Wu Fei and Abigail Washburn’s debut collaborative release is a testament to the connective power of music across seemingly disparate cultures.
Merging American old-time music and Chinese folksong, Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn features gorgeous, impressionistic renditions of traditional material from the hills of Appalachia to the prairies of Xinjian province, each tune flowing seamlessly into the next.
The effervescent resonances of Wu’s guzheng zither dance around Washburn’s expressive banjo playing, their voices intertwining English and various Chinese dialects.
This album recasts “world music” as music of our shared world, rejecting the impulse to view those different than ourselves as other, and highlighting our shared humanity through the harmonious convergence of songs of struggle, passion, and wonder.
NMR (photo: press Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn)
