美国星岛日报
旅法华人王利表演「口弦」
2012-10-23
本报记者周静然纽约报道：旅居法国华人王利受邀纽约林肯中心白光艺术节White Light Festival)，将于10月25日晚表演「口弦」，这是一种远古而罕有的音乐表演，而王利把 它演绎丰满的立体声响，令他是白光艺术节20多项节目中唯一受邀的华裔。
王利二十岁到法国，十多年的法国生活对王利最大的影响就是他看到自己的血脉里的东方色彩。他的乐器都是传统乐器，然而他不认为自己可以吹传统的东西，他认为好的音乐是超越时代，超越国家的，好的音乐是与宇宙能量共振。他把口弦结合了现代爵士乐，创造了新的音乐技巧及境界。
白光艺术节介绍道，王利的音乐创作灵感来源于自己的真实生活，童年回忆，家庭生活，挚爱的妻子，这些都成为他口中的动人旋律。也正是引文这份真挚动人的情感，王利的音乐能直击人内心最柔软的部分，聆听王利演奏的同时，对于每一个听众都是一场心灵的放逐之旅。
令人惊奇的是，王利一个人用那么小那么简单的乐器创造了一个多重共震的丰满的立体声响。口弦是一种原始而简单的乐器，他的简单对很多人成为局限，在王利手里确是创造复杂的可能性。今年一月王利第一次在纽约的 Webster Hall演出后，纽约时报的记者称他用这种微小的乐器创造出未来主义的声音。而「村声周报」(The village voice)称他是极少主义，既是沉静又很节奏的音乐。
The New York Times 纽约时报
January 9, 2012
A Night When All the World’s Onstage
By JON PARELES
The world was fused at Globalfest on Sunday night. The sold-out event at Webster Hall was the ninthannual world-music showcase, timed to coincide with the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ annual convention: 12 acts from 5 continents.
" Wang Li, a Chinese musician based in Paris, performed solo, finding a futuristic sound in humble instruments. He played jew’s-harps, twangy little instruments that were closely miked and enriched by reverb so that every touch and resonance was audible in detail. His pieces were fascinating, introspective perpetual-motion meditations. The rhythms of sharply pinging, clicking notes sometimes suggested electronic dance music; ghostly overtone melodies sighed up above. It was deeply solitary music, quietly spellbinding. "
The village voice
Live: globalFest Takes Webster Hall On A Too Quick Trip Around The World
By K. Leander Williams Mon., Jan. 9 2012 at 4:00 PM
" In hindsight, Chinese multi-instrumentalist Wang Li probably presented one of the biggest challenges on the globalFest program: How to program quiescent music for crowds that quite often show up ready to jump around. To his credit, Li didn't seem fazed. A one-man virtuoso armed with his springy jaw harp and an indigenous reed instrument called a sheng, he came on like a minimalist who understood how to make his instrument sound evocatively electro without trafficking in overt dance beats. It was subtle music that was both meditative and dynamic, perhaps even moreso for being programmed in the room where several of globalFest's more heated dance bands held sway. "
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/10/144917135/globalfest-2012-a-world-of-amazing-discoveries
"This was the most sacred of sounds I heard (at the festival). It's very electronic in its sound. He's playing a Jew's Harp, through some effects, but that implies lots of delay and other stuff. But what you hear here is the pure sound of a Jew's Harp and (Wang Li's) breathing technique and his mouth opening and closing, through maybe a little bit of reverb." --Bob Boilen
http://www.npr.org/event/music/144698167/wang-li-globalfest-2012
Ryan Muir for NPR
" Perhaps the most intriguing and unusual artist on this year's globalFEST lineup was Wang Li. Originally from Tsinghao, a northeastern Chinese city along the Yellow Sea, Wang Li plays two instruments that have definite folk roots: the jaw harp (or Jew's harp, as it's also known) and the Chinese sheng, a mouth-blown set of pipes. After college, he wound up — of all places — in a French monastery, but that transplanting makes sense in the context of his hypnotic, quiet music. Played solo, it evokes hidden and deep worlds of meaning.
Wang Li offered some of the most transporting music of the night — as my colleague Bob Boilen said, he'd be an amazing partner for any number of adventurous electronic and dubstep artists" --Anastasia Tsioulcas