Due to the pandemic, I am not able to go back to China to visit my family like I normally do every year. This piece, "From Far", was created right before the Covid-19 started in the United States. Such a suitable piece for me to taste right now, and I believe many of you can relate. 

This is for all the people who miss their loved ones from far. 

Finally, after a long wait, the Disney's new Mulan is being released.
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I had fun to play and record both pipa and bass ruan in Village Studio in Los Angeles and improvised a lot in the recording session! It was lovely to work with composer Harry Gregson-Williams and his gorgeous score that featured several Chinese instrument soloists including myself.I especially appreciate his sharp sense of how to maximize the musicians talents for the film, in this case, he encouraged me to play free and "be wild", which are what I do the best. 

Few more people I would love to say thanks to are:
session leader / supervisor
Chad Cannon
recording engineer
Alvin Wee
composer's assistant
Ho-Ling Tang
and many more for working with me on the recording sessions.

My name was spelled wrong as " Jei Ma" instead of Jie Ma on the screen though! . :-) Oh well, I am happy that "bass ruan" is spelled correctly and people loved the music!