25 Songs: Zhang Guoping

As we cross the halfway point in our accordion advent calendar, we highlight a track from Chinese classical accordionist Zhang Guoping. Zhang comes from a family of professional accordion players — his father was president of the Chinese Association of Accordionists — and has been trained in the Western classical tradition, becoming a master of the free-bass accordion. Zhang returns to his roots with this song, an old melody calling to mind the sound of the sheng, the accordion’s Chinese predecessor.

Zhang Guoping: The Happy Cheng mp3

Buy Blue Tango: Happy Accordion by Zhang Guoping