Dawanggang

Dawanggang is a Chinese folk fusion group that describes itself as an “Image and Sound Theatrical Troupe”. Since 2009, the name refers to the solo artist Song Yuzhe’s band project. Song Yuzhe is an important figure in the independent Chinese music scene and previously founded Wood Pushing Melon in 1998. In 2002, he leaves that group and travels widely in western China, where he turns his attention to folk music.

As Dawanggang’s core performer, Song Yuzhe sings and plays eight-string banjo and citten. The band’s flexible line-up also includes Xiao He on horse-head fiddle from Inner Mongolia, Adil on ghijak, a vertical violin associated with Xinjiang and the Uighur people, Yang Ji on dance, vocals and percussion sounds from Tibet, Tato on tabla, Zhang Jian on electronic organ and half zither, and Wang Fang on sound effects. The members come from different backgrounds, and the project is built around crossing cultural and musical borders and combining difference into a shared musical identity.

Music and performance concept

Dawanggang develops material from original folk recordings and fieldwork, which are edited and remixed, alongside compositions by the musicians that often adapt folk music. The project also includes a series of “Coming with Image, Going with Sound” concerts, in which live music is performed with video footage of landscapes and folk musicians recorded by Song Yuzhe in Tibet and Xinjiang over many years. Each performance is divided into two parts, “We Go” and “They Come”, and includes an intermission and a discussion period. The format is intended to connect image and sound and to explore relationships such as host and guest, majority and minority, tradition and modernity, and power and freedom.

The first set of performances is themed around different regions and traditions: the Himalayas, the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, Uighur Dolan Mukam, and Tibetan Amdo.

Recordings

The group has several album series in preparation, including Da Wang Gang and Huang Qiang Zou Ban. Planned releases listed for the project include Three Dakini are discussing, Ashik Castle and Mandala’s Mandolin.