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Jason Kao Hwang: Concert Analysis

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American violinist, violist, and composer from Chinese descent, Jason Kao Hwang, has followed his own path in the avant-jazz scene with a few interesting albums of his own authorship and many memorable collaborations along the way with Lawrence "Butch" Morris, Dominic Duval, Anthony Braxton, William Parker, and more recently with trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum. On his new work, Sing House, he establishes immersive sonic architectures with the help of a brand new quintet whose musicians have been accompanying him throughout the years, whether in personal projects like EDGE and Burning Bridge or other formations that some of them might put together. They are Steve Swell on trombone, Chris Forbes on piano, Ken Filiano on bass, and Andrew Drury on drums. The band conjures a variety of moods throughout the 49 minutes of an equilibrated album whose each of the four original compositions lasts between 11 and 14 minutes. …show more content…

The introductory chapter fades out evenly, giving an opportunity to Drury, alone, to exhibit a few chattering drum scrambles. The improvisations are placed over the textural compactness formed by piano, bass, and drums. Still, the improvised discourses of Swell and Hwang occur within different settings. The former blows while having a denser funk-rock foundation under his feet; the latter bowed with a more volatile if audacious broken swing as a framework. Forbes’ bluesy pianism brings Horace Tapscott’s manners into the scene, yet, after some minutes he gets so immersed in his own rhythmic whirlwinds that impel Drury to fire back with potent palpitations. Before finishing with calm poise, there is still time for Filiano’s complex bass plucking with bends, and Hwang’s violin whines and

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