Ginger Beef’s origin story begins in 2021 when flutist Jiajia Li was asked to present a music video for the Camp Sled Island event in Calgary. She ended up collaborating with veteran multi-instrumentalist / producer / Calgary Flames organist conveniently living under her roof (sheʼs married to MSG) to cook up ‘Flashback‘, an energetic track seasoned with anachronistic synths, slap bass, and traditional Chinese elements — and no singing. Unexpectedly, this one-off only whet the crowd’s appetite for more, and
Ginger Beef was born.

So how do you resurrect a long-extinct genre like instrumental pop in 2023? Ginger Beefʼs answer is to splice together DNA from other genres. “Weʼre unabashedly pop, but being jazz adjacent gives us access to a much broader palette,” says MSG and cites acts like The Police and Steely Dan as examples of jazzers who slummed their way to mainstream success. While MSG brings rock and jazz-adjacent sensibilities to the table, Li virtuosically fronts the project with breathtaking musical athleticism and beauty, courtesy of her extensive classical training (she has a master’s degree in flute performance), and digs deep into memories of growing up with musical parents in Beijing. The result of this musical partnership is instrumental music that refuses to fade into the
background.

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