resides in Champaign-Urbana.  Her new CD, Blurring Boundaries, is an eclectic mix of musical styles that bridges east with west, past with present, and classic with contemporary and is unlike anything you've ever heard before.

Distinguished as one of China's foremost erhu players, Yang Ying preformed as a featured soloist in China's premier traditional musical and dance troupe for nearly twenty years, during which time she appeared before three American presidents: Nixon, Ford and Carter. In 1996 she was featured in the Chinese government's publication of Famous Persons in China.

If you've never heard the erhu, (pronounced ar-hoo), and I dare say most Americans have not, it will take you by surprise. It is a breathtaking example of what the human heart might sound like if it could actually sing. The erhu is a fretless, two-stringed bowed instrument that generates an ethereal sound that connects directly with the seat of our emotions. It would be an understatement to compare its tone with that of a Western violin; the erhu is much more soulful and expressive. But that's the closest correlation. While stories of its origin date to the Tang Dynasty (618-907, CE) it did not become popular in China until the Song Dynasty (960-179, CE). The drum-like mahogany sound box is covered with a snakeskin head, and the two steel strings, stretched from the sound box along a narrow bridge, generate sound with a horse-hair bamboo bow. The erhu, also referred to as Hu-Qin, has a musical span of about four octaves and is basically a mid-high-toned instrument whose mid-low tone sounds forceful and lavish while its mid tone is gentle and touching. The high tone is clear and bright. The instruments lack of a finger board allows for enormous flexibility and affords the player and expressiveness approaching a human voice.

You will hear just such an expressive voice in Yang Ying's newest CD which opens with "Uninhibited," a heart-lurching piece whose opening phrase is a pounding percussion that moves into a compelling rhythmic beat. The integration of Yang Ying's specialty, the ehru, lends a most unusual strain to the piece.  According to Ying, "Uninhibited" is inspired by native Mongolian music and Xian drum styles. The work includes keyboards by Neal Robinson and percussion by Chad Dunn, with Jeff Magby on drums and Chin-Fei Chan on flute. Josh Walden performs on bass guitar. In this heady blend of east and west (a contemporary mix of Xian drum styles and American jazz, rock, and funk influences), Ying's ehru takes a back seat and blends with the other instruments. The piece is pure abandon and ends with the musicians' exuberant laughter in the background--a symptom of their own excitement and pleasure.

Yang Ying says she learned her instrument under the tutelage of her father, starting at around five years of age. By the age of 13, she was playing solo concerts in her hometown, the Henan Province near the Chen Village. She graduated from the Opera University of Henan to become the featured soloist for the Chinese National Song and Dance Ensemble in Beijing, a position she held from 1978 to 1996.

However Ying's interests meandered well beyond Chinese traditional music. She formed the first all-girl Chinese rock band, Cobra, in 1989. Ying played bass and sang. Cobra gained national and international recognition in 1990 during the month of the infamous Tiananmen Square massacre and continued for two years to play music outside the government-approved realm.

According to Ying, artists like Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus are among her musical influences, along with Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. In 1998, she cut a track with Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers, with Neville on sax and Yang Ying on erhu.

The Monk influence can be heard in the beautiful piece, "'Round Midnight," a classic of western jazz re-imagined through the exquisite timbre of the erhu. Tom Paynter is featured on piano, Jeff Magby on drums, and Ben Taylor on upright bass. The sound is so pure it could make a grown man cry.

The influence of Charles Neville can be heard in tunes that approach country western music, with a Creole twist. "Funky Chinese Jig" is an imaginative combination of tribal music from southwestern China, with a bit of Nashville funk.

The album also includes traditional pieces composed for erhu, such as "Sai Ma" ("Horse Race") or the folk song, "Jiang He Shui" ("River of Tears").

The caliber of musicianship on Blurring Boundries, is superb; its exquisite resonance puts the work, without a doubt, at the top of the musical food chain.

Blurring Boundaries was created locally by Wensar Records, produced by Yang Ying, recorded by Ben Taylor, Mark Rubel and Hang Ying, mixed by Yang Ying, and mastered by Blaise Barton.

-JENNY SOUTHLYNN