Shanghai As Muse

I just came back from a fascinating panel on Asian Americans in the Media at Barnard College. Aside from the heavy representation in hip-hop, which I thoroughly enjoyed,there was also an unusual talent whose fusion jazz music is bringing his musical interpretation of Shanghai to an American audience.

Dave Liang gave up a career in management consulting to create the Shanghai Restoration Project, an electronic music initiative that's putting together excerpts of Shanghai '20s jazz music and splicing it with traditional Chinese instruments and the beats of hip-hop.

His music is evolving, but only because he's just starting to discover himself. I especially like this NPR interview and the accompanying video, because it gives his music a more definitive context.