“Metta” is available online: https://minxiao-fen.hearnow.com/metta
“Metta” album was released on March 23, 2024 at the Big Ears Festival. The music was composed for two silent films from the 1920s and performed with River Guerguerian.
Order at: https://asianimprovrecords.com/album
Reviews: https://www.jazzweekly.com/2024/05/min-xiao-fen-metta/
https://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2024/07/09/album-review-min-xiao-fen-metta/
“Metta” videos: 1, Min Xiao-Fen’s two film soundtrack trailers with River Guerguerian 2, Min Xiao-Fen’s “Metta” EPK
*****
Concerts in 2025:
July 26, “Sonic Shadows” (first work-in-progress), directed and composed by Min Xiao-Fen with master puppeteer Hobey Ford and bassist Zack at Story Parlor
July 12, “Metta” soundtrack performance for two silent films with River Guerguerian at the Sigal Music Museum/Upcountry History Museum.
May 23, “Asian Sound Revolution” with Jin Hi Kim and Gerry Hemingway at Detroit Institute
May 15, Blue Pipa Trio “From Harlem to Shanghai and Beyond” with Jay Sanders and Zack Page at Mars Landing Galleries
April 26-27, solo “Mao, Monk and Me” at the Chicago Jazz String Summit
March 30, a guest performer for Wadada Leo Smith at the Big Ears Festival
March 13, Blue Pipa Trio “From Harlem to Shanghai and Back” with Jay Sanders and Zack Page at the Folkmoon USA
February 15, duo with Tashi Dorji at Little Animals (31 Carolina Lane)
February 8, solo at VMFA ChinaFest 2025
February 1, “Asian Soundscapes” with Mari Ohta at Celo Community Certer
January 30, “Metta” soundtrack performance for two silent films with River Guerguerian at Tryon Fine Arts Center
January 29, solo “Mao, Monk and Me” at University Center at WCU
VISIONARY PIPA SOLOIST, VOCALIST AND COMPOSER MIN XIAO-FEN’S “WHITE LOTUS” RELEASED ON JUNE 25, 2021
White Lotus is multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer Min Xiao-Fen’s original soundtrack to The Goddess, a 1934 silent film from China’s cinematic golden age. Best known for her genre-breaking performances on the four-string pipa, Min has collaborated with artists like Wadada Leo Smith, Randy Weston, John Zorn and Bjork. White Lotus also features the work of acclaimed guitarist Rez Abbasi, co-producer and multi-Grammy winning recording engineer Jim Anderson, and Grammy-nominated immersive sound producer Ulrike Schwarz.
“White Lotus” is available on:https://www.amazon.com/White-Lotus-MinXiaoFen/dp/B08YQCPYB9/ref=zg_bs_34_35?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=21HWAW1ZJ7RYT4K8HCGX
Also available now in DSD & DXD at NativeDSD: https://www.nativedsd.com/catalogue/albums/aanyoim2120d-white-lotus/
While Lotus was interviewed by NPR, Grammy, San Francisco Classical Voice and Jazziz and many others:
NPR / Chinese Pipa Meets Guitar In Min Xiao-Fen’s ‘White Lotus” https://www.npr.org/2021/07/03/1012832047/the-traditional-chinese-pipa-meets-guitar-in-min-xiao-fens-white-lotus
Blue Ridge Public Radio/Traditional Chinese Music In Her DNA, Min Xiao-Fen Brings Western Daring To Her Asheville Move https://www.bpr.org/post/traditional-chinese-music-her-dna-min-xiao-fen-brings-western-daring-her-asheville-move
“[‘Annica’] from her new album White Lotus, out June 25, reveals ancient dimensions of harmony and order. What initially may have come off as strange and different becomes incontrovertibly human—something with a center of gravity in the heart or the guts.” https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/min-xiao-fen-interview-white-lotus-pipa-traditional-chinese-music
Take Five Celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with Stirring New Music. The jazz world’s most authoritative voice on pipa, a four-stringed Chinese lute, is Min Xiao-Fen https://www.wbgo.org/music/2021-05-02/take-five-celebrates-asian-pacific-american-heritage-month-with-stirring-new-music
“Min Xiao-Fen is one of the most innovative interpreters of the pipa…” https://www.jazziz.com/jazziz-travel-4-min-xiao-fen/
“The score leans toward Chinese tradition at times, feels jazzy at other moments and recalls cinema themes at times; the boldness of Ennio Morricone could well come to the listener’s mind at passing moments…Xiao-Fen is always a wonder and the rich sound of Abbasi suits her well.” http://nycjazzrecord.com/issues/tnycjr202106.pdf
“Xiao-Fen makes music that is caught between the earth and the ether. She’s even started to score films; her upcoming album, White Lotus, out June 25, is a soundtrack to the long-lost 1934 Chinese silent film, The Goddess.” https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/musicians-pushing-ancient-asian-instruments-future
“This is a gripping, dynamically shifting mix of styles that fits right into both artists’ constantly growing and paradigm-shifting bodies of work.” https://newyorkmusicdaily.wordpress.com/2021/06/26/minxiaofen/
“Pipa Master Min Xiao-Fen Breaks With Tradition to Explore New Genres” https://www.sfcv.org/articles/artist-spotlight/chinese-pipa-master-min-xiao-fen-breaks-tradition-explore-new-genres
DownBeat Magazine “Rising Star Misc. Instrument https://archive.maherpublications.com/view/296060199/46/
“How I wish the musical fusion of East and West more frequently attained the synergies explored in this remarkable recording.” https://www.artsjournal.com/uq/2021/07/savage-beauty-take-two.html
New local album interprets a classic Chinese film | Mountain Xpress https://mountainx.com/arts/new-local-album-interprets-a-classic-chinese-film/
“The mix of pipa and guitar can range from a bluesy ‘Hatha’ and bodhi tree of ‘Bija” to a jazzy ‘Karuna’ with Abbasi mixing and matching moods to perfection. The conversations between the two are remarkable, betting folksy on ‘Champaka,’ while when Xiao-Fen goes solo voice on ‘Lotus,’ you think you’re entering a cathedral. Fusion at its richest root.” https://www.jazzweekly.com/2021/07/ringer-of-the-weekmin-xiao-fen-white-lotus-featuring-rez-abbasi/
Min Xiao-Fen on the Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/min.xiaofen
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/minxiaofen
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0g76jtl2rN1gMCTpoDSCUw
Min Xiao-Fen New Release “Mao, Monk and Me” – in celebration of the 100th Birthday of Thelonious Monk
CD “Mao, Monk and Me” is available on Amazon
“Ms. Min, a spry and fearless practitioner of the pipa, a Chinese lute, has a new album out, titled “Mao, Monk and Me.” On it she performs and sings unaccompanied, blending the music of Thelonious Monk with Chinese folk song and her own experimental excursions… ” — Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times
“Mao, Monk and Me, an inventive solo homage from Min Xiao-Fen, who plays the four-stringed Chinese pipa. “ — Larry Blumenfeld, The Wall Street Journal
“Min Xiao-Fen is a masterful interpreter of Monk. Unburdened by instrumental lineage or cultural signifiers, she is free to treat Monk the same way Monet did his waterlilies…You’ve never heard Monk like this.” — Andrey Henkin, The New York City Jazz Record
“…Monk’s music has become intertwined with her own on Min’s most personal release to date, ‘Mao, Monk and Me.’ The striking album reimagines Monk’s iconic melodies for the pipa, the Chinese lute of which Min is a long-recognized master and innovator, fusing those jazz classics with traditional Chinese folk songs and Min’s startlingly original sounds.” —Shaun Brady , JAZZIZ
“Mao, Monk and Me” — Min Xiao-Fen, pipa, ruan, sanxian, cymbals and voice
Born in the ancient capital of Nanjing, Min Xiao-Fen interweaves Chinese folk music, regional operas and Taoist music with the sounds of John Cage, jazz and blues. Her works transcend borders with their own brand of cutting-edge fusion. Min’s latest solo set, “Mao, Monk and Me,” features her treatments of jazz standards by Thelonious Monk mixed with their historical Chinese counterparts. As a young girl coming of age during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the reformed Beijing Operas and folk songs she heard from the many regions were dedicated to the workers and soldiers. After moving to the United States, she was inspired once again – this time by Thelonious Monk.