Askar Grey Wolf: Songs From The Old Silk Road

Askar Grey Wolf: Songs From The Old Silk Road | live at San Fran, Wellington – Wednesday 15th February

China’s rock band sensation Askar Grey Wolf hails from China’s Turkic-speaking Xinjiang province, at the heart of the old Silk Road. A highlight of the Auckland and Christchurch Lantern Festivals, on Wednesday February 15th the band will also give a special one off show in Wellington.

Lead singer Askar Mamat, a Uyghur by birth, fuses modern rock with a mix of Han Chinese and Xinjiang elements. Askar sings in both Mandarin and his own mother tongue, and his band members are drawn from both the Han and Uyghur ethnicities.

Askar started playing in the 1980s, when foreign music was almost unknown in Xinjiang. He decided to create a distinctive modern Uyghur music and in 1991 moved to the capital, Beijing, to become a rock musician.

Today in addition to the electric guitar the band’s music features a variety of instruments, including the rawap (a plucked Uyghur instrument),the dap (a Uyghur hand drum), the long-necked stringed tambur and the round bodied fiddle ghijak.

In 2001 the band was invited to be the guest artist for the Three Tenors at their concert in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Askar Grey Wolf has released several albums and has traveled to many overseas countries, including a successful Australian tour in 2009.

Youtube: Askar Grey Wolf live at Auckland Lantern Festival 2011 (click here)

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