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LIU YUAN |
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In a country where American jazz music has barely begun to reach the ears of the public, saxophonist and businessman Liu Yuan has emerged as a pioneer. Though it's his love for music that drives him, he understands what he has come to represent for China: "I am just a stone on China's road of jazz." Liu Yuan was born in Beijing, on January 1, 1960, to a long line of well-known folk musicians. From early childhood, his father taught him to play the suona, a traditional Chinese flute-like folk instrument. At around eight years of age, he commenced a performing career with a spot in a government-run children's band. He continued suona studies at the Beijing Art School, a place for aspiring professionals. "This school had Chinese and Western classical music, Chinese folk music, plays, opera. It had all kinds," Liu says. But, of course, it did not have jazz. At 19, Liu graduated, and entered a danwei, or work unit, the Beijing Song and Dance Troupe. Playing the suona for their band, he traveled, both inside and outside of China. In 1978 and 1980, the troupe visited Europe, performing in Romania, France, and Switzerland, among other places. It was in a certain Romanian city near the Hungarian border that Liu and some friends first heard live the music that would change his life. "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!" Gradually, Liu gravitated toward the distinct jazz style. With financial help from his family, he had managed to buy a sax in 1984. The next obstacle, and one that presented far more difficulty, was finding a way to study jazz. There were no jazz teachers in China. There were no CD's yet, either, only tapes, and all he had was one Grover Washington album. So, with nothing but a saxophone, a jazz tape, and his own ears, Liu began to learn to play. The Grover Washington album was Liu's original favorite. Later, he managed to acquire more tapes, including those of saxophonists Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Stan Getz. "There was a little of everything. I didn't understand what I heard, and I couldn't do it. When I first started, studying jazz and saxophone was very difficult. Little by little it came along." Meanwhile, the CD Cafe opened four years ago to a literal smattering of applause -- weekend shows might draw one or two tiny tables full of people, Liu remembers. But it grew, and three or four months later it had become an established club. Its manager was searching for some good weekend acts, and upon discovering Liu at a small bar, invited him to come and play. The rest, as they say in the United States, is history. Now, scanning the entertainment listings of popular Beijing newspapers, by Liu Yuan's name you'll see nothing less than "Beijing's most established jazz players" and "Hear the boss play jazz." Read more |
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