Friday, July 13, 2007

Blog 2: Beijing

We were met at the airport (at 5am) by a most amazing and talented woman, Joy! She is a former pop background singer and knows everybody! By 3PM, she translated my lyrics, found me a choir and taught me the most beautiful ancient Chinese folk song. I'm recording the choir tonight.

Meanwhile, Beijing has got the dirtiest air I've ever had to breathe. It's like I've got my mouth taped to an exhaust pipe while sitting in a dirty ashtray. Two hours out on the street (by Tiananmen Square) was all I could handle.

I'm really excited about the new arrangement of Ancient Voices. It's totally chill factor the way the two ancient folk melodies, one Russian and one Chinese fit together. Already on day one, I feel I've justified the jet lag!

Night- Just got back from recording all the Ancient Voices chinese lyrics. Awesome! We set up and recorded in a rehearsal room at a "Children's Palace", a converted Ming Dynasty monarch's estate that now houses after school programs for kids. We walked down a seedy alley with street vendors and lots of cooking smoke (as opposed to the ubiquitous smog) until we were led through a beautiful 300 year old stone arch. Crossing the threshold was like when the Wizard of Oz goes to color. It was stunning...as were the singers.

Tomorrow I jump a skateboard over the Great Wall! ;-)

No comments:

Post a Comment