Li Jiang (丽江) -- ancient Naxi music

If you go to Lijiang, don’t forget to listen to the ancient Lijiang music. It’s a local classical music, filled with lyrics from the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties. It's very unique. The first time I listened to Naxi music, it reminded me of the 7 fairies singing in the animated movie “Monkey King” when I was a little kid. Specifically, I went to the Xuan Ke’s Naxi musical concert. Xuan Ke is a very egotistical person. Instead of a normal concert, his is more like a half talk show and half concert. Xuan Ke has mastered both the Naxi language and Mandarin; he is also very fluent in English. Listening to his introduction of the Naxi music is more like listening to an introduction about himself. His speech is much more open than the normal Chinese’s -- maybe because he was in jail for over 20 years and he is so famous now. He got his band world recognition. The band was initially composed only of men over 60 years old. The band performs around the world. Since the average age in the band is high, every time before going abroad, all the members need to sign a release liability with the band leader – Xuan Ke. They can only go if they can prove to be healthy enough. But still, some old men pass away every year. Nowadays, you can see younger faces in the band, they come to learn and to make sure that Naxi music continues into the next generation.

Ancient Naxi music performers

到丽江，不可不听纳西古乐。纳西古乐是广泛流传于纳西族民间的古典音乐，配有，唐，宋，元朝的词，十分独特。我听纳西古乐的第一感觉就是又回到小时候，看“大闹天宫” 中七仙女飞往蟠桃园时，边飞边唱的情形。我在丽江专门去听了宣科的纳西古乐。宣科是一个非常自我的人。他主持的纳西古乐已经不完全是音乐会的形式了，而是一半脱口秀，一半音乐会。宣科精通纳西语和普通话，英文也很流利。说他介绍纳西音乐，我觉得他更像是在推销自己。也许是因为他作过20多年的牢，受过很多苦，加上现在名声又很大，因此他说话较一般中国人要放肆很多。不过也是多亏了宣科，才使纳西古乐在世界有了名气。乐队在刚成立时由60岁以上的老先生们组成，在宣科的带领下，乐队不仅在丽江本土演奏，还经常出国演出。由于成员年纪较大，在出国演出前，每人都会和队长宣科签生死书，只有确认身体可以承受旅程的人才可出国演奏。尽管是这样，每年还是会有老先生去世。因此，现在的乐队有新人出现，老先生们边演出边带徒弟，也使纳西古乐不至于后继无人。

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