SIZHUKONG絲竹空爵士樂團
- An Innovative Ancient Sound from Taiwan
In this rejuvenated music, oriental aura and Chinese-kung-fu-like skills are beautifully blended, and a new kind of Chinese music is born with a soul of jazz.
Where does Jazz fit in the music of the world today? How does a citizenship of jazz musicians from every corner of the world adapt and transform this once idiomatically American form? Where is jazz headed next?
Sizhukong, a unique ensemble led by Yuwen Peng, is one good answer to this set of questions. A composer/pianist born and raised in Taiwan, Yuwen received her jazz training at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston and returned to Taiwan with a jazz mission. This group is her latest effort to bring jazz into conversation with the old and new cultures of Taiwan. Combining traditional Chinese and modern jazz instrumentation, bringing new styles to traditional songs, Sizhukong takes traditional Chinese music into the modern age and transports jazz and other modern styles back into the past. In March 2007, the group released its first album, also called “Sizhukong”, which catches great attention of both music lovers and critics.
Performances including:
2005 Taipei Arts Festival
2005 & 2006 Taipei Film Festival Opening Concerts
2005 & 2007 Taichung Jazz Festival
2007 Zhu Jia Jiao Water Village World Music Festival in Shanghai, China
2008 Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia
Si, Zhu, Kong, the combination of these three Chinese characters elicits an abundant range of meaning:
| si | 絲 | Silk
|
| zhu | 竹 | Bamboo
|
| kong | 空 | Emptiness
|
| sizhu | 絲竹 | Musical
Instrument, Music
|
| sizhukong | 絲竹空 | The
pressure point at the end of the eyebrow
|
| sizhu kong | 絲竹 空 | Music
is emptiness… Music is not meant to be controlled
or manipulated…
|
Piano /YuWen Peng
DiZi, Xiao /Chih-Ping Huang 
Bass /Martijn Vanbuel
Drum /Toshi Fujii
Liuqin, Ruan /Chih-Ling
Chen
Percussion /Alex Wu