July 24, 2005
Mei Han | Outside the Wall |Za Discs | China
Buy It
There’s an old jazz maxim to the effect that “you learn the rules so that you can forget them;” that is, achieving a level of mastery of one’s tradition can free an artist to break through the walls that define that tradition. Thus it seems fitting that Mei Han’s new tour de force CD, Outside the Wall begins with melodies that date back to the dawn of the previous millennium and ends with electronic-wind-tunnel improvisations called “Bamboo, Silk and Stone.” In between, Han uses her zheng’s twenty-one strings to explore a thousand years and the present moment alike.
Those familiar with Mei Han through her modern, experimental collaboration with husband Randy Raine-Reusch, Distant Wind, may be surprised by this disc’s first three tracks. “Xi’an Medly” and “Three Variations on the Theme of Plum Blossom” channel the performer’s spontaneity into traditional melodies. Han switches to the koto to perform Minoru Miki’s gorgeous twentieth-century piece, “The Greening.” The climax of Miki’s famed composition, in which a delicate, syncopated melody rides over dazzling waves of arpeggios, is a perfect showcase for her technique and sensitivity.
The other three pieces on Outside the Wall are neither traditional nor straightforwardly melodic. The title composition is a new four-part tone poem by Raine-Reusch “that explores the perception of time and space in the moments before physical, psychological or spiritual awakening.” Commissioned by Han and Borealis String Quartet, John Oliver’s “Purple Lotus Bud” is apparently the first work written specifically for zheng and string quartet. Playful and stirring, the piece wanders through Eastern modes and Western harmonies, exploring the tensions and consonances that result. It’s hard to believe no one else has written for this mix of timbres. Finally, the aforementioned “Bamboo, Silk and Stone” uses tape manipulation of other Asian string instruments to create an otherworldly setting for Han’s performance.
Mei Han is equally at home inside and outside the wall of tradition, giving disparate material a unity of sound and purpose. The rules are clearly hers to break.