BLACK LOTOS

Xu Fengxia (China)  Guzheng, Sanxian, Voice
Lucas Niggli (Ch) Drums, Percussion

Intakt Records  2009   

Black Lotos is far more than a duo. Not only consists Lucas Niggli’s acoustic layout of many parts, each of which could stand alone as an instrument: Xu Fengxia keeps switching between her two string instruments Guzheng and Sanxian and in parallel she uses her unbelievable voice. Thus the range of this music goes from soloist moments to the intimate dialogue up to almost orchestral abundance, from a short monologue in an interspace to a centipede ecstatic ride over an endlessly vast steppe. Chinese opera, Mongolian throat and overtone singing, Heavy Metal, traditional Chinese folk music, noise, contemporary
Western music, African rhythms and jazz: ethnology, music history, tales, the moment of suspense, all combined in the Instant Composing of Niggli and Xu.

Recorded at Loft Cologne, December 9, 2007 and mixed at Ton-Art Studio, February 27, 2008 by Christian Heck. Mastered February 10, 2009 at Studio Klangdach by Willy Strehler. Cover art: Gerda Steiner/Jörg Lenzlinger. Cover design: Jonas Schoder. Fotos: Alberto Placido. Liner notes: Steff Rohrbach. Intakt CD 164  EAN_7640120191641