The Velvet Underground, The Eagles, Gershwin, Copland... what will be the effect when their masterpieces are adapted, played by pianist Lang Lang, and put together into an album? The answer will be revealed in "Lang Lang's New York Rhapsody", which will be released simultaneously worldwide on the 16th of this month. This album is also Lang Lang's first crossover album.

On the eve of the album’s release, Lang Lang came to Beijing’s Intermediate Art Center yesterday to hold a small sharing session. While talking about the origin of the album, he also used music to explain it on the piano from time to time.

Lang Lang recalled his first experience of going to New York when he was 14 years old. He felt that New York was like a melting pot, blending different cultures together and eventually forming his own unique New York culture, and his new album is to reflect this culture. "It is not my aim to only record (repertoire of) one composer. I hope to have new works every year. We must enter the era of multiculturalism." ”

So Lang Lang began to think about where he could innovate if he wanted to record an album for New York. He doesn't think it means much if you just repeat what others have done in the past. "It's too unrestrained to always copy others, but it takes time to become chic." "In the beginning, Lang Lang found many Grammy producers, but what he recorded was not classical, not jazz. “They don’t know how to use a piano well, and it feels like the performance of a sports car has been used like a bicycle. ”

Until one day, Lang Lang thought about whether he could use the logic from morning to night to select tracks. At the same time, instead of just turning these pieces into piano arrangements, he specially found 10 composers to work together. “I used to think that classical music was more standardized, but in fact pop music is more standardized because it has time signatures and a fixed rhythm. "Lang Lang finally decided to use fixed rhythms in playing these pieces. He was not comfortable with it at first, but after gradually getting used to it through practice, he said, "After this album, I have great respect for musicians in other fields. ”

At the new album sharing meeting, the biggest bonus was the appearance of singer Kaydance Springs. She happened to be attending a Blue Note performance in Beijing and stopped by to support Lang Lang. She sang "New York Moment" live, causing many members of the media who were not at the scene to express regret after learning the news. "New York Rhapsody" took five years to complete the recording. After the release of the new album, the "New York Lincoln Center Special Concert Live DVD" recorded in May this year will also be released at the end of this year.

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10 top musicians support new album

The most eye-catching highlight is the invitation to the legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, who has won 14 Grammys and 1 Oscar, to collaborate with Lang Lang to perform Gershwin's classic "Rhapsody in Blue". This special two-piano version of the masterpiece is presented by the London Symphony Orchestra and two pianists, conducted by John Axelrod.

The other nine world-class artists are: two-time Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer Andra Day, two-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, actor Jeffrey White who has won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Tony Awards, 14-seat Grammy acoustic guitar player Jerry Douglas, and 27-year-old Kaidance, who is considered to be very likely to win the next Grammy Newcomer Award. Springs, violinist Lindsay Sterling, who has more than 1 billion views on social media YouTube, three-time Grammy Award winner Lisa Fisher, the prototype of the Oscar-winning documentary "20 Feet from Stardom", Madeleine Bell, who is known as the successor of the first lady of jazz, Billie Holiday, and trumpet player Sean Jones, who won the Grammy in 2007.

The track focuses on showing a day in New York

The track of "Lang Lang New York Rhapsody" takes a day's life in New York as its theme, presenting the complex atmosphere and diverse living beings in New York. The first and last tracks are composed of two quiet and meditative works by New York music poet Aaron Copland. At the beginning of the album, Lang Lang and Klein chose Copland's early work, "New York Stories" created in the 1940s, evoking many small stories in this huge city. At the end of the album, there is a piece of Copland's late work "Evening Sky". The melody seems to float out of what Klein expressed, "In New York, there is also some peace and tranquility." ”

The most bold innovation in the new album is the sixth song, which combines Bernstein's "West Side Story" selection "Place" with the Velvet Underground's Lou Reed's classic album "New York" selection "Chaotic Boulevard". Lisa Fisher's voice screams "Place," while Jeffrey White delivers a rich monologue on Lou Reed's indelible "boulevard of chaos." This piece has both the pathos of New York and its romance.

Other songs include "Morning in New York" by the Elbows, "Moon River" the theme song of the New York movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "New York Moment" by Don Henry of the Eagles, etc.