Wu Man

The Hub, Edinburgh, 20/08/24

 Wu Man, pipa; Abbos Kosimov, mixed percussion and doira; Sirojiddin Juraev, dutar.

US-based virtuoso Wu Man is a world-leading exponent of the pipa – a pear-shaped, plucked traditional Chinese musical instrument colloquially known as ‘the Chinese lute’. Her numerous international collaborations include work with composers Tan Dun, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison and Terry Riley, as well as Kronos Quartet and Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble.

 A founding member of the Aga Khan Master Musicians (AKMM), Wu Man was joined on stage for an enthusiastically-received EIF performance at the Hub by two of her many AKMM peers, Uzbek percussion virtuoso Abbos Kosimov and Tajik musician Sirojiddin Juraev, who played the long-necked dutar with equal dexterity and facility.

 This was an East-East (rather than the more common East-West) experimental fusion featuring a dozen mostly newly-created pieces exploring the common musical heritage of these three highly accomplished musicians. Several of the tunes were arrangements of traditional melodies, with improvisation woven around the material – especially in the solo slots, which were breathtaking in their technical facility and musicality.

 The setting of the Hub felt exactly right for an intimate musical sharing of this kind. But the heat from the spotlights on the stage was something of a challenge in terms of keeping delicate stringed instruments tuned. The necessary adjustments were duly made between numbers.

 When the three musicians played together, as in the opening Wu Han composition, ‘Teahouse’, and Sirojiddin Juraev’s Nasimi Shab (‘Night Wind’), layers of varying complexity were often complemented by a more direct underlying pulse, and by identifiable themes rooted in their respective cultures but interestingly consonant with more western melodic expectations.

 Wu Man’s pipa solo, ‘Flute and Drum Music at Sunset’ was especially evocative, with a trilling technique and rhythmic sensibility enhanced through the use of harmonics and pitch bending – which the instrument both enables and encourages. Complementing this, Juraev demonstrated the surprising versatility of his long, two-string dutar (part of the tanbur family) on the at-times-haunting and segued ‘Qushtur’ and ‘Zulf’.

 Duetting in every combination, the trio also performed ‘Song of Kazakh’, a traditional tune arranged by Wu Man, Juraev’s ‘Mashqi Dutor’ and an encore of his infectious ‘Sair-I Badakhshon’ together.

 Another highlight was Abbos Kosimov’s astonishing percussion solo, centring on two Uzbek doira (frame drums) but extending with speed, subtlety and shifting dynamics and tempos across a whole range of shaken and struck instruments, sometimes in tandem.

 Wu Man is an inherently generous musician, happy to share the limelight with others and evidently revelling in multi-musical and cross-cultural communication. While it would perhaps have been good to hear a little more of the pipa, the overall programme was well balanced, illuminating and joyous.    

 Photo credit: Opus 3 Artists - https://www.opus3artists.com/artists/wu-man/