Labo Axin: Spreading Naxi music to more people
Labo Axin is performing the singing. (Online Photo)
As the year 2017 came to an end, the concert “Singing for Lijiang – An Evening with Labo Axin” once again drew the attention of the people of Lijiang, western Yunnan province. He is a generational successor of traditional Naxi minority music.
“Music is borderless. Music needs to be communicated. I sincerely hope to introduce Naxi music to more people,” Labo Axin said at the concert.
Labo Axin was born in Baoshan Stone City in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County. There the villagers dance and sing to celebrate Sanduo Festival on the eighth day of the second lunar month every year. “Every villager can sing and dance, including my father,” said Labo Axin. His father is one of the best singers in the village and sings ancient Naxi songs. Such songs were created during farm work, and they are sung in different ways in different regions. The lyrics contain ancient Naxi sayings, texts from Dongba religious scriptures and historical stories.
His father’s songs accompanied Labo Axin through childhood. By and by, he learned to sing his father’s ancient Naxi songs.
In 1992, Labo Axin sang “The Ploughing Song” at the First Lijiang Young Singers Contest. He won over both the audience and judges with his unique voice and nearly perfect singing skills. In the end, he won the competition’s gold medal. Later, Labo Axin became a soloist with the Lijiang Yulong County Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe and went on to receive professional vocal training.
In the years that followed, Labo Axin won gold and silver medals at various major musical events in China. In 2010, he won the Award of Excellence in the individual finals of the 14th China Central Television Young Singers Contest. In 2016, he took the title of Champion Singer in the third China Folk Song Conference.
Today, Labo Axin takes root in his people and is committed to inheriting and developing Naxi folk music culture. “I love music, and I also love my hometown and my people. Naxi people have a profound culture. As a successor of Naxi musical culture, I hope to introduce it to more people through my creation and presentation,” Labo Axin said with confidence.
Editor: Wang Shixue