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China's top rocker prepares U.S. concert tour
2004-04-01
Cui Jian in concert. |
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BEIJING - Cui Jian, China's longest-standing rock star and a household name in most Chinese cities, said Thursday he will release a new album this spring including hip-hop and a piece on China's impoverished migrant workers.This release plus a three-week U.S. concert tour this month and his first-ever concert opener this week with rock legends Deep Purple show that Cui is prospering despite a history of tangles with Chinese cultural authorities. Because of his critical lyrics and support for the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, he is not allowed to advertise his performances in Beijing. Cui attributes his momentum to growing audience support and maturity. ''Audiences are more and more welcoming of music,'' he said. ''There will be no changes. We will keep going and go on to try new things.'' Cui's album, tentatively called ''The Village Surrounds the City,'' will come out in April or May in China and possibly overseas, he said. It will be the 42-year-old Beijing-born rocker's fifth album since he began his music career in 1984. The most recent, ''The Power of the Powerless,'' came out in 1998. Although Cui, a guitarist and trumpet player, is known as China's rock and roll pioneer, his new album covers a variety of music styles. He said different listeners would prefer different tunes but that his favorite was the hip-hop track ''Blue Bone.'' Cui said he was disappointed in the arrangements and his band's performance at Wednesday's Deep Purple concert in Beijing. He said errors were made because he had never opened for another band before. From April 9, Cui will play in 13 U.S. cities, letting other people open for him. Kyodo
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