Yuan

Released by Real World Records in 1990, Yuan is an enchanting album that blends traditional, modern, and popular Chinese music through the compositions of the Guo Brothers, who were born into a family of musicians and grew up during China’s cultural revolution. The two brothers play an array of traditional Chinese flutes and the sheng, a hand-held mouth-blown organ, creating wonderfully transportive soundscapes that evoke moments of village life (“Dancing and Singing in The Village” or “Fishing by Lamplight”), or important events in Chinese history (“Soldiers of the Long March”). Some moments are peaceful and contemplative, others energetic and celebratory — but all are incantatory in their simple beauty.