The month of March has been filled with some of the best show I’ve ever seen, and the Arts & Lectures show on the 8th was a highlight of this exceptional cornucopia of delights. Pipa virtuoso Wu Man began solo with some traditional melodies that showed off her extreme talent on this essential Chinese “lute,” featuring precise, Hendrix-like lightening runs and bends, and lyrical passages of exquisite beauty. Then things took a turn toward the more animated and unusual when the 8 members of the Huayin Shadow Puppet Band filled the stage around Wu Man and her Pipa, and took off into their world of rural northeastern Chinese folk music traditions, something most westerners have never heard, much less experienced live. Revved-up and intoxicating mayhem ensued as they sang, shouted and beat on various percussion instruments, including a special wooden bench which Zhang Quansi brought from home to get just the right sound as he whacked away at it with a wooden block. Leader Zhang Ximin plucked his hexagonal banjo-like Yueqin and shout-sang lyrics about their fading way of life while other members played single string Erhu fiddles, various more traditional percussion and a rudimentary trumpet, shouting and singing along with great gusto. Two numbers featuring shadow puppets provided brief interludes to justify the band’s name, and while they were well done and fascinating to watch, the real show was the 12 exciting high-energy musical performances. Wu Man’s mission to share hidden-to-westerners treasures of Chinese culture was certainly fulfilled and much appreciated by this audience!
