Ian Widgery offers provocative, unusual soungs.| Photo courtesy of Ian Widgery.

Music producer Ian Widgery has come a long way from his hometown of St. Ives, a small arts community in Cornwall, England. Stops in London, Hong Kong and Vancouver have all shaped his music along the way.

Widgery will perform a semi-live version of his album Shanghai Lounge Divas in collaboration with visual artist Shayla Perreault on Sept. 12 at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

“Creating this one thing has created waves in different directions,” Widgery says of the album. “It’s not even about me, it’s just about the album and the way it’s reached so many different people.”

Shanghai Lounge Divas, a mix of Eastern content and Western arrangement, is a five time platinum album and will be performed for the first time after a year of preparation.

A drive to create

Travelling across the country from St. Ives to attend Newcastle University, Widgery was the youngest person in his program, finishing his degree in Music Technology in three years at the young age of 20.

While the program was incredibly difficult to get into, at 17 years old Widgery applied anyway. Recognizing his talent, he was admitted to the program on his first try and found himself competing amongst classmates nearly twice his age.

“By year number three I almost failed because I was so engrossed in producing,” says Widgery. “I’m all about creating!”

His drive to create led him to sign a record deal just as he finished university.

“It’s great if you can study textbooks and understand, but it’s worth nothing if you can’t apply it to the real world,” says Widgery.

After experiencing the ins and outs of the business for several years after finishing his degree, Widgery set up a studio in the garage outside his house and talk of his talent brought significant names to his small studio to record.

“It’s funny how music can be created anywhere, you don’t need an expensive studio!” says Widgery, who lived and worked in London for 10 years.

East meets West

Shanghai Lounge Divas was born when workmen found a trunk containing over 800 songs from the twenties, thirties and forties in a Mumbai warehouse about to be torn down.

Music company EMI recognized the historical value of this music and resolved to preserve it. The songs found their way to Widgery in Hong Kong, who listened to 500 songs and remixed 12 songs from six different divas, thus creating Shanghai Lounge Divas.

“This music’s wild!” says Widgery of the original songs, recorded in Shanghai prior to communism. “Very western jazz influenced but it’s a mix of so many different things – it’s very unusual!”

The success of the album is odd however, because it’s not in English.

“You’d think it doesn’t stand a chance of being successful,” Widgery says of the album, which has sold remarkably well and been used as the soundtrack in several movies and TV commercials. “The most important thing about the CD is that people bought it then lent it to their friends who never returned it because they liked it so much!”

The process of creating the album, Widgery says, was about taking songs and writing songs around them, creating a western arrangement of Asian music.

“That’s why you connect with your ears – you don’t even realize it’s not in English,” says Widgery.

Shanghai Lounge Divas live in the Garden

Setting this all in motion was Leticia Sanchez, chair of the Art Committee and fan of Widgery’s music. She played it for artist Shayla Perreault, which ended up inspiring some of Perrault’s paintings for the “Not the Dao” exhibit at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

Having reached out to Widgery, Perreault was happy to learn that he was right here in North Vancouver and interested in collaborating, as he was impressed by her paintings and curious to see how his work inspired hers.

Widgery will be performing a soundtrack from Shanghai Lounge Divas that he has put together specifically for this event.

“It’s a careful balance of two different things,” says Widgery. “For me it represents the transition from day to night and all the subtle nuances.”

For more information and to RSVP visit vancouverchinesegarden.com