Naxi Bashaxili Traditional Orchestra (eng)

NAXI BASHAXILI TRADITIONAL ORCHESTRA
NaXi BaiShaXiYue MinJian Yi ShuTuan
 (français ici)

 The story started during an artist residency at the Lijiang Studio, located in the small Naxi village of Hainan. Beijing videast Na Yingyu invited us to meet with a group of traditional musicians from the neighbourg village of Chaingsui. He was doing a documentary about them, actually spending most of his time with them, enjoying their love of life, parties and simple things, and it didn't take long for us to connect with He Linyi and his big family of farmer musicians!

A music which comes a long way...

Naxis are an Ethnic minority from the Lijiang area in the Chinese province of Yunnan, next to Tibet where this people originally comes from. In this rural area, naxis keep their dialect and succeed, not without difficulties, to preserve their specific culture, called Dongba culture, with its chamanistic pre-bouddist rituals using the last living hieroglyphic scriptures.
BAISHA XIHUE, BOUSHIXILI in NAXI dialect, "the fine music of baisha", is one of the traditionnal form of Naxi music.

Considered not long ago as a "fossil" music, Baisha music has come a long way. It is said that it was created during the yuan mongol dynasty, and was trasmitted from generations to generations for 800 years. Surviving to the chinese integration, it was about to disapear with the cultural revolution. During this period, only fiew people were secretly maintaining the tradition. He Maogeng was one of them, learning with a Baisha Xihue master He Xindian. He next transmitted his knowledge to his two sons He Linyi and He junyi, he died in 2006.

The Naxi Bashaxili Traditional Orchestra is composed of 16 menbers, all farmers from the Shangsui village, the yougest is 13 years old , the oldest is 79. Their instruments are handmade, some of them by themself, the most bizarre and simple one is the three leaf that they uses as a wind intrument!
They are proud to play the Naxi folk music, rooter than the "classical" one coming from the city, more sophisticated and with chinese influences. Baisha music is a lyrical and melancholic folk, most of the themes relating the myth of the Naxi origins."We are a small people, only 300 000, we could disapear easily, our music is also made of this spirit" says He Linyi, the group leader.

They play regularly in the main place of Lijiang , the Naxi capital city, so they can spread their message and have their only income from the tourists donations. Their show is free and they want it this way.

Despite many year of activities, they had never recorded, due to the lack of means ...
So we decided to join the adventure. And after 3 month of collaboration , rehearsals and recordings going along with harvests, weddings and funerails, we managed to make a CD...
They can now go further and may be have a largest diffusion for their art. And we hope that they will get what they want; playing outside of China.

We included this recording and Na Yingyu'sdocumentary "Longwater, in memory of He Maogen" in our project, CHINA EXPEDISOUND-Yunnan Province  , out since september 2012!
Already , the project helped financing their own release in China, so they can distribute it as they want.

All the pics and reports on the Lijiang Studio web site
and on our blog relationg this experience, "la valise rouge"