Out of the blue

Beijing-based music group Radio Mars performed at Blue Note Beijing on November 30, 2017. The duo, consisting of guitarist Zeng Yu and lead vocalist Huang Shaofeng, is also known for writing songs for Chinese pop stars such as Ye Pei and Lao Lang.

Huang recalls that when he performed their song, Last Night Of The Summer, onstage, lots of memories came back to him.

"It's one of my favorite Radio Mars songs. I remember the first time Zeng Yu played the song he wrote for me, I instantly fell in love with the song," Huang says.

Besides pop musicians, the project also recorded shows by Los Angeles based musician Lu Yi (also known by his stage name Lu1), who combines jazz and hip-hop beats with Chinese lyrics, and Beijing-based rocker Da Fei.

Lu recalls that when he was a college student, he watched a live performance on MTV by Japanese rapper, Takashi Hatakeyama, who is better known by his stage name Kreva.

"Although those songs were very familiar to me, the live performances still felt fresh as they had been rearranged with string instruments," says Lu. "Live albums are valuable because they capture particular moments by performers."