Lao Dan
Lao Dan is a Chinese improviser who plays saxophone, the dizi (Chinese bamboo flute) and suona. He trained as a dizi player at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music and became a regular at the Old Heaven venue in Shenzhen. His music joins free jazz saxophone with a background in traditional Chinese wind playing. Lao Dan began on saxophone at eight before turning to the dizi, which he studied in Beijing and then at Shenyang. He formed the group Red Scarf with Deng Boyu and Li Xing.
Klotski
On Klotski, Lao Dan Quartet throws tenor, bamboo flute and suona into a Chicago crucible, where Mabel Kwan, Joshua Abrams and Michael Zerang keep reshaping time and texture until free jazz feels like a sliding puzzle in permanent motion.
New Species
Acclaimed jazz artists Lao Dan and Vasco Trilla join forces on New Species, an album that pushes the boundaries of modern jazz with inventive compositions and masterful improvisation. Blending elements of traditional jazz with contemporary influences…
To Hit A Pressure Point
Lao Dan's innovative approach to music seamlessly intertwines elements of rock, free jazz, and noise with textures of Chinese folk music, creating a unique tapestry characterized by improvisational and aesthetic tension. His fearless transgression of…
Saxophone Solo For Reel-to-reel Tape Recording
*2024 stock* This series of reel-to-reel tape recordings, to be jointly released by Old Heaven Books and Liu Ying Studio, aims to offer to our listeners the best quality of sound we can achieve so far. Whilst a small part of these releases come from …
Chinese Medicine
Edition of 50* A classically trained Chinese bamboo flautist, Lao Dan picked up the saxophone again around 2013 as he went wildly astray in the world of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. While demonstrating an ever-growing ability to deliver e…
啫啫银河 Ze Ze The Milky Way
" Here we have the tasty combination of two blog favorites, finding China-native Lao Dan joining forces with the visiting Jooklo Duo for a set of cosmic vibrations (and a little bit of free funk) at Old Heaven Books during 2018's LOFT Festival. Here …