Get all 10 Jen Shyu releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Phone of the Wind, Zero Grasses: Ritual for the Losses, Song of Silver Geese, Sounds and Cries of the World, Synastry, Inner Chapters, Raging Waters, Red Sands, Jade Tongue bonus tracks (available via download only), and 2 more.
1. |
Qemaiaqaiam
11:24
|
|||
|
Qemaiaqaiam (Women sing) Translation:
1. The leader tells us
2. The leader we chose
3. Each family spreads the word and works together
(verses not sung during performance):
4. That one with the cut hair
5. He consults with us all there
6. So we agree to act together
7. The men bring the women wickers from the mountain to take to the gathering place
8. Everyone holds the wickers tight
9. From afar, the streams of flowers in the women’s hair seem to dance in the wind
10. We bring the wickers through the south king’s main door
11. When the women bring their wickers to the tribe’s gathering place, the ceremony ends
Kumuli Ku Lis
1. We want to end this Qemaiaqaiam song
2. We sing with beauty
3. We give thanks to the men who prepared the wickers for us
|
||||
2. |
Pinpu Tune
06:14
|
|||
3. |
Sol de Ré pra Si
01:55
|
|||
4. |
Sofia Sofria
02:38
|
|||
|
In the room where he used to live
She would sleep
The bedroom where he used to sleep
She wouldn’t see
From his hanging clothes
She would avoid
The smell of a smoker
She would absorb
On the skin of a non-lover
She would feel
To his absence of life
She would smile, suffer
Sleep, suffer
Not see, suffer
Deflect, suffer
Sorb, suffer
Feel...alone...and cold
|
||||
5. |
5-Hole Tune (moon lute)
03:58
|
|||
|
The first hardship is the ax and the knife
The second hardship is the basket and the rope
Poor father and poor mother
Going up the mountain and down the mountain – there’s nothing we can do
The first worry is the home/family being poor
The second worry is that the child is still young
The third worry is becoming old and unable to work
To face others day to day is so very difficult
“Five-Hole Tune”, Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun, taught by Chen Ying 陳英
|
||||
6. |
5-Hole Tune
02:30
|
|||
7. |
Cio d'Agua
03:05
|
|||
|
I saw the horizon devouring the sun as a delicacy.
On the shore everybody was clapping,
Honoring the eroticism between the heat and the water.
I did see it, no joke.
On the shore everybody was clapping.
And there was the sky, sheet and witness.
I did see it, no joke,
almost hearing, in low tones, the orgasm of the sea.
There was the sky: sheet and witness;
the full moon, lurking;
and I — almost hearing, in low tones, the orgasm of the sea --
plunged, nude, in the heat of the water.
The full moon, lurking,
shining smiled,
‘cause I plunged, nude, in the heat of the water,
and came in the dance of the waves.
On the shore, everybody clapped.
(By Patrícia Magalhães)
|
||||
8. |
Looking Back (moon lute)
01:45
|
|||
|
Everyone loves Hengchun folk song
The whole province over know these famous songs
Mr. Chen Da* handed them down to me
Let us hand down this music from generation to generation
*Chen Da was a renowned narrator and singer, defining Hengchun folk music. Born in 1905, 1/4 indigenous Taiwanese descent, he was a true virtuoso on the moon lute and a genius improviser with lyrics. He died tragically in 1981 from being struck by a vehicle while crossing the street.
|
||||
9. |
||||
|
Thinking back, you, the respectable elders, are all lucky stars
To be strong and brave is a fortune
Today, we see each other, smiling, embracing
I wish you a healthy life of 120 years
|
||||
10. |
Summer
05:08
|
|||
11. |
Rainy Night Flower
02:08
|
|||
|
雨夜花, 1934
|
||||
12. |
||||
13. |
Four Seasons Spring
03:25
|
|||
14. |
Hope You Return
04:18
|
|||
15. |
Elliptical / Wayward Son
08:02
|
|||
16. |
Eu e Tu
03:26
|
|||
|
**ME AND YOU (“EU E TU” - poem and translation by Patrícia Magalhães)
I, who says yes and no
the drying fountain
the bright side of darkness
Sound invading silence
sea, horizon, firmament
brave waves at dusk
and shadows on the ground
You, who consents and surrenders
the fresh herb scent
the purity of the chant
The face that shines in smiles
salt, sun, heaven
I contradict
You, contraction
|
||||
Jen Shyu New York, New York
Guggenheim Fellow, USA Fellow, Doris Duke Artist, multilingual vocalist-composer-multi-instrumentalist-actor-dancer JEN SHYU has produced 8 albums, performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art & is a Fulbright scholar speaking 10 languages. Her Song of Silver Geese was among NYTimes' Best Albums of 2017. Co-founder of mutualmentorshipformusicians.org & a Steinway Artist. ... more
Jen Shyu recommends:
Val Jeanty is one of my favorite artists ever...all spirit and masterful artistry
go to album
Vulnerable | Change My Mind
by Cleo Reed
Cleo Reed is a true original
go to album
Spirit Michele Rosewoman Trio / Llve at the Montreal Jazz Festival
by Michele Rosewoman
Michele is a legend and still way under-recognized!
go to albumIf you like Jen Shyu, you may also like:
Verisimilitude
by Tyshawn Sorey
supported by 12 fans who also own “Inner Chapters”
Verisimilitude was at the top of my "Top Ten Records of 2017". https://www.poisonpie.com/publishing/reviews/text/musicreview_2017.html Can't wait for the vinyl version to arrive.
go to album
Inspired by a trip to Indonesia, “Fleeting Future” is an album chock full of dense and dizzying jazz compositions.
go to album
These romantic pieces by bassist and composer Robert Lee were inspired by Korean folktales.
go to album
