YAN JUN / ZHU WENBO - FOOTPRINTS (CD)

""Footprints," a piece composed by Zhu in 2020, is comprised of very simple series of short sounds. The musicians are given a great deal of freedom, and neither the instruments used nor the number of players is fixed. In the summer of 2020, Zhu visited the studio of Yan Jun, the leading figure on Beijing's experimental/improvised music scene. He noticed a toy piano in the studio and thought of performing Footprints on that instrument. Zhu brought his own toy piano to Yan's studio, and they recorded a two-toy-piano version of "Footprints" (producing the instruments' unique, somewhat metallic sounds slowly, note by note). This three-track album starts with a 20-minute piece, followed by two variations of 20 and 5 minutes." (label info)