Globetrot In the Mosh Pit with Mao Live’s World Music Showcase, Dec 16

Disparate Sounds of the Globe Come Together at Mao Live’s World Music Showcase, Dec 16

Kyle Mullin | Dec 15, 2018 9:00 am | Add a comment | 1631 reads

The phrase "all the world’s a stage" will take on extra resonance at Mao Live this Sunday afternoon, Dec 16, as the Haidian livehouse plays host to bands from India, Vietnam, and Africa for a world music showcase. Spearheaded EZFM of China Radio International, the show will feature the solo Indian performer Chaudhari Dilip Giridhar, the Vietnamese band Tran Nguyen (or Living Mythologies in English), Africa King Drum, and the Chinese act Soul Band.

Chaudhari Dilip Giridhar (pictured above) told the Beijinger that he is eager to make his way to Beijing for the show, and that he feels “a great privilege to perform in a foreign land, because we are all excited about the foreign audiences, what they feel about our music.”

“Music is not a language, but it can touch people’s hearts, and this is what I feel, through my music, I can touch their hearts and let the boundaries disappear, and I am very excited about what they feel about our music."

That sentiment is shared by the members of African Drum, who say, “It's an amazing and exciting feeling to be able to participate in what feels like a cultural exchange, where I am able to show an audience a culture from thousands of miles away.”

Living Mythologies frontwoman Shenhua Jieli, meanwhile, says she can’t wait to pluck away at the strings of the traditional Vietnamese Đàn bầu for the Mao Live audience. She says that instrument is regarded as “the soul of Vietnamese national music, and the essence of the Vietnamese peoples’ soul."

She adds that audiences will deem her Vietnamese showcase to be special because, “In my native country, most ceremonies welcome audience participation. Whenever a ceremony is performed in my country, it is gratifying to see everyone join in and fill the room with such positive energy. I appreciate the fact that my culture embraces the idealistic view of enjoying the time you have with the ones you love, and living each moment with happiness.”

“I am deeply moved every time I hear the Đàn bầu and the songs which it accompanies,” she says. “It gives me a feeling that wells up from deep in my heart and is hard to describe with words. It gives me a sense of pride, but with a touch of sadness. Perhaps that is because the voice of the Đàn bầu takes me through time and space to see the Vietnamese people who have worked hard over a long history, passing through many vicissitudes.”

Chaudhari Dilip Giridhar says his performance will also tap into a deep vein of his homeland’s culture. His song “All Is Well” was featured in a major Bollywood hit back home in India, and he hopes the song will help reassure distraught listeners longing for solace. “People are living in such a condition that they lose sight of the present, worrying about their future and regretting their past. So this song encourages you to live in the present, and tells your heart ‘everything is gonna be fine, all is well.'”