A larger horizon | Alex Zhang Hungtai @ gnration
I went to gnration motivated, it’s been a few years since I saw something built on stage by Alex Zhang Hungtai. Between Dirty Bitches and the remarkable trio with David Maranha and Gabriel Ferrandini, the references and the expectations allowed an appealing curiosity. However, I wasn’t expecting to be so surprised.
Alex Zhang Hungtai has been exploring new territories in music, areas that transcend genres, borders or any label.
During Act 1, Alex Zhang Hungtai used and manipulated the saxophone as object, device, equipment and instrument, in a kind of improvised choreography for two, sometimes mechanized and methodical, while in other moments we witnessed a dance of hedonistic rapture between Musician and Instrument, all this, from vibrations to movements, being transposed to the sound construction of the piece.
For the 2nd act, the musician sat at the piano, in a quietness that raised a combination of emotions, offering a serene composition, generating and awakening a counter-cycle, as a conclusion to this solo presentation at the gnration.
Alex Zhang Hungtai has been exploring new territories in music, areas that transcend genres, borders or any label. His innovative approach breaks with established practices and creates new forms of musical expression. The show we attended is an example of how music can be a medium and a source of discovery, both for the musician and the audience, opening and establishing trails to a larger horizon.
