Track List:
2. 遠雷 // Distant Thunder
3. 明日へ // Tomorrow
4. 東方花園 // Exotic Garden
5. 陽春の径 // A Road in Early Spring
6. 旅愁 // Ryoshu
7. 陽関三畳 // Yang Guan San Die
8. 暁 // Daybreak
9. 遠方的書信 // Air Mail
10. 再会 // Reunion
11. 樹影婆娑 // Shu Ying Po Sha
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Erhu (Niko), which has now grown to be an instrument familiar to most music
buffs, increased in recognition and popularity with the American audience
after the release of Jia Peng Fang's album "RIVER." Many people believe
the Erhu and Kokyu are the same instrument, but the Erhu is a Chinese
folk instrument while Kokyu is of a Japanese origin. In addition, Kokyu
has three chords (as opposed to the two on the Erhu) and the shape is a
lot closer to the Japanese instrument shamisen.
Erhu has a history of about a thousand years. It is said that the instrument
originated in the northern part of China. A bow, made with fibers from the
horseХs tail, is characteristically placed over the two steel chords and
then the bow is rubbed against the chords to produce sounds. Instruments
that produce sounds by rubbing the bow against chords, known as "rubbed
string instruments," are found world-wide. And just as the violin is its
representative instrument in Europe, Erhu is its representative in the East.
Erhu is known as the "violin of the Orient."
JIA PENG FANG was born in the year 1958 in the town Jams in the Helong
Jiang Providence of China, and got his first Erhu at the age of eight in
1965 - the year that marked the start of the Cultural Revolution. Jams,
a town about thirty hours by train from Beijing, situated close to the
Russian border, was not excluded from the ravages wrought by the Cultural
Revolution. In fact, how Jia chanced upon the Erhu was through his
enlistment into the Maoist Propaganda Corp.
When he was sixteen, he was helped by his brother to travel to Beijing
to study with professional Erhu players. At that time in China, people
were not permitted to move their registers, and it was not possible for
someone in the village to simply move into the city. From the ages of
sixteen to eighteen, Jia could not get his food rations but made himself
a small enclosure, about a meter big on his aunt's veranda and devoted
himself to practicing his Erhu day in and day out. He was determined to
become a professional Erhu player. In time, he became good enough to play
the sub for the teacher he was studying under. But on the date of the exam
for enlisting in the Navy Song and Dance Band, the great Karasan Earthquake
struck and the exam was canceled, destroying Jia's hope of joining.
About half a year later, as a part of the Cultural Revolution Policy,
he was forced back to his homeland Jams to labor on the farmland.
After the Cultural Revolution blew over and the country settled down,
a letter reached him. It was from Jia's former teacher advising him to
enter the music academy. After going back to Beijing, he was chosen from
among over five hundred applicants to enter the Central Music AcademyХs
Folk Music Department. An examiner at the examination, a concert master
of the China Central Folk music Orchestra, strongly suggested that Jia
should try out for their orchestra. He arranged for JiaХs registry in
the city and made sure he would be paid for his living expenses.
Suddenly Jia found himself starting a life of a professional Erhu player.
Jia busied himself rediscovering the traditional arts, which had been
denied by the Cultural Revolution, as he continued his enlightening
performances as an Erhu soloist and then a sub concertmaster of the
orchestra. Then in 1988, to seek new possibilities for his music, he
left for Japan with just a suitcase in one hand and his Erhu in the other.
He took on many kinds of part time work until his first break came,
through meeting with the musician Katsuhisa Hattori. Hattori fell in
love with Jia's talent and the tones of the Erhu and invited him to
take part in his album productions and concert activities, thereby
expanding Jia's world of musical activities. Jia entered around this
time in the Master of Arts Degree Program in Music at the Tokyo
University of Arts.
In 1997, his brilliant co-performance with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall
in New York solidified his position in the world of music. Also in June
of 1998, he made his debut album "RIVER" with the Pacific Moon label,
which blended Western music with the Chinese folk instrument. The high
quality of the work won him a high acclaim in Japan and abroad, as well
as proving to be a commercial success.
In 1999, the concept was further developed in the Pacific Moon album
"RAINBOW." It proved to be even more successful than the first album,
both in Japan and abroad. The third album from Pacific Moon, "FARAWAY...",
was released in January of 2001. This "Best Album" contains a selection
from the first three albums, and also the recording of the co-performance
with the pianist Naoyuki Onda, live from the studio of the American
national FM program "Echoes."
Presently, Jia is teaching how to play the Erhu to over a hundred
students as he continues to work in the genres of jazz, classics,
making movie sound tracks, conducting live stage performances,
recording and pursuing the unending potentials of his music.
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