Francis Wong - Legends and Legacies III

Recorded in May 2017. Released by Asian Improv Records (AIR 121). 2024.

Tracklist:

00:00 Shanghai Stories

“Evokes the experience of Wong's parents falling in love in post WWll Shanghai on the eve of the culminating moments of the Chinese Civil War.”

15:55 Within These Walls

“Conjures up the incarceration of Chinese immigrants on Angel Island during the Exclusion Era. Dancer/choreographer Lenora Lee, a descendant of Angel Island detainees, improvised a dance in the studio to guide the improvisational ensemble performance of this work.”

23:53 Miyoshi Sketches

“Dedicated to family friend Tomio John Miyoshi. "Uncle" John was a frequent visitor to our home as I was growing up. He had become a close friend of my parents in their early days immigrating to the US as members of St. Dominic's Catholic Church at Steiner and Bush in San Francisco very close to Japantown - our first apartment in the US was on Webster St. Through him, my parents had overcome their feelings about Japanese people from the war, particularly because of Miyoshi's experience as a Japanese American who had been incarcerated in WWII prison camps and who subsequently served in the US Army. John had been a member of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) assigned to the occupation of Japan. The MIS, primarily Japanese American soldiers, were recruited to serve as linguists in the Pacific Theater of the war, interpreting captured documents, interrogating prisoners, and as battlefield translators. As a civilian after the war he would find employment in the office of the head of security for the Sixth Army at the Presidio under the late Colonel Thomas Sakamoto. I would later get to know Colonel Sakamoto in my years of service with the National Japanese American Historical Society, who spoke fondly of Uncle John. I wrote this work in part with Chizuru Kineya in mind, who was inspired upon hearing my 2010 collaboration with Yangqin Zhao and Melody of China.”

45:36 Horse Racing (Traditional)

“Classic piece for the Chinese erhu, re-arranged for yangqin, tuba, taiko, drum set and shamisen incorporating improvisation. A cultural reference to Wong's grandfather and father, who were avid equestrians in Republican China.”

Credits:

Francis Wong - soprano & tenor sax, composer
Edward Wilkerson Jr. - tenor sax, alto clarinet
Mwata Bowden - baritone sax, clarinet
Tatsu Aoki - contrabass, shamisen
Kioto Aoki - taiko, tsuzumi
Chizuru Kineya - shamisen
Yangqin Zhao - yangqin
Melody Takata - taiko
William Roper - tuba, small instruments, extemporaneous vocals (on Within These Walls)
Deszon X. Claiborne - trap set drums
Lenora Lee - dancer (improvised dance as a score for Within These Walls)