{"id":9569,"date":"2014-03-28T13:53:57","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T17:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=9569"},"modified":"2017-03-02T09:28:48","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T14:28:48","slug":"big-banned-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/big-banned-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Banned Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>April 2014 | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/pdf\/Big%20Banned%20Music.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Catch Maine vocalist Tess Collins as she sets China\u2019s stages on fire with the hot stylings so frowned upon during the Cultural Revolution.<\/h3>\n<p>Interview by Colin W. Sargent<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Big-Banned-Music.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-9573\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Big-Banned-Music.jpg\" alt=\"Big-Banned-Music\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Big-Banned-Music.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Big-Banned-Music-40x25.jpg 40w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Big-Banned-Music-200x128.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>It&#8217;s a\u00a0 long way from Caribou to Hong Kong, but 27-year-old, newly engaged Tess Collins makes the crossing several times a year.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s one thing to take the plunge and study at the University of Hartford\u2019s prestigious Hartt School of Music; it\u2019s another to put your money where your mouth is on stage. And not just any stage. This star can often be found in front of an intimate crowd of 20,000 people at\u00a0 Happy Valley Racecourse in the center of glittering Hong Kong, \u201cthe noisiest place on Earth, where anything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Think of it: a Maine Yankee in Leung Chun-Ying\u2019s Q\u016byu.<\/p>\n<p><em>Collins\u2019s aunt, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), just named one of Washington\u2019s most powerful women by <\/em>ELLE <em>Magazine, certainly has the world\u2019s ear. But \u201cBaby Tess,\u201d as her fellow musicians have nicknamed her in Hong Kong, is exploring a different, very bluesy, dimension all her own. We caught up with her when she was back in Maine for a week<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cNM8Vp5jlKE\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z9PrKV7c2DQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ytq23YFSR-k\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Are you still the headliner at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I haven\u2019t done hotels for three years. I manage myself. I\u2019m my own agent. I represent myself and do huge events for clients like BMW, Infiniti, Ferrari, Chanel, Omega, and Piaget watches in Shanghai, Beijing, even Chengdu, home of the panda bear. Six nights a week in a hotel\u2013it can get hard. It can get lonely in a hotel.<\/p>\n<p>One of my biggest shows is the famous Hong Kong Jockey Club. It goes back to 1884. Horse racing is huge for the Chinese. You\u2019ll see 20,000 people there every Wednesday night. I sing a song with my band between every horse race. Everybody loves the atmosphere. Gambling, drinking\u2013that\u2019s their relaxation. There\u2019s so much money. The Hong Kong Jockey Club has been such a big advocate for performers, too, because they make sure you\u2019re on TV. You get exposure you wouldn\u2019t get otherwise.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What other jazz clubs do you perform in Hong Kong?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Salon De Ning is the deco jazz club on the lowest level of the iconic Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, which dates to 1929. Lucky Room 888 is where the Japanese signed the treaty to end World War II. I\u2019ve loved singing at Salon De Ning and became friendly with some of the staff members who are superstitious. In the old days, officers would come here and meet their Chinese women. Mrs. Ning haunts the place. Lights switch on when they\u2019re supposed to be off. The microphone turns on and off.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s the elevator. Sometimes it bypasses all the floors to the basement and you can hear the ghosts of soldiers marching. It\u2019s actually where the soldiers did train.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How about beyond Hong Kong?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve performed in Aria, the jazz club in Beijing, and Atmosphere, on the top floor of a skyscraper with sweeping views of Beijing. I was just in Guangzhou this past weekend, doing a show for BMW. They flew me in to sing two songs. They put me up.<\/p>\n<p>I perform for the CEOs and top executives as they announce the new models they\u2019re unveiling. For BMW I sang \u201cHall of Fame,\u201d by The Script. \u201cLiving in the hall of fame; everybody knows your name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sang jazz at an \u201c007\u201d theme event for Sennheiser\u2019s high-end microphones and headphones [prices start at 2,000 euros]. Their first market was Europe, but now they\u2019ve recognized Asia is the place to go.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019re\u2026living in a movie.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes I feel surreal, making a living as a musician and getting respect for my talent. In the U.S., sometimes, unless you\u2019re a superstar, people say, \u201cOh, you\u2019re a musician\u2026\u201d In China, they love Western people, and you get treated like a superstar.<\/p>\n<p>I was hungry after a show recently. I said to my driver, I want to get some food. He didn\u2019t speak much English, but he wanted so much to take me to what he considered American food. He took me to KFC, but I said no thanks. Then he brightened and wrote a big M on his hands. He thought, as a <em>Gweilo<\/em> (\u201cwhite ghost\u201d), that\u2019s what I wanted to eat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We\u2019re in the audience now, watching you. What\u2019s the first thing you say to us when you address the audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If I\u2019m in a small club, I say, How y\u2019all doing? Everybody thinks I\u2019m from the South. It\u2019s somehow more engaging and more relaxed than How do you do? After all my songs I say <em>xi\u00e9xie n<\/em>\u01d0<em>men<\/em>. It\u2019s their slang for thank you, everybody.<\/p>\n<p>Is there a fascination for Western jazz in China, and do you know some Chinese performers who specialize in it?<\/p>\n<p>Locals sing jazz, but they\u2019ll be singing in Chinese. If they\u2019re famous, they\u2019ll sing Canto pop. Hong Kong is so international\u2013many native Hong Kong residents send their kids to England, the U.S., or Canada. So if some local musicians play jazz amazingly, it\u2019s because they\u2019ve learned how to play it in, say, New York.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In<em> The Last Emperor<\/em>, the young Westernized emperor noodles around with \u201cAm I Blue.\u201d When do you slide into scat?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlue Skies,\u201d by Ella Fitzgerald. \u201cI Can\u2019t Give You Anything But Love.\u201d It depends on the vibe. If you\u2019re inspired by the musicians around you, you tend to take more chances.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a YouTube of you at Old Orchard Beach, improvising: \u201cTell Tess Collins three words to sing and see what happens.\u201d [To listen, follow our link on portlandmonthly.com]<br \/>\nI have to have that taken down. One of my talents is to be on the spot. It doesn\u2019t hurt if you can start singing about the audience members or tell a story. It gets them more involved.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Takes us to your apartment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I live in the Mid-Levels, on the island, in Central Hong Kong. You can hear everything, buses. You get woken up by drilling. Our actual wall shakes. It\u2019s a very noisy city, even at 5 a.m. I\u2019ve heard someone say it\u2019s like New York in the 1980s, so much hustle and bustle. People out all the time. I can\u2019t see the harbor, which would cost me a lot more money, but you can see spots of the water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Happy Valley seems dreamlike. What\u2019s it like, seeing posters of yourself as the featured performer amid Chinese characters? Is it like <em>Being John Malkovitch<\/em>, except it\u2019s you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The first time I was taken aback, I was in Beijing with two friends from Caribou. We had gone to the Great Wall. We went downstairs in our hotel to take money out. By the ATM was my picture, bigger than I am. That was the moment. Everybody taking money out.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s the superscript at the horse races, seeing my name with Chinese characters beside it flashing in the sky while I\u2019m singing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How\u2019s your Chinese?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Cantonese I can hail for a cab ride. But everyone speaks English. In mainland China I\u2019ve had to learn more. I know enough to greet people, make fun of myself, and make them laugh. Olivia, my assistant, goes with me when I do the big shows in China.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you consider yourself an expat? What would it take for you to consider yourself one?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am for sure an expat in Hong Kong, which has a huge expat community. To be a resident in Hong Kong,\u00a0 you have to be there at least seven years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the dating scene like in Hong Kong?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a huge expat community. In that respect, it can be a small city, like we all go to the same places. Dating-wise, there are plenty of young men who are driven. Everyone has a dream. I\u2019ve never met a boring person in Hong Kong. You can do anything in Hong Kong. The party scene is great. You can go to bars at 7 a.m. You can party all night long and meet people. But it\u2019s also\u00a0 very transient. I\u2019m not single now, but it can be very lonely amid the thrill of all this. In Portland you can go anywhere and make a friend. In Hong Kong, you don\u2019t know if it\u2019s to help them with a contact or it\u2019s genuine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your romantic situation?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I met my fianc\u00e9 out there. He\u2019s from London. He\u2019s a tall, dark, and handsome pilot for Cathay Pacific. I met him in Wan Chai on a random Monday night. He\u2019s cool, calm, and collected. I would want him to be my pilot, let\u2019s put it that way, right? At first we thought we might get married in an English castle, but it\u2019s going to be here on the Maine coast. I come here to get out of the pollution and get some clean air. I feel I can relax when I\u2019m back here.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the most recent time Sen. Collins saw you perform?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Christmas. She was singing along, too. We all gather around the piano with my grandparents and sing carols. [Before that] she came to see me at Pearl, in the Old Port.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Her signature colors are red and blue. What\u2019s yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Black. It\u2019s classy and sexy, right? But red is good luck in China. If you wear a red dress, it makes them very happy. Unless it\u2019s the color of a business competitor.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve performed at Pearl, The Big Easy \u2026 Where else?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gingko Blue. I\u2019ve sung down at The Landing at Pine Point. The Lubec Jazz Festival. I\u2019ve performed a lot with Tony Boffa. At the Frog and Turtle in Westbrook, I sat in with him. That\u2019s something great about Maine. You can go where someone\u2019s performing and they\u2019re all going to invite you up to sing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who\u2019s your BFF from Maine who wants to know what you\u2019re doing every waking moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Katie Tateishi, from Caribou. She\u2019s come to see me twice in Hong Kong, once in Beijing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s getting late. What\u2019s your closing number?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It depends on the show. If it\u2019s a listening audience, I\u2019ll probably do a blues. Maybe \u201cLove Me Like A Man.\u201d It\u2019s the story of a woman dating these different guys. It\u2019s for someone to hear who will treat you like a princess, make you feel like the woman you are.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Worst song you\u2019ve ever been asked to sing in China?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The one I dread hearing as a request? \u201cMy Heart Will Go On.\u201d The Chinese love that song. The <em>Titanic<\/em> going down. I don\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 2014<br \/>\nCatch Maine vocalist Tess Collins as she sets China\u2019s stages on fire with the hot stylings so frowned upon during the Cultural Revolution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,120],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-9569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-the-women-of-maine","tag-april-2014"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9569"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12566,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9569\/revisions\/12566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}