FROM BEIJING TO L.A., ADVENTUROUSLY.Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer Honoring its heritage is at the center of the Beijing-based Twelve Girls Band Twelve Girls Band (Traditional Chinese: 女子十二樂坊; Simplified Chinese: 女子十二乐坊 , which really isn't a band at all. It's a contemporary take on the all-female orchestras of the Tang dynasty Tang dynasty or T'ang dynasty (618–907) Chinese dynasty that succeeded the short-lived Sui and became a golden age for poetry, sculpture, and Buddhism. . Throw some folk, pop and classical into the ancient mix and it's no wonder Variety trumpets that these ``China dolls China Dolls (Thai: ไชน่า ดอลล์; Simplified Chinese: 中国娃娃) is a pop music singing duo from Thailand. take traditional music off the shelf.'' Since the group, which appears in concert Sunday at the Wilshire Theater, made its U.S. debut last year with ``Eastern Energy,'' the all-instrumental ensemble of attractive 20-somethings has drawn raves for its adventurous crossover sound. Its new set, ``Romantic Energy,'' amplifies this fusion by, among other things, reimagining Simon & Garfunkel's ``El Condor Pasa'' on traditional Chinese instruments. ``Young people should go out there and try something new,'' says Liao Bin Qu through interpreter Grace Yang, adding that's precisely why she auditioned for the Girls in 2001. At the time, Qu was finishing up her conservatory studies in dizi, a bamboo flute with which she helps to illustrate ``Romantic Energy.'' The album pays homage to the centuries-old Dunhuang, a town in northwest China where East and West met along the ancient Silk Road. World music also influences the album because of contributions from Japanese new-age star Kitaro and Takuro of the Japanese rock band Glay. Although one of the Girls' favorite performance pieces is the majestic ``Carnival'' because it allows for the Girls' instruments to shine. Each band member knows a minimum of at least two instruments. ``We all started (playing) when we were little, but for me,'' says Yang Song through the interpreter, ``my parents picked the yang-qin.'' The yang-qin is a dulcimer dulcimer (dŭl`sĭmər), stringed musical instrument. It is a wooden box with strings stretched over it that are struck with small mallets. The number of strings may vary. The dulcimer is related to the psaltery and modern zither. that is played with a pair of bamboo mallets. It's just one of the Girls' featured instruments, which includes the erhu The erhu (Chinese: ; Pinyin: èrhú), also called nanhu (, literally "southern fiddle"), and sometimes known in the West as the "Chinese violin" or "Chinese two-string fiddle," is a (a violin with two strings), pipa pipa or p'i-p'a Short-necked Chinese lute. It has a pear-shaped body and a fretted fingerboard, and the silk strings are plucked with the fingernails. It is prominent in the opera orchestra and as an ensemble, solo, and accompanying instrument. (a Chinese lute lute, musical instrument that has a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, which are plucked with the fingers. The long lute, with its neck much longer than its body, seems to have been older than the short lute, existing very early ) and dizi. Sandra Barrera, (818) 713-3728 sandra.barrera(at)dailynews.com TWELVE GIRLS BAND Where: Wilshire Theater, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. When: 8 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $35 to $100. Call (213) 480-3232 or www.ticketmaster.com. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The 13-member Twelve Girls Band brings its world music sounds to the Wilshire Theater on Sunday. |
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