Biography
Beijing-born multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist Cui Jian (pronounced Swan Jen) ranks as China’s most influential rock musician. Once fronting the Chinese rock band Ado, he has sustained a solo career whose recordings continue to resonate with Chinese youth. His albums have exceeded ten million units sold across Asia. The Wall Street Journal observed, “Cui Jian continues to be an inspiration for China’s disenchanted youth.” Personal rather than political concerns supply his chief creative impetus. In one interview he stated, “I talk about serious things in my heart and people’s lives, including, of course, love. But, mostly it’s about Chinese culture, the modern culture. They’re not political songs. It’s just the truth, the modern truth. I talk about our life in China.” Musical aptitude passed directly from his parents; his father performed on trumpet, while his mother belonged to a Korean minority dance troupe. A prodigy, Jian took up the trumpet at fourteen. By twenty he had advanced sufficiently to earn a seat in the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, where he stayed six years even as exposure to American singer-songwriters such as Simon & Garfunkel grew. During orchestra recesses he began busking on guitar with his own material. His 1985 appearance on a televised talent contest prompted the orchestra to expel him for engaging with pop. When a military officer encountered one of his more confrontational pieces, authorities barred him from public performance for a full year. In that enforced hiatus he absorbed the work of Sting, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. Returning to activity, he briefly played with the Chinese rock outfit Building Blocks before entering Ado alongside two foreign-embassy musicians, Hungarian bassist Kassai Balasz and Madagascan guitarist Eddie Randriama. International notice arrived in 1986 when he delivered “Nothing to My Name” at Beijing’s World Peace Concert. Two years afterward came his debut album, Nothing to My Name (Yi Wu Sao You), issued domestically under the title Rock and Roll on the New Long March. Jian sang the title track of an internationally televised program tied to the 1989 Seoul Olympic Games. After the government’s suppression of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations he kept a subdued profile, dissolved Ado, and formed a new worldbeat/fusion ensemble. Although he secured official sponsorship for a ten-city tour promoting the Asian Games, the itinerary halted after five stops. His music videos have fared especially well: “Wild in the Snow” earned an International Viewers Choice award at the 1991 MTV Music Awards in Los Angeles, and “A Piece of Red Cloth” received special mention at the 1992 Golden Gate Viewers awards during the San Francisco Film Festival. In 1993 Jian co-directed, scored, and briefly appeared in Zhang Yuan’s film Buying Bastards. August 1995 marked his first American performances, backed by Lui Yuan on sax, Eddie Luc Lalasoa on guitar, Kong Hong Wei on keyboards, Quan You on drums, Zhang Ling on bass, Zhang Shu on gu Zheng, and Bateerfu on percussion.
Albums