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Asian-American Jazz & Improv

By Ludovico Granvassu | Mondo Jazz
June 5, 2019
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As jazz was born where cultures converged, it's not a surprise that it is the most adaptable form of music. An art form permeable since its very inception to musical traditions from other continents. This week we focus on the contribution of musicians that approached jazz and improvised music benefiting from the wider perspective afforded to them by the exposure to not only American culture but also the traditions of the places of origin of their families, which hailed from Asian countries like China, India, Iraq, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Happy listening!

Ben Allison

bass, acoustic
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Ben Allison "Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00

Susie Ibarra

percussion
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Susie Ibarra Trio "Passing Clouds" Songbird Suite (Tzadik) 0:17

Host talks 5:26

Cuong Vu

trumpet
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Cuong Vu "Brittle, Like Twigs" It's Mostly Residual (Auand) 7:44

Ben Kono

saxophone, tenor
b.1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Ben Kono "Rice" Crossing (Nineteen-Eight) 15:17

Amir ElSaffar

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Amir ElSaffar & Rivers of Sound "Jourjina over Three" Not Two (New Amsterdam) 23:15

Host talks 30:18

Fred Ho

saxophone, baritone
1957 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Fred Ho and the Afro-Asian Ensemble "The Last Shall Be First, the First Last!" Yes Means Yes, No Means No, Whatever She Wears, Wherever She Goes! (Koch) 32:42

Amirtha Kidambi

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Amirtha Kidambi "Decolonize the Mind" From Untruth (Northern Spy) 43:25

Host talks 53:02

Edge "From East Sixth Street" Stories Before Within (Innova) 55:00

Peggy Chew

" data-original-title="" title="">Peggy Chew "The Girl from the Ali Mountain (Ali Shan de Guniang)" Sonic Calligraphy (Altrisuoni) 1:01:54

Sonic Calligraphy "Do It" The Flow of Things (Altrisuoni) 1:04:10

Rajna Swaminathan

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Rajna Swaminathan "Communitas" Of Agency and Abstraction (Biophilia) 1:05:53

Host talks 1:09:15

Brooklyn Raga Massive

" data-original-title="" title="">Brooklyn Raga Massive "Afrindica" Coltrane Raga Tribute (Brooklyn Raga Massive) 1:11:59

Vijay Iyer

piano
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Vijay Iyer "Radhe Radhe -Rites of Holi, Pt. 2 "Transcendence": Purging Rites" Radhe Radhe -Rites of Holi (Music for the Film by Prashant Bhargava) [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [Live] (ECM) 1:22:20

Rudresh Mahanthappa

saxophone, alto
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Rudresh Mahanthappa "Showcase" Agrima (Self-released) 1:26:48

Rez Abbasi

guitar, acoustic
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Rez Abbasi Trio "Back Skin" Continuous Beat (Enja) 1:32:47

Host talks 1:38:42

Vijay Iyer

piano
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Vijay Iyer "Three Peas" Architextures (Asian Improv) 1:41:24

Jon Jang

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Jang Octet "Poem 39: The Weak Shall Conquer" Island: The Immigrant Suite, Vol. 1 (Soul Note) 1:46:51

Jen Shyu

vocals
b.1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Jen Shyu "Soomi Line" Jade Tongue (Self-released) 1:48:38

Tomas Fujiwara

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Tomas Fujiwara "Decisive Shadow" Triple Double (Firehouse 12) 1:52:53

Taylor Ho Bynum

cornet
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Taylor Ho Bynum "Bluebird of Dehli" The Middle Picture (Firehouse 12) 1:58:38

Host talks 2:02:14

Jon Irabagon

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Irabagon Quartet "The Demon Barber of Fleet Week" Dr. Quixotic's Traveling Exotics (Irabbagast) 2:06:08

Miles Okazaki

guitar
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Okazaki "Howl" Mirror (Jazz Engine) 2:16:55

Host talks 2:18:33

Ha-Yang Kim "III -Suppots et Suppliciations" Threadsuns (Tzadik) 2:22:18

Photo credit: Peter Gannushkin

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