WALK ON THE FIFTH

New music composed by pianist Zhen Chen and live performed with Pipa artist Lin Ma, and Jazz musicians Braxton Cook and Curtis Nowosad at Greene Space of WNYC/WQXR.
WALK ON THE FIFTH is an upbeat jazz that puts soprano saxophone, drum, piano and Chinese pipa in a rare and experimental combination. The saxophone’s improvising, jazz drumming, and piano chords create a modern Western atmosphere; the pipa follows the beat while humming a tone with a hint of Chinese folk festival music. There is cacophony that indicts the awkwardness of blending in a foreign culture; but as the music comes to an end the jazz band and the pipa play along while absorbing each other’s features. The pipa acts the role of the protagonist striding down Fifth Avenue confidently. The frantic strumming and rolling fingering of the pipa express the funky side of the usually refrained girl.