New Braid in Beijing
By admin on 2015-01-06

For many foreign musicians, staging a concert in China can be daunting and it's not uncommon for people to arrive in the middle of a show, answer their cell phones during a performance or cough and talk during an interlude. For Canadian jazz musician David Braid, his response is simply to have fun with any interruptions - a somewhat veteran on the China circuit, Braid mimics mobile phone tunes on his piano and pauses to playfully ask the audience to please sit down or stop talking before resuming his show.

"I hope that any concert I share is sincere and the music can touch the audience in a positive way," Braid laughed when asked about the audiences' behavior, adding that he doesn't think musicians should be treated like kings.

"I am an idealist in that I believe music is a universal language, so even people without much experience in jazz can still relate to melody, rhythm and harmony."

"I can feel the energy of China's growth when I'm here and I always return home inspired," Braid told the Global Times. He said that China is one of his favorite destinations and he has held concerts here in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Braid will play tomorrow at Peking University Centennial Memorial Hall, presenting some of his most recent works including Resolute Bay, Spirit Dance, Saudade and Wash Away.

"Spirit Dance is inspired by the multicultural aspect of my home city of Toronto," Braid explained. "The composition brings together many foreign musical influences and ties them together harmonically in one cohesive piece of music. Another piece, Resolute Bay, is inspired by the geographical landscape of Arctic Canada."

Lauded as one of Canada's most promising and gifted young jazz musicians, the 35-year-old artist was recently awarded the 2009 Jazz Pianist of the Year in his home country. He is also a recipient of the SOCAN Composer of the Year (2007) as is a Juno Award winner.

Born in Hamilton Ontario, Braid was destined to be an engineer and didn't have any serious interest in music until he was 16 when he heard a symphony by Mozart.

"It caused me to want to learn more about the engineering of music," Braid said. "It caused me to want to compose and in composing, I stumbled into improvising."

"One of my school teachers said I should explore jazz. I found that the 'jazz method' of learning was much more fluid and forgiving at the start, compared to classical music training and learning jazz taught me a lot about the basic mechanics of music and being able to listen - this made me a much stronger musician in any genre."

Braid made his name on the jazz scene in 2001 with the formation of the David Braid Sextet, with which he has composed 50 works for jazz greats Terry Clarke, Steve Wallace, Mike Murley and Gene Smith.

He has also produced over 70 works for solo piano, jazz ensembles and symphony orchestras. Braid's music often engages the audience with a quiet, lyrical and intimate voice, combining harmonic intricacies of his training in classical music and the spontaneity of American jazz.

Since the beginning of his career a decade ago, Braid has moved from performing with large ensembles to smaller, more intimate collaborations.

"I've been attracted to the idea of exploring nuance," he explained.

"I was never really attracted to playing music that is very loud; to me, this experience is just about transmitting energy in large quantities. I feel that way is one-dimensional. Smaller collaborations have allowed me to communicate subtlety and I feel like I am able to express more."

Braid's musical curiosity has also resulted in interesting collaborations with diverse instrumentalists as Indian classical musician Vineet Vyas (tabla), popular jazz/rock group Metalwood and Chinese guzheng performer Chang Jing.

"I was introduced to Chang Jing in 2007 and we got together at Peking University to just improvise together," Brad recalled. "It was a lot of fun and I found that the blend of piano and guzheng was quite nice. Chang Jing is also quite accustomed to collaborating with Western musicians, so she is remarkably good at adapting her playing style to fit."

Braid also had an impromptu pipa lesson. "I'd definitely say these experiences feed into my well of resources when I write music. Their influences are subtle and abstract."

"However, I did write one programmatic piece based on a walk I took around the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. This piece will be coming out on an album I recorded with the Canadian Brass."

Following his show in Beijing, Braid will head to several Chinese cities including Harbin, Hangzhou and Shanghai. He will also perform in Japan with guitarist Hideski Tounaga, who he has recently made a new recording with.