Learning pop and rock n’ roll music at a young age and learning now the music of different countries has allowed Chinese musician Wu Tang to now look back at Chinese folk music and see it more clearly. He has gone a long way from being the vocalist of Lunhui, a Chinese rock band, to being a member of the Silk Road Ensemble that got a Grammy Award recently.
2nd Grammy Award
In mid-February, at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, the band’s sixth album, “Sing Me Home,” won the Best World Music award. Wu Tang is now part of the Silk Road Ensemble as sheng player. The sheng was a product of his family of musicians of Manchu ethnic minority origin. It was their second award, the first was in 2010 when the group won the Best Classical Crossover Album Award.
Although his father, a sheng teacher, forced him to learn the musical instrument when he was a boy and would hit him if he did not study the use of the sheng, Wu Tang admitted he is grateful for the strict training he received from his father, Global Times reported. His music has brought Wu Tang places, including the Vanderbilt Hall in New York where he and two other ensemble members gave a performance in late February.
Named after Ancient Trade Route
Wu Tang is one of the dozens of musicians with the ensemble, founded by Yo-Yo M, a Chinese American cellist. The ensemble, named after the ancient trade route that connected Europe and Asia, is global in composition with a Syrian clarinetist, Indian tabla virtuosos and Japanese multi-percussionist, among others.
“Today's Silk Road Ensemble is like a big family, a family that crosses over the globe… It is a multicultural platform through which we can learn about ourselves while learning from others,” Wu Tang explained. To foster creativity with different musicians performing on the same arena, respect is important, the former rock band vocalist explained.
HBO aired on Monday, March 6, a special about the Silk Road Ensemble at 8 p.m., Heavy reported.