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"To & From the Heart"
Taiwu Children’s Ancient Ballads Troupe & Daniel Ho (Wind Music)
The latest musical stop in Daniel Ho’s continuing creative odyssey is this partnership with a children’s choral group from Taiwan. The singers are Paiwan, members of one of the tribes of aboriginal peoples of Taiwan. Like Native Hawaiians, they have experienced colonization by outsiders — Taiwan has been occupied by the Dutch, the Spanish, the Chinese and the Japanese. Although aboriginal people now make up about 2 percent of the population of the Republic of China, interest in aboriginal culture has increased in recent decades. This two-disc international project is a fine introduction to the musical traditions of the Paiwan.
The 12-song first disc, "Genre-Crossing Music," presents the children singing and Ho providing instrumental accompaniment. On most of the selections he plays acoustic piano. On some he adds guitar, bass or ukulele. Other tracks include accompaniment by a percussionist and a master player of the pipa, a four-string Chinese instrument.
The richness of the children’s voices and the textures of Ho’s instrumental arrangements become apparent with attentive listening. The choral traditions of the Paiwan are the common denominator throughout.
The second disc, "Ancient Melodies Sung A Cappella," is for cultural purists. It contains 14 songs sung without instrumental accompaniment.
Ho and his Taiwan-resident co-producer Wu Judy Chin-tai document the music and the performers with a 56-page book of bilingual annotation which includes a synopsis of the meaning of each song, information on the singers and details on the vocal traditions of the Paiwan. Having the cultural and technical information enhances the experience of exploring this ancient genre of island music.
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