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New album from Hyeseon Hong

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    Posted: 22 Jun 2017 at 2:04am
COMPOSER/ORCHESTRATOR HYESEON HONG
FUSES KOREAN MUSICAL HERITAGE WITH JAZZ
ON HER INNOVATIVE EE-YA-GI (STORIES)
RELEASED MAY 19th ON MAMA RECORDS
Featuring Ingrid Jensen and Rich Perry

Jazz is perhaps America's most enduring and truly original cultural export. It began its journey around the globe in the 1920s, usually brought by African-American musicians looking for a more welcoming environment to play music. Jazz established a solid foothold in Asia in its earliest days, and today there are many well-attended jazz festivals all over the huge continent. Although Asian musicians had been part of the American jazz scene for many years, it wasn't until the 1960s that American jazz artists began drawing on traditional Asian music to create a new fusion of styles.
 
HYESEON HONG (hay-son · hong) is a Korean jazz arranger and composer who has been living in New York City for several years. EE-YA-GI, her debut CD, is a dialog between her Korean culture and the culture of the west. In the HYESEON HONG JAZZ ORCHESTRA, Hong blends elements of classical music, modern jazz big band, and Korean traditional music to create a sound that is at once familiar but brand new and thoroughly compelling. Her compositions feature beautiful melodies with harmonically-rich, impressionistic backgrounds. Korean art is characterized by harmonious feelings with nature, and indeed, Hong, who spent many years studying art in her native Seoul, approaches each composition with the eye of a painter, using Korean rhythms with simple melodies to create inviting pictures of the natural world.
 
This project grew from a rehearsal jazz orchestra that Hong leads. The orchestra meets regularly and has grown steadily over the years. They began gigging around town in 2012. EE-YA-GI features an 18-piece orchestra comprising some of the finest musicians in New York, many of whom also perform in some of the best big bands throughout the world. As an admirer of Maria Schneider's music Hong was thrilled to have two leading performers in Schneider's orchestra join her on this project. Acclaimed jazz artists RICH PERRY on saxophone and INGRID JENSEN on trumpet are featured performers. Perry and Jensen can both be heard performing throughout the world and on countless recordings as both leaders and sidemen. 
 
EE-YA-GI means "stories" in Korean, and each of the seven compositions on this disc are self-contained stories. "Harvest Dance: Story of Thanksgiving," the opening tune, was inspired by a traditional Korean rhythm played by farmers who performed it to stimulate the flow of heavenly and terrestrial energies in hopes of a good harvest. "Friends or Lovers: Story of youth battling with love" is a swing tune that captures the energy and passion of young people grappling with the complexities of love. Hong wrote "Para Mi Amigo Distante: Story of long lost friends" for close friends from Latin America, who, like Hong, have felt misplaced in a new country. "Boat Song: Story of my heritage" is based on a traditional Korean folk melody. This composition begins with a vocal by SUBIN PARK that is based on a singing style called "Chang," which men sang to lessen the burdens of their labor. Hong was inspired by a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen for "Disappearing in Foam: Story of girlhood," in which a mermaid gives up her life at sea to fully experience human existence. The tune "Trash Digging Queen: Story of Nica, the dog" is about the dual nature of Hong's beloved pet who behaves herself as long as she's around Hong, but reverts back to animal nature when she's left alone. "Love Song: Story of first love" is about the memories of first love and the person you were then but are no longer.
 
EE-YA-GI is brimming with energy and a colorful palette of sounds. Hong's writing is solidly based on the big band swing jazz tradition, but her Korean background and modern sensibility create something very new. EE-YA-GI is an auspicious debut for a new and intriguing talent on the jazz scene as well as a project that expands the vocabulary of jazz.
 
About Hyeseon Hong
Hyeseon Hong is a native of Seoul, South Korea. She showed talent for music when she was still quite young -- she had perfect pitch, played at church services, and gave piano lessons when she was just nine years old. She spent the years between the ages of 12 and 18 studying art before returning to music and studying composition.
 
Hong originally came to New York City to study music composition (musical theater/jazz) at NYU. She started writing music for her own 10-piece band as a student. The ensemble continued to expand, and they began gigging around the city.  Opportunities opened up for her in Korea and she returned to Seoul where she taught college classes and performed with various projects.
 
Hong missed the creative and vibrant music scene in New York, and she returned a few times to perform. She finally decided to move full-time to the city with the dream of writing and playing with her own orchestra.
 
For the past 15 years, Hong has been a band leader and composer in a wide range of orchestration and choir settings. Her band has been performing throughout New York for the past several years. Hyeseon Hong was awarded a grant for this recording from the prestigious Aaron Copland Fund for Music in 2017.
 
Composer and leader: Hyeseon Hong; Saxes: Ben Kono (alto, soprano, flute), Matt Vashlishan (alto, EWI, flute), Rich Perry (tenor), Jeremy Powell (tenor, clarinet), Andrew Hadro (bari, bass clarinet); Trumpets: Augie Haas, Ingrid Jensen, Jason Wiseman, Colin Brigstocke; Trombones: Ron Wilkens, Daniel Linden, Ric Becker, Becca Patterson; Rhythm: Matt Panayides (guitar), Broc Hempel (piano), John Lenis (bass), Mark Ferber (drums); Vocalist:  EJ Park; Guest Vocalist: Subin Park.
 
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Edited by js - 22 Jun 2017 at 2:05am
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