Album Notes

The “China Skies” project is a musical undertaking which combines the elements of American Jazz with two traditional Chinese musical instruments, the erhu(a two-string instrument which is bowed and pronounced “arh-hoo”), and the dizi(a bamboo flute pronounced “dee-tsu”).

After performing in Shanghai, China for several months and interacting musically with the local Chinese musicians, American musicians Phil Morrison, bassist, and Keith Williams, pianist/vocalist, decided to record this unique blend from China and the U. S.

The erhu player, Zhen Wei and the dizi player, Shao Jun Yan(Benny Shao), were at first apprehensive about playing Jazz on these instruments because of the great respect they have for the music and their lack of experience but the intimidation factor was soon replaced by enthusiasm and, as you will hear, they “nailed it”!

Theoretically, Jazz is known for it's strong rhythmical feel(prominence of the drum)and has roots in the African-American community. But in this case, the drummer is Chinese….Chu Wei Min (Williams Chu). After hearing him you might think that he's from Detroit or Boston like one of his idols, Tony Williams.

All of the arrangements for the erhu and dizi were
written by pianist/vocalist/composer/arranger Keith Williams, who is a graduate of the Berklee College Of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He also composed “The Valley Of Search” which is a Jazz waltz. Since recording “The Valley Of Search”, Phil Morrison has written lyrics for it. The other compositions were written by bassist/composer Phil Morrison, including “China Skies”, which was inspired by the greatness of China….it's people and culture.

Phil Morrison and Keith Williams are committed to the promotion of world unity and Peace and use their music to try to achieve that goal with peoples of different cultures. Please log on to their website for information concerning a similar project recorded in Japan.