Shanghai Restoration Project, “The Wandering Song”

Shanghai Restoration Project, “The Wandering Song” Featuring Zhang Le

This song is a remix of one of the two theme songs form the 1937 Chinese film “Street Angel”. The song “The Wandering Songstress” was composed by He Luting based on an older urban Suzhou ballad named “One Who Knows Me Well”. The lyrics for the film’s song was written by Tian Han. The actress Shou Xuan, playing the role of Xiao Hong, sang this song in the film.

The original song is one of the most notable of the Chinese popular songs from the 1930s and 1940s. It has been described as a song that has a lingering fame in China like “As Time Goes By” from the 1942 film “Casablance” has in the United States.

Shanghai Restoration Project, “Nanking Road”

Shanghai Restoration Project, “Nanking Road”, 2005

The Shanghai Restoration Project is a contemporary electronic music duo of Chinese Americans Dave Liang and Sunfan based in Brooklynn, New York. The group’s music is inspired by the Shanghai jazz bands of the 1930s, combining traditional Chines instruments with hip hop and electronica. Their 2014 album entitled “The Classics” was a collection of 1930s and 1940s Shanghai jazz standards in electronic format featuring vocalist Zhang Le.