The group's 2013 album, Pictures in Motion, is inspired by classic Shanghai films.

Early this year Liang released Pictures in Motion, an album of songs inspired by classic Shanghai films including Song at Midnight (1937), Red Mansions (1944) and Spring in a Small Town (1948). Included on the album is The Wandering Songstress, a song made famous in 1937's Street Angel and again 70 years later in the Ang Lee-directed Lust, Caution.

In Pictures in Motion, the tune is sung by Zhang Le, who has been described by Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun as "a rising young star with a remarkable gift".

Many of these movies were made at a time when Hollywood was fascinated by Shanghai. Liang hopes his project, which also features an online video teaser of the songs matched to the films that inspired them, will present an alternative to the exotic China portrayed in US cinema.

"I've tried to say, 'Here's an element of Chinese culture that you might not know about and here's a fresh way to look at it,'" Liang says.

"It's not meant to be didactic, or hit people over the head. It's just meant to say, 'There are different things out there you might not be aware of.' I really believe that in any culture, songs that pass the test of time are simply good melodies and will appeal to people everywhere."

Liang is currently working with Zhang on an album of updated 1930s Shanghai jazz songs. The two performed with collaborator Jamahl Richardson on March 7 in the Winter Garden of New York's World Financial Center.

Contact the writer at kdawson@chinadailyusa.com.

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