Liu Yuan (, pronounced ; January 1, 1960 in Beijing, China) is a Chinese musician, who plays tenor and baritone saxophone as well as the Chinese wind instrument called ''
suona
''Suona'' (IPA: /swoʊˈnɑː/, ), also called ''dida'' (from Cantonese / '' īdá'), ''laba'' or ''haidi'', is a traditional Chinese music instrument with double-reed horn. The suona's basic design originated in ancient Iran, then called "Sur ...
''. He is recognized as one of the two most prominent jazz musicians in China, the other being the saxophonist
Du Yinjiao.
Biography
His father was a player of the ''
suona
''Suona'' (IPA: /swoʊˈnɑː/, ), also called ''dida'' (from Cantonese / '' īdá'), ''laba'' or ''haidi'', is a traditional Chinese music instrument with double-reed horn. The suona's basic design originated in ancient Iran, then called "Sur ...
'', a traditional Chinese wind instrument, and this was also Liu's first instrument. At about the age of eight, he began his performing career, playing in a government-run children's musical group.
He continued his ''suona'' studies at the Beijing Art School, graduating at age 19, at which time he entered a ''
danwei
A work unit or ''danwei'' () is the name given to a place of employment in the People's Republic of China. The term ''danwei'' remains in use today, as people still use it to refer to their workplace. However, it is more appropriate to use ''danwei ...
'' (work unit) called the
Beijing Song and Dance Troupe
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. With this group, Liu had the opportunity to travel, both inside and outside of China.
In 1978 and 1980, the troupe toured Europe, performing in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, France,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, and other nations. While in Romania, in a city near the
Hungarian border, Liu and some friends went to a cafe where they heard jazz performed live for the first time:
:"There was a music group that performed," he recalls, "in a cafe where we went to eat one night. It was jazz. They had a sax, and things like that, and it was jazz. And we said..." Liu sucks in his breath at the memory. "...aiyo
Liu became enamored of this form of music, and, in particular, the saxophone. In 1984 he was able to purchase a saxophone and, over time, gradually acquired skill playing jazz. Jazz recordings were scarce, and at first he had only a single tape, by
Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.
He wr ...
, to study.
Also in the 1980s he was a founding member of
ADO, the backing band for China's first rock star,
Cui Jian
Cui Jian ( zh, c=崔健, p=Cuī Jiàn, ; born 2 August 1961) is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Old Cui" (), he pioneered Chinese rock music. For this distinction Cui Jian is often l ...
(a fellow performer in the Beijing Song and Dance Troupe), for which he also acquired fame. He also contributed an instrumental piece to the 1992
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
ese movie
''Dust of Angels'' soundtrack.
Liu favors the
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
and
baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...
as his primary instruments, though he also uses a modernized version of the ''suona'' for some songs in Cui Jian's band, in which he still performs. He made use of a modernized large-keyed ''suona'' in the 1985 song "
Nothing to My Name" (一无所有; pinyin: Yì Wú Suǒ Yǒu), as well as on Cui's 1994 album ''Balls under the Red Flag'' (Hongxi xia de Dang).
In May 1999 Liu became the manager of a jazz club called CD Cafe (or CD Jazz Cafe) in his home city of Beijing, where he performs regularly with his Liu Yuan Jazz Quartet. He began performing at the Cafe in the mid-1990s, when public performances by Cui Jian's group were effectively banned. Weekend jam sessions by the quartet frequently ran until 3 am or later. His quartet included a talented jazz drummer from Japan, who was an alumnus of the
Berklee School of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
.
In 2006, Liu partnered with childhood friend Li Yongxian to open the East Shore Jazz Cafe, a jazz bar in Beijing's
Houhai
Houhai ( 'Rear Lake') is a lake and its surrounding neighborhood in Xicheng District of central Beijing, China. Houhai is the largest of the three lakes, along with Qianhai 'Front Lake' and Xihai 'Western Lake', that comprise Shichahai, the co ...
district. The venue plays host to jazz artists from around China and abroad, and he still performs there himself on weekend nights.
["Pioneering saxophonist, 50, still hitting the right note"](_blank)
''China Daily'', March 29, 2009.
Liu's given name is frequently pronounced "Yuar" (the
Beijing dialect
The Beijing dialect (), also known as Pekingese and Beijingese, is the prestige dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Beijing, China. It is the phonological basis of Standard Chinese, the official language in the People's Republic of ...
pronunciation of "Yuan").
References
External links
"Liu Yuan, the CD Cafe, and Jazz in China"by Tara Shingle Buzash
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Yuan
1960 births
Living people
Chinese jazz saxophonists
Jazz baritone saxophonists
Jazz tenor saxophonists
Musicians from Beijing
People's Republic of China musicians
21st-century saxophonists