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In 1934, writer-director Wu Yonggang\u2019s silent film Sh\u00e9nn\u01da<\/i> (The Goddess<\/i>) was released in China. Critically praised and popular among audiences, it was and remains an exemplar of China\u2019s cinematic golden age. Exploring and building upon the beauty of the film, Asheville-based musician-composer Min Xiao-Fen has released White Lotus<\/i>, an original score for The Goddess<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Years after its release, Wu Yonggang\u2019s film was effectively written out of Chinese history. Subsequent generations would barely know of its existence, much less find any opportunity to see the film: Mao Zedong\u2019s Cultural Revolution did not look favorably upon a film with a prostitute as its lead character. So Min Xiao-Fen grew up completely unaware of The Goddess<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Min grew up in China; from 1980 to \u201892 she was a soloist with the Nanjing National Music Orchestra. Her primary instrument is the pipa, a plucked, four-stringed traditional Chinese instrument dating back to the Han Dynasty (202 BCE). Min says that she wasn\u2019t exposed to popular films or music until the 1980s. Prior to that time, \u201ceverything was about the Cultural Revolution,\u201d she says. Her life as a touring musician was tightly controlled; minders kept close tabs on the orchestra\u2019s musicians, lest one of them attempt to defect while visiting another country.<\/p>\n
Even the concept of popular love songs was alien to Min until then. And a film like The Goddess<\/i> would have been completely taboo. \u201cEven now,\u201d says Min, who emigrated to the United States in 1992, \u201cyou don\u2019t see it officially in China. [The government] feels it\u2019s a little bit too pornographic.\u201d The plot of The Goddess<\/i> is straightforward and tragic: to financially support herself and her child, an unnamed woman works by night as a streetwalker. A gangster claims her as his property. The gangster steals the money the woman has saved; she confronts him, and in the struggle, she kills him. She is sentenced to prison.<\/p>\n
After Min Xiao-Fen settled in the U.S., she made a point of expanding her knowledge and understanding of popular culture. In addition to working with artists across multiple disciplines and genres \u2013 including Chen Yi, Carl Stone, John Zorn and Bj\u00f6rk \u2013 she discovered the work of Buck Clayton. A jazz trumpeter with Count Basie\u2019s Orchestra, Clayton was responsible for introducing Kansas City swing to 1930s Shanghai.<\/p>\n
And it was her exploration of that era that led to Min Xiao-Fen\u2019s belated discovery of The Goddess<\/i>. Her previous albums have forged connections between seemingly different aesthetics: Min\u2019s 2017 album, Mao, Monk and Me<\/i> celebrated the 100th birthday of Thelonious Monk<\/strong> by interpreting the American jazz legend’s works using traditional Chinese instrumentation.<\/p>\n Against that backdrop, Min\u2019s sixth solo album White Lotus<\/i> seems a natural step. Accompanied by Palestinian American guitarist \u2013 and 2021 Guggenheim Fellow \u2013 Rez Abbasi, Min plays pipa, guqin (a stringed bass instrument) and ruan (a Chinese banjo-like instrument), with occasional vocals. She explains that while she composed the suite of songs as a modern-day accompaniment to the silent film, the album versions of the 12 pieces are designed to stand on their own.<\/p>\n \u201cWith a film,\u201d Min explains, \u201cyou can\u2019t play whole pieces.\u201d Some scenes are very short; others are longer. She mentions a key scene in The Goddess<\/i>, one featuring the unnamed protagonist and the gangster. \u201cShe grabs a bottle. And the moment she hits the guy\u2019s head, I decided: silence<\/i>. Just let the action speak.\u201d Several seconds go by. When the man falls to the ground, dead, the music starts again. \u201cYou can\u2019t do that on an album, right?\u201d Min says with a laugh.<\/p>\n Min Xiao-Fen and Abbasi first premiered the new score for The Goddess<\/i> in February 2018 at Roulette, an alternative performance space in Min\u2019s then-home of New York City. Min says that while she composed the pieces for the score, she left Abbasi to improvise his contributions. \u201cI don\u2019t need to control him,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen he solos, I want him to do what he<\/i> wants to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Min moved to Asheville last summer. And with pandemic-related restrictions being lifted, she\u2019s beginning the process of scheduling long-postponed concert tour dates. At the same time, she finds herself inspired by her new hometown. \u201cRight now, I\u2019m focusing on White Lotus<\/i> and The Goddess<\/i>,\u201d she says \u201cBut the other day I was joking, \u2018Maybe [for] my next project, I\u2019ll play with birds, because they\u2019re always singing here. It\u2019s so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n Note: a significantly truncated, heavily edited version of this featured appeared previously in Mountain Xpress<\/em>. This is the full feature.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/mxf_white_lotus.jpg\")
But there\u2019s something extra-special about experiencing the original compositions in the context of a screening of The Goddess<\/i>. And that\u2019s what is planned for select upcoming performances. The duo will play live as the film is projected on a large screen. That approach affords some dynamics that wouldn\u2019t have made sense on an audio-only CD.<\/p>\n