Reviews

A Distant Youth

On Forrest Hill Records - 2007

Produced by Arv Music

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All About Jazz Review of album "A Distant Youth" article published on AllAboutJazz.com

By Eyal Hareuveni

Wu Fei is a master player of the guzheng, a Chinese string instrument that is more than two thousand years old, and known today mostly as the parent instrument of the Japanese koto. Fei began her musical studies at the age of six in Beijing, later studied composition in Mills College in California, and now splits her time between Beijing and New York. She has collaborated with composers and improvisers such as Alvin Curran, Joelle Leandre, Elliot Sharp, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, Ikue Mori, Cecil Taylor and Fred Frith, who featured her in his recordings Eye to Ear II (Tzadik, 2004) and The Happy End Problem (ReR, 2007). Her debut recording features her original compositions for guzheng and vocal, rooted in the Chinese musical tradition, as well as her contemporary improvisational approach with fellow master improvisers: Frith, violinist Carla Kihlstedt and Norwegian percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken. The latter improvisations are the most striking ones, as they feature the swift and subtle reflexes of Fei and her collaborators, especially Kihlstedt and Frith, who succeed in expanding and abstracting the arsenal of sounds of the guzheng. Kihlstedt does so beautifully on the opening track "Cloud of Birds," where her sustained touch of the strings triggers a gentle counterpoint approach by Fei. Kihlstedt's wise plucking of the violin strings is a perfect accompaniment for the short vocal piece "Ping Tan." Frith and Kihlstedt begin "Diao Chan" with an unstructured, open improvisation that forces Fei to adapt to Frith's fast, phrase-based percussive approach. Frith leads "Dawn" with economic, evocative guitar lines; and his subtle interaction with Fei and Kihlstedt offers a mysterious cinematic atmosphere. All three are featured on the beautifully nuanced improvisation of "Mukamu. " Frith's affinity for patient and abstract improvisation, his rich vocabulary of guitar sounds, and his adaptability to almost any musical genre are best featured on "Yu Yin" and "For Yuxi," where his guitar sounds like a distorted ancient Chinese instrument. "Nothingness" is a non-idiomatic and thought-provoking improvisation between Fei and Frith, and it's almost impossible to know who produces what sound, as their language has become so close. "Mad Season" features a playful abstraction of a traditional Chinese theme, and Frith challenges Fei for a fast improvisation that leaves behind the original theme. Frith's percussive playing on "Break Away" is answered cleverly by an imaginative Fei. Norbakken, who is featured on one track only, "Hunan," rubs the skins and alternates between rhythms in a way that challenges Fei for a balancing textural answer. Fei's solo compositions for the guzheng incorporate elements from her Western studies, in the way that she slides and rubs the strings, jumping between what sound like traditional themes to a more adventurous plucking of the strings, or introducing an almost distorted sound of the strings. This is a most original recording by a daring composer and improviser that deserve a wider recognition. Visit Wu Fei on the web.

BLOW UP - Novembre 2007 www.blowupmagazine.com
La virtuosa del guzheng (strumento a corda orientale della famiglia delle cetre) Wu Fei e` riuscita a trasporre suoni della cultura tradizionale cinese in un contesto sperimentale ed innovativo, sviluppando nel corso della sua ancor breve carriera interessanti collaborazioni con alcuni nomi noti dell'avanguardia musicale americana come Frederic Rzewski, Cecil Taylor, Ikue Mori ed Alvin Curran. Nata in Cina ma cresciuta artisticamente negli USA, Wu Fei approda al suo primo album grazie all'interessamento della neonata etichetta italiana Forrest Hill, a cui va il merito di aver saputo valorizzare le notevoli capacita` espressive evidenziate da una musicista in grado di spaziare fra le fragili armonie del canto tradizionale [Ping Tanl ed i toni abrasivi della libera improwisazione (Diao Chanl. In gran parte registrato in trio assieme a Fred Frith alle chitarre e Carla Kihlsted al violino, "A Distant Youth" e` un lavoro che all'estrema eleganza dei suoni e dell'esposizione unisce un indefinibile senso poetico che si diffonde con leggerezza sia nei momenti piu` crepuscolari e meditativi (Dawn) che nei passaggi piu` dinamici e nervosi (Three Kingdoms). Massimiliano Busti

Preavy Rotation, Andrea Prevignano http://andreaprevignano.blog.deejay.it/

Le dita di Wu Fei si muovono leggere e poi decise anche oltre misura sul guzheng, una cetra orizzontale cinese a 21 corde pizzicate con il plettro dalla mano destra e premute dalla sinistra, strumento che padroneggia dall'eta` di sei anni. Studi colti alle spalle al China Conservatory of Music, Wu Fei ha fatto innamorare l'avanguardia americana: in particolare Alvin Curran, che riconosce come suo maestro occidentale, il compositore Frederic Rzewski, e alcuni giganti del jazz come Cecil Taylor e John Zorn che l'ha introdotta alla Tzadik come ospite di alcune produzioni di Fred Frith. "A Distant Youth" e´ il suo debutto solista, un album sincretico dove la delicata tradizione della Cina del Duecento a.C. incontra la chitarra di Fred Frith, il violino di Carla Kihlstedt (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Tin Hat Trio) e le percussioni di Helge A. Norbakken. In "Chun Song" il bending di Wu Fei produce un effetto di grande fascinazione e gli scrosci di note improvvise sono rapaci. In "Diao Chan", forse il migliore esempio, di incontro fattivo tra mondi distanti geograficamente e anagraficamente, il violino della Kihlstedt annoda i fili dell'astrattismo della Sequenza per violino di Berio con i rivoli della cascata di suono di Wu Fei. Vertiginoso e spiazzante. Per fan di: Fred Frith, Alvin Curran, Zeena Parkins

La Gazzetta di Parma, 27 Novembre 2007

www.gazzettadiparma.it