The roots of Asian-American music go back to the first Asian migration times. The first waves of Asian migration were also linked to racial tension. So Asian music developed mostly in the frames of cultural enclaves. 

The first Asian migrants in America were from the coastal regions of China and had a tremendous love for Cantonese opera and narrative songs. To popularize opera, Chinese people invited well-known troupes from China and Hong Kong to perform in America. Not only Asian people attend these concerts, the plays were also popular among Americans. Japanese music was also getting popular in America until World War II when people got too terrified by Japan’s participation in the war. As a result, Japanese music was subject to a lot of americanization. 

Let’s see how the history of Asian music was happening from the early waves of Asian migration till nowadays. 

What was the beginning of Asian-American music?

After 1965, the US faced a large influx of migrants from China, Japan, and the Philippines. In addition to labor workers from these countries, there were also many refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and sometimes even quite well-educated professionals and wealthy entrepreneurs from other Asian countries. 

Moreover, this period was the time when the Asian-American movement got stronger. The children of the early immigrants were eager to stop discrimination and fight for the recognition of Asian Americans. All this led to the development and growth of Asian traditional and classical music, as well as the development of Asian American styles.

How did Asian music develop in America?

Since the beginning of the Asian musical movement, many good artists have arrived in the US. The most successful of them managed to find the balance between their canonical repertories and American culture. To name a few of the great masters, Ravi Shankar (North Indian sitar), Wu Man (Chinese pipa), Kyaw Kyaw Naing (Burmese drum circle) became quite popular during this period. Some musicians even taught at universities, for example, Sumarsam (Javanese gamelan) and Swapan Chaudhuri (North Indian tabla), making Asian music more popular and comprehensible for Americans. 

Nowadays, you can find both Americans performing Asian music on Asian musical instruments and bands that are exclusively composed of Chinese or other Asian communities. 

Do Asian people like Western music?

Western music has been taught in Asian countries, so musicians coming to the United States were already familiar with the music vibes popular here. In the 1970s, many Asian musicians were coming to the US to study in local conservatories. These days, you can hear many promising Asian performers playing western music, say, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the violinist Sarah Chang, or the conductor Kent Nagano. 

Many American experimental composers have introduced Asian philosophy and vibes in their works. For example, you can take John Cage or George Crumb. Asian-American composers are getting popular and creating compositions for mostly western instruments, introducing smaller elements of Asian music.  

Do Asian Americans like Jazz?

Jazz has been quite important for Asian-American since the very 1930s. One of the first Asian artists who achieved success by performing jazz was the pianist and composer Toshiko Akiyoshi.

A braver approach to jazz was taken by the next generation of Asian musicians, Mark Izu, Francis Wong, Glenn Horiuchi, Jon Jang, Fred Ho, and Anthony Brown. They were working on an experimental combination of jazz and Asian tunes. This was also the time when multicultural coalitions were getting stronger, which also had a significant influence on the music of those times. 

What was happening to Asian-American music after the 1990s?

The trend toward protecting the cultural heritage resulted in the fact that many Asian Americans preferred their motherland music. People sang these songs together and organized singing competitions. Such deep involvement and interest in their native music resulted in their close connection to it. Even today, you can find popular Asian performers who were ex-pats originally born and raised in the US. 

The trend of cultural interviewing led to the appearance of Asian musicians in mainstream American bands that were performing not Asian music (Metallica, Deftones, Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park, The Black Eyed Peas). 

Today, Asian-Americans do not differ that much in their music preferences from Americans. The most popular music genres are Pop, Hip-hop, and R&B. Though many musicians are engaged in performing traditional music, others prefer Western classics, pop, and jazz. The ongoing interlacing of Asian and American music is likely to create even more varied styles and compositions in the future.

If you are interested in the current trends and popular Asian performers, read our previous post devoted to popular Asian music!