Description
Few artists have done more to both honor and reinvent the 2000-year history of the pipa than soloist, vocalist and composer Min Xiao- Fen. Classically trained in her native China, she served as a principal pipa soloist at Nanjing Traditional Music Orchestra and was an in- demand interpreter of traditional music before relocating to the United States and forging a new path for her instrument alongside many of the leading lights in modern jazz, free improvisation, experimental and contemporary classical music. NPR Weekend Edition lauded Ms. Min as “one of the world’s greatest virtuosos” and JazzTimes hailed her as “a pioneer in integrating her ancient instrument with modern jazz and improvised music.” The New York Times raved that her singular work “has traversed a sweeping musical odyssey.” Min recently received a prestigious commission from the Smithsonian Institution to compose soundtracks for two Chinese historical silent films from the 1920s (premiered on May, 6 2023 at Freer Gallery of Art in DC). Other notable works include the 2021 album White Lotus, her original score to the 1934 silent film The Goddess, the deeply personal 2017 release Mao, Monk and Me, which explores the music of Thelonious Monk and Min’s Blue Pipa Trio that commingles trumpeter Buck Clayton’s Kansas City swing with the music of Li Jinhui, the “Father of Chinese popular music.” Min was a curator at The Stone and the Museum of Chinese in America in New York. She also served as artist-in-residence with the Sound of Dragon Society for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and was a guiding artist for the Creative Music Studio and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. www.minbluepipa.com
As a pianist, Lewis Porter has appeared on 37 albums with Terri Lyne Carrington, John Patitucci, Tia Fuller, Dave Liebman, Mark Ribot, James Brandon Lewis, and many others. A renowned researcher and historian, he is the author of “Playback with Lewis Porter,” a jazz essay series at https://lewisporter.substack.com/, of which Ted Gioia writes “Porter is the real deal—a genuine expert & trusted authority.” He has authored or co-authored two acclaimed books on John Coltrane, five other books, and numerous short publications. Porter is a longtime jazz professor with a PhD in musicology and has taught for many years at Rutgers, Tufts, Brandeis, the New England Conservatory, and as a popular guest speaker at many other colleges across the U.S.A. and Europe. He was nominated for a Grammy in 1995 and won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award in 2021. A recent album is at: https://lewisportermusic.bandcamp.com/album/beauty-mystery. Lewisporter.com
